Willow has once again come forward to cement her name in the rock and metal sphere by crediting a handful of big names such as Deftones, Korn and System Of A Down as her central influences.
The popstar-turned-rocker released her new guitar-orientated album, Coping Mechanism, back in October, and now, in conversation with Rolling Stone, Willow has laid out her rock credentials and praised the bands that inspired her new direction.
When speaking of the aforementioned trio of nu metal-era legends, Willow, who has reportedly been a metalhead since she was five years old, says: "That [System Of A Down] album Toxicity? Yo, I don’t think there are any words to describe it.
"Serj [Tankian] is a very spiritually connected human being, and you can feel it so potently.… And also, the Deftones, just the dichotomy of the really hard guitars and the darkness, but then also the feral vocal and the softness and the almost tenderness of his [Chino Moreno's] vocal is profound.
"Those two dichotomies dancing — the dichotomy is just so beautiful. And Korn all day, every day! System of a Down, Deftones, even Radiohead was a slight inspiration for this album as well.”
Although Willow did embark on a pop career in her youth - most likely the natural progression for any child of two famous A-list celebrities - she's now adamant that her lighter sound has been left well in the past. On not wanting to make pop music, she explains, “I think there’s a lot of pop stars in the world, and I think they do it really well.
"And I’m just not a pop star. I love doing weird shit that pushes the envelope and inspires people to perceive life and music and themselves in a grander, wider point of view. That’s how I see myself."
Over the last year, Willow has been solidly waving the flag for her heroes, and even briefly jammed out the guitar riff to Deftones' My Own Summer (Shove It), at a recent show.
The singer also recently spoke of her love for the Sacramento metal heavyweights during an interview with Kerrang!, which saw her name them as one band who she'd most love to work with in the future. "I would love to sing with Chino Moreno from Deftones" she said, "He’s so amazing.”
