"The other record I got into listening to at my friend's house. A lot of the records on the list were discovered around a two to three year window, at a time when I was really turned on to music. I was actively hungry, and reaching out, digesting what bands people turned me on to. I think the first Black Sabbath album I heard was actually Vol. 4. I always discover things way late, after the fact. But that's fine, I guess I like the fact of being kinda late to the party. But when it got to me, it really stuck. It's another record that I find very close to perfect. There's a heaviness and a darkness to Sabbath which I often cite as a direct influence to our sound. You can trace the bloodline, and I think you could say that of a lot of Seattle bands. Sabbath are also a very visual band, but in a different way, a lot more visceral. I've read interviews where Ozzy was saying they were trying to make horror film soundtracks, and that makes sense to me. Cause the themes were always pretty dark and pretty bleak, and they pulled their punches thematically and lyrically. Tony Iommi is also one of my favourite guitarists and very influential to me."

"Montrose was one of the really important American statements made at a time when the only rock that was credible was English. They had Led Zeppelin and Humble Pie, just anything that was credible was all English and, out of nowhere, this Montrose record comes out that just kills! The American bands were sloppy and fat and looked like the Grateful Dead, and it was just pathetic. But Montrose came from the same area, the San Francisco Bay Area and it was like a breath of fresh air. That first record, even Montrose couldn't equal it, it was just better than the other American bands of the time. If you ever listen to 'Kickstart My Heart' by Mötley Crüe, that intro was note-for-note, everything was taken from 'Bad Motor Scooter', that sounds like a motorcycle going by. Clearly, Montrose was trying to do, with Sammy Hagar's vocals, a sort of American Led Zeppelin thing. But the songs were undeniable! Song after song, again: consistency. Unfortunately, after that Sammy Hagar left the band and everything changed. Ronnie Montrose never went back, never found his mojo again. Eventually he committed suicide. But when we're putting on makeup and getting ready for shows because we're in the middle of a tour, it never fails. Every other day we put on the Montrose record."