and yet they had a shed load of influences. I give you the god that is Wikipedia.
Pixies are influenced by a range of artists and genres; each member came from a different musical background. When he first started writing songs for Pixies, Francis says he was listening to nothing but
Hüsker Dü,
Captain Beefheart, and
Iggy Pop;
[111] whilst in the run up to recording
Come on Pilgrim he listened to
R.E.M.'s
Murmur a lot, which he described as "hugely influential" on his songwriting.
[112]During the making of
Doolittle he listened heavily to the
Beatles'
White Album.
[113] He has cited
Buddy Holly as a model for his compressed songwriting.
[114] Francis did not discover
punk rock until he was 16, saying "it was good I didn't listen to these hip records". As a child, he listened mainly to 1960s songs, religious music and
Emerson Lake and Palmer, [...] and
Talking Heads, who he says "weren't punk either".
[115]
Santiago listened to 1970s and 1980s punk including
Black Flag, as well as
David Bowie[13] and
T. Rex.
[116] Guitarists who influenced him include
Jimi Hendrix,
Les Paul,
Wes Montgomery,
Lou Reed[117] and
George Harrison.
[118] Deal's musical background was folk music and
country; she had formed a country-folk band with her sister in her teenage years, and played covers of artists such as
the Everly Brothers and
Hank Williams.
[41] Other artists Deal listened to included
XTC,
Gang of Four and
Elvis Costello.
[119] Lovering is a fan of the band
Rush.
[41]
Other media such as film has influenced Pixies; Francis cites surrealist films
Eraserhead and
Un chien andalou (as mentioned in "Debaser") as influences.
[13] He has commented on these influences, saying he "didn't have the patience to sit around reading Surrealist novels", but found it easier to watch twenty-minute films.
[120]