Cody Perez Picks His Top Five Influential Tracks
CODY PEREZ releases his stunning new single and lyric video, Live Again on Friday 10th March. Cody is a special talent with a powerful and dynamic voice, and supreme songwriting guile. With this in mind, we asked Perez to exclusively reveal to us his top five most influential tracks:
Korn - Blind
The first time I heard Korn I was 8 years old. Up until that time, I didn't have my own music I listened to. It was always music that my parents played or music I heard on tv and movies. My cousin introduced me to Korn and I was instantly intrigued and hooked by the heaviness and the groove. The vocals were disturbing and aggressive. I loved the mix of the melodic with the screaming. Once I heard Blind, I had to hear the rest of the album and became a huge fan ever since. I actually got the opportunity to have my band Amerakin Overdose open up for Korn at Rock Fest 2011 in Oregon.
Slipknot - Spit It Out
I first heard of Slipknot on a 2-CD compilation album of different heavy bands. It was called "The Hard And The Heavy". I first heard "Spit It Out" and I would play that song as loud as possible every time it got to that track on the cd. I loved the fast rapping and the heaviness and something about it just sounded like pure chaos and dangerous. I had no idea what Slipknot looked like until some months later when they were on the Conan O'Brian show and they performed "Wait And Bleed" live and my jaw dropped when I saw the craziness of the masks and jump around and heaviness with the melodic hook chorus. I instantly went and bought the album and became obsessed. Slipknot came to Portland, Oregon and I bought tickets for my first show. Once I saw Slipknot, I knew I always wanted my performances to have a show and image and chaos and some danger element to them.
Mudvayne - Severed
Mudvayne and Chad Gray in general have been such a huge influence on me with music, my writing and creativity. I can say I have been a long-time fan since before their debut album "LD 50" came out. I saw Mudvayne on their very first tour with Slipknot May 2000 in Portland. I was there for Slipknot (my first concert) but technically the very first band I saw live was Mudvayne when I was 14 years old. They were the opener and when I saw them I was in a trance by their sound and Chad's vocals. The heaviness, the melodic, the weirdness and live show was beyond anything I had ever seen or heard. I then saw them again a couple of months later on Tattoo The Earth and I have never missed a show since anytime they come through Portland. This song in particular has a ton of odd time signatures and Chad goes from heavy vocals to melodic to really fast. I love the rollercoaster of emotion that is in this song.
Papa Roach - No Matter What
Papa Roach is one of my all time favorite bands. I have been listening to them since their first album "Infest". I have always been drawn to Papa Roach because singer Jacoby Shaddix always writes lyrics from the heart. I always tell people that I swear Jacoby writes lyrics about my life. It is almost like he pulls thoughts and things I am going through and writes songs about it. I relate to their music on a level I can't really explain. I love the catchy pop stuff and their more aggressive stuff. They are a band I have really been influenced by because they evolve so well and move with the times. You don't ever get the same album from them. It inspires me to continuously challenge myself as an artist and to take risks. This song in particular always gets me when I hear it. There is a ton of emotion you can hear and feel in the song. I did a cover of this song on my Instagram and people seemed to love it.
Linkin Park - Leave Out All The Rest
Linkin Park and Chester Bennington have been a huge part of my musical influence. When I am writing music, I always need a good melody along with keyboard/electronics. I love anything Chester has been a part of because he also would put all of his personal issues and emotions into his music and you can hear and feel it. When I write music and when I sing, I try to put myself in Chesters shoes and I ask myself, how would Chester write his vocal melody here or how would he express this type of emotion in a lyric. When I first started doing my solo project and writing the songs and lyrics, I went back and listened to every Linkin Park album. They are also a band that evolved with each record and that really inspired me. This song has always stood out to me because of the delivery Chester gives in his verses and then comes with a huge chorus. “
