Conner Rush (Auric Echoes)
SPB: Who is the first musician whose technique or style really stood out to you?
Rush: To me, the first musician who really stood out to me as something unique was Thom Yorke. My whole life I had only really had experience with classic rock and sort of thought that was “the music to like” and never thought much beyond it. When I was around 13, I heard Radiohead for the first time, more specifically, “No Surprises.”
I’d honestly never heard anything like it before in my life, and it really changed the way I viewed music. That song was really my introduction to more experimental music (I know that in the wider scope of music it’s not the most out-there, but for me at the time it was a wild departure from the norm). Something about the composition of the song along with the very abstract lyrics and vocal delivery really struck a chord with me. Thom Yorke’s approach to songwriting and production has completely influenced the way I approach my songwriting process. Yorke was also my first taste of what electronics can bring to music since my whole life until that point, I had the mindset of “oh, it’s just electronic music.” Now everything I do has a heavy IDM / Electronica influence.
