Seminal New York punk-funk outfit Liquid Liquid have spoken about the influences which lie behind their sound.
New York has given birth to some astonishing musicians. From be-bop hip hop the city has spawned entire movements, giving its music scene a global importance almost unrivalled by any other city.
Cult group Liquid Liquid owe their career to the currents in New York's musical streams, taking inspiration from a wide range of sources. The band minimal, percussion led sound turned the city on its head, helping to inspire everyone from the Sugarhill Gang to Glasgow clubland institution Optimo.
Speaking to ClashMusic, Sal Principato explained how the band's sound came about. "I think as an artist there’s certain things in the air and you’re just an antenna. So be it that Public Image or whoever is doing it, I feel that we were picking up on it at the same time. So it starts to freak you out. Especially if they have big labels behind them and you don’t. So I think right, I don’t want to listen to this, well not that I don’t want to, I mean I love it, I appreciate it and went to see the shows back in the day. But I didn’t want to become too self conscious about what was going on."
"A lot of post punk stuff, yes, punk stuff, yes but also more than post punk a better way to describe it is like deconstructed rock. Rock that wasn’t expanding but breaking itself down, which led us to dub reggae, which led us to anything that was like skeletal, or stripped down but with more emotional content than actual bulk" he explained.
"I mean, it blows my mind cause he’s on Broadway now but my all time favourite is Fela Kuti (iconic Nigerian musician, who with drummer Tony Allen created what we would now call Afrobeat) in 80-81 we were buggin’ over Fela and when I met anyone else who listened to him it was like meeting a fellow traveller. But also like Iggy Pop, anything really raw, Modern Lovers…quirky weird…but at the same time listening to Curtis Mayfield’s ‘Superfly’."
Continuing, Sal Principato explained that the city of New York itself was an inspiration. "Back then we were living in New York and it wasn’t the New York it is now with tons of resources, structure, opportunities."
"Yeah, there was opportunity if you could make it up, if you could create it, if you could define it, you could put it out there…maybe no-one will come, nobody will pat you the back for it. But no-ones gonna stop you or call you an asshole. You can just do your thing. And you have that space, as crazy and constrictive as it was. In a sense it was a space where you could be anything you wanted to be."
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