Geoff Barrow

United Kingdom, 1991–now

British musician and producer (b. 1971), a founding member of Portishead. He worked as a studio assistant on Massive Attack's Blue Lines before combining hip-hop rhythm with film-score atmosphere, and later formed the krautrock-influenced group Beak> and wrote film scores.

MusicRoots documents 3 artists who influenced Geoff Barrow and 1 artist Geoff Barrow influenced in turn. Every connection cites a published source.

Who influenced Geoff Barrow?

• Massive Attack — Barrow learned his craft as a tape operator on Massive Attack's Blue Lines, absorbing their Bristol trip-hop blueprint into his own production.
• Run-DMC — Barrow came up as a bedroom hip-hop DJ spinning Run-DMC and the Def Jam sound, the backbone of Portishead's beats.
• Can — Barrow's krautrock love — Can above all — surfaced in Portishead's later, sparser sound and drives his band Beak>.

Which artists did Geoff Barrow influence?

• Portishead — Portishead is Geoff Barrow's project: he co-founded it and, as its producer and sonic architect, built its hip-hop-meets-film-noir sound.