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Carrie Brownstein of Sleater-Kinney
"I get caught up in the electricity of Pete Townshend's playing. I strive for that kind of energy, to be so galvanizing."
I can't help but get caught up in the electricity of Pete Townshend's playing. It's moving to see and hear an instrument when it becomes an extension of someone, an appendage that's mastered with the naturalness and unconsciousness of the movement of your own body. I learned from him in terms of having the sound come from more places than just your fingers. And I do strive for that kind of energy, to be so galvanizing. I can play a windmill, but I don't normally -- he's had some injuries that I don't necessarily want to experience.
Also, Ricky Wilson of the B-52's is an underrated guitar player with an endless supply of good riffs. He wrote deceptively simple guitar lines; they were full of so many angles and chord changes. Someone gave me a mix tape of the first two records by the B-52's -- this was probably when I was fifteen, right after Wilson passed away. I listened to it unceasingly for a month. I could not figure out how these people were making music that just seemed so weird, this perfect combination of crazy voice, great female vocals and all these great, exciting guitar lines.