Named after a fuzz-soaked Neil Young & Crazy Horse track, Brisbane band Powderfinger cemented their legacy as one of Australia’s great rock bands. Their influences ranged from Young, of course, to bluesy classic rock, angsty grunge and even the brooding underbelly of New Wave. Explore their hand-picked selections here, and read on to learn more about their top picks—as told to Apple Music by bassist John Collins. The Cure, “In Between Days” “I was always a huge fan of The Cure growing up, and even though the Fingers never would or could sound like them, it was their simple musical melodies that appealed to me and the band. In my late teens I was wearing black pointy suede boots, black jeans, a black skivvy and denim jacket, channelling Robert Smith all the way.” Sunnyboys, “Happy Man” “The Sunnyboys were the reason for the chance meeting between Hoggie [Ian Haug, guitarist] and I. We were both at the same school and one day at footy training, Hoggie noticed me wearing my homemade Sunnyboys T-shirt. I remember him saying, ‘Hey, you like the Sunnyboys, mate?’ That was the start of our first conversation. That love continued all the way throughout our career, as well as the love of the Sunnyboys.” Neil Young, “Like a Hurricane” “Neil Young’s music has always been a favourite of the band. In fact, ‘Like a Hurricane’ was the first song we performed when Bernard [Fanning, lead singer] first sang with the band, when we were still a three-piece. I remember it well because my bass amp blew up halfway through the song and that was that—the end of the session. Thankfully, Bernard nailed the first chorus and we became a four-piece. Unfortunately, I continued to blow up bass amps throughout our career. Blowing up bass amps also remained with me until the end. We played this song at our last performance in 2010.” Rage Against the Machine, “Killing in the Name” “We were on several Big Day Outs with Rage Against the Machine and one of the most memorable moments was in Sydney in 1996. Rage played to a full crowd of 45,000 and we were watching from the grandstand at the rear of the old Sydney showgrounds. It was amazing to see the whole crowd jump up and down in unison to ‘Fuck you, I won’t do what you tell me!’ All five of us watched in total awe. What a band!” Joy Division, “Transmission” “Joy Division is probably not a popular choice with the band, but I grew up loving them and played a lot of their songs with my first band at school. The lyrics are very dark but also hauntingly beautiful. I think they’re brilliant. I have always been a huge fan of Peter Hook, the bass player, and when I was 16 I got up the courage to say g’day when I saw him at a venue in Brisbane. He told me to “fuck off, you little git!” I thought this was awesome and I’ve remained a huge fan, even borrowing some of his bass-playing shapes in my live performances. Thanks, Pete.” Midnight Oil, “Beds Are Burning” “The Fingers have always loved the music of Midnight Oil and it was a massive thrill to support them at the Woodford Folk Festival [in 1996]. The energy of the band performing live taught me that we needed to work harder to become a good live act. I really like and support the political message in this song. The Oils were always superb at bringing world and domestic issues to the masses.”