| About Direct Influence | "It's the songs you write in 15 minutes, the songs that write themselves that are the ones you fall in love with. The only formula we've ever really followed is to drop a song the second it starts to follow a formula. " -Dylan Smith, Vocalist and Writer With a sound that spans genres, decades and oceans, Direct Influence is that rarest of things, a band formed out of and for a love of music that has stayed true to it's roots, even while changing evolving and growing ever more musically innovative. Formed at the start of the decade with the meeting of songwriters Dylan Smith (Vocals) and Marcus Ross (Guitar) at high school in the tiny country town of Bunyip, Direct Influence are an eclectic and unlikely mash of cultures and influences that works despite all odds. While growing up surrounded by gang violence and racial tension on the mean streets of South Auckland, raised by his single mother, Dylan wrote rhymes and lyrics to try and make sense of the world around him. "I wrote about what I saw around me. There were political songs, love songs. Just songs about everyday things," said Dylan. It wasn't until he moved to rural Victoria and saw Marcus -who would be musical collaborator for the next decade- at the helm of a local rock band that he was inspired to start performing the songs that had been in his head all these years. "I was in a fairly woeful rap-metal band at the time," recalls Marcus. "Basically just kids, in our first band, playing some pretty ordinary songs. Luckily we got over that pretty quickly." The two bonded over their shared love of hip-hop and reggae, and started recruiting friends and local musicians and developing their unique brand of soul-heavy, melodic, reggae infused grooves. It wasn't long before the band outgrew the small town pub shows and made the leap to Melbourne, where they set about carving a niche in the live music circuit. With a core lineup of Dylan, Marcus, Jarrah and Simon complemented by a revolving lineup that includes some of Australia's finest musicians, including members of Diafrix, The Optics, Blue King Brown, K-Oscillate, the Red Eyes and the Eclective, this is a band that wear it's influences, of which there are dozens, on it's sleeve. "That's why we call it Direct Influence, because we are influenced by every song and band we've heard and loved. And every woman for that matter. It's just life, we are influenced by life." The result is a funky gumbo of sounds from Manu Chao to Rage Against the Machine; of deep skanking Reggae rhythms, rumbling bass, funk-laden guitar and soulful social conscious hip-hop and Reggaton that has garnered Direct Influence a loyal following at home and interstate. They regularly tour the East Coast, where their sun-drenched rhythms see them play to packed and blissed out crowds, including regular appearances at the iconic Beach Hotel in Byron Bay. The legendary Direct Influence live show has been translated to disc, with the band recording two albums, the Herbal Ninja EP and Better Day LP, which was greeted with airplay on JJJ and community radio across Australia, and is something of a top 40 hit in the South Pacific. Direct Influence are currently in the studio with some of the greatest talent Melbourne and Australia has to offer while recording their upcoming release, and have offered tastes of a newer rock-heavy direction at recent live shows. Stay tuned. Direct Influence are: Simon Rabl (Bass) Jarrah Whyte (Keys) Marcus Ross (Guitar) Dylan Smith (Vox) Enjoy the page. Drop us a line, and we will keep you informed of the next D.I party. Peace d.i |
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