You can't fake influence.
The most powerful frequency in the universe is your own frequency.
There are a lot of “how to sound like” videos on YouTube. Phoebe Bridgers, Billie, etc. You do not want to sound like them. People think they want to, but what they are attracted to is an original frequency. They’re being themselves. It’s literally the sound of lived experience. It is original. Amy Winehouse was objectively authentic. Same for Sadé. Or The White Stripes. Or The Strokes.
You do not want to sound like them.
Maybe you do want to be influenced by them, but more likely…
You want what they have — which is authentic self expression and an original sound crafted from their lived experiences.
You want your own ideas, your own energy, your own frequency.
Imitation is the first step in learning, but it is not where you stop. Copying will not give you what you want.
Jack White had his musical mind blown by Robert Johnson, who he listened to as if the music was in an IV he could insert directly into his veins (i’m assuming). He spent time with Robert Johnson’s blues music, getting it into his subconscious mind and under his fingers until it became a part of him. He credits Robert Johnson when he talks about who he studied. He is honoring the person whose art inspired and influenced him.
However, he didn’t start a Robert Johnson cover band (although cover/tribute bands can be a cool educational experience). He didn’t pretend he was Robert Johnson. Jack White declared himself the 7th son because he was actually born the 7th son. As much as I love that lyric, I am not the seventh son. I’m a first daughter which is an objectively less cool lyric. I can’t be Jack White. Jack White can’t be Robert Johnson. Jack White had other musical influences beyond Robert Johnson. He also had Meg. Meg’s drumming created a totally different energy, story and sound. The Strokes can’t be The White Stripes. The White Stripes can’t be The Strokes. Julian Casablancas did not have Meg to collaborate with, nor is he from Detroit. He’s from NYC, and Julian had Albert Hammond Jr who he met at a Swiss boarding school, and Julian loved Lou Reed. Different lives, different stories, different sounds and music.
EDIT: I would like to point out that this is also why you can’t compare artists.
We can only ever be ourselves and tell our own story.
I believe this is why AI cannot create art. Art comes from lived experiences. Even if someone is making up an imaginary alter ego, it’s still coming from their unique lived experience, their memories, their imagination and what they’re authentically feeling. It comes from ancestry. It comes from every second you’ve breathed on the earth, from your heart beat and soul. AI can’t authentically claim the lyric “I’m the seventh son”. That was Jack White’s mom’s business. She gave that to him. He owned it. It’s a genius lyric. It tells his story.
As a human being, your unique lived experience, your senses, your subconscious mind, your ancestors, your daily choices, your reading habits, your music listening gives way to unique artwork, different from anything AI could ever source. Not to mention the surprising creative connections your brain makes when it drops into theta brainwaves via mindfulness meditation, body scanning, NSDR or interoception (a post for another day). AI will be a tool that assists speeding up the process of making art, but it will never replace the creativity and expanding frontier of human consciousness and a human’s lived experience, free will choices, relationships and influence.
Our story and our sound comes from our LIVED EXPERIENCE.
People who try to copy or extract are at a disadvantage because they have not lived it. It feels fake on them. It’s one of the many reasons why cultural appropriation is wrong.
If someone inspires you and begins to influence you, buy their work. Champion them. Support them. Credit them. When we authentically spend time with someone or their art or their music or their words or their blog, their ideas begin to shape us, and those ideas are retranslated as something unique through our organic expression.
Obviously we’re human, we sometimes forget to give credit where credit is due, or maybe a teacher took too much from us (money, time, energy, therapy bills) that we don’t need to give them anything else — the exchange already happened. Sometimes the same idea will download into many individuals at the same time, and we don’t need to credit anyone because we’re speaking authentically and organically from our lived experience.
A good rule of thumb for when you are inspired or influenced by somebody, are you crediting them? Are you giving them a shout out? Are you buying from them? Are you sharing their work?
Is there reciprocity?
If you’re hiding where you got your source or your inspiration, and you’re not supporting, liking, buying, sharing or championing the person who’s work triggered something new happening in you — then it’s extractive.
My point:
Everyone has a unique note to play in the symphony.
Part of developing as a creator is learning to build our own lanes and stay in them.
Who you are is enough.
You don’t need to be anyone else.
You don’t want to be me or copy what I’m doing.
What you really want is you.
Life works better when we listen to our own impulses.
Let your instincts, your intuition, and your choices be organic — from your own internal guidance.
Let them arise from you authentically.
The most powerful, impactful, potent, juicy frequency you could ever embody is you.
