Remembering Bowie: KEXP Exclusive Interviews

In this day and age, you'd be hard-pressed to find any musician who wasn't influenced by David Bowie. KEXP has chatted with just a few, which we share below, on this one year anniversary of Bowie's passing.

KEXP celebrates the life of David Bowie on-air beginning Sunday, January 8th, on what would have been David Bowie’s 70th birthday, and culminating Tuesday, January 10th on the one-year anniversary of his passing. Listen all day for rare songs and interviews with those who knew him best. Click here for more information.

The first concert Kim Thayil went to was to see David Bowie. ("The next concert I saw was the Ramones," he adds, in an interview for Guitar.com. "I went to see Devo during the yellow jumpsuit phase.") In this clip, the celebrated guitarist for Soundgarden runs down his favorite Bowie albums -- and you might be surprised by his picks. Soundgarden have just released a 25th-anniversary reissue of Badmotorfinger, and are working with famed producer Jack Endino to remix their 1988 debut LP Ultramega OK, which has been out-of-print for the past few years. The band are aiming for a late 2017 release on Sub Pop Records.

Carson Cox, the charismatic frontman for Florida-based band Merchandise, cites Bowie as the "greatest music teacher he's ever had" and the yardstick for his own musical career. Merchandise released their latest LP A Corpse Wired For Sound last fall via 4AD Records. This Spring, they plan to make up some 2016 tour dates, canceled after Cox fractured his jaw and broke several teeth backstage in London.

"This guy's voice... is not that good." Richmond, Virginia-based artist Lucy Dacus reflects on the first time she heard a Bowie song at the young age of twelve, and how the song ("Five Years," the opening track off 1972's The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars) brought her to tears. Now 21-years-old, Dacus approaches her own lyrics with a similar candor; her debut No Burden is out now via Matador Records. She plays later this month at the Timbrrr! Winter Music Festival, held January 27th and 28th in Leavenworth, WA.

An artist with international reach, even Jake Webb of Western Australian band Methyl Ethel declares Bowie as one of those artists he's listened to his whole life and will continue to listen to. Methyl Ethel have recently signed to 4AD Records, and will be performing here in Seattle at Barboza on Tuesday, April 4th.