Big Joanie: Under the Influence

London DIY punks Big Joanie – Stephanie Phillips (singer/guitarist), Estella Adeyeri (bass) and Chardine Taylor-Stone (drums) – released their debut album Sistahs on 30 November via Thurston Moore and Eva Prinz's new label The Daydream Library Series. The trio were last in Edinburgh supporting the mighty Downtown Boys at Sneaky Pete's at the tail end of last year, so ahead of their appearance at Kid Canaveral's Christmas Baubles at Summerhall on Saturday 15 December, the three talk us through the albums that have helped influenced them over the years, and specifically their debut album. Check out the playlist we've put together at the foot of the feature, too.

Far – Water & Solutions
[Epic/Immortal Records, 1998]
"I was actually introduced to Far via Funeral for a Friend, who released a cover of the track The System as a B-side back in 2003. I loved Water & Solutions for its ability to channel rage, vulnerability, self-doubt, hope… it was an album I could come back to again and again throughout my teens and my twenties, and felt particularly influential whilst I was learning to play guitar and bass." [Estella Adeyeri]

Screaming Females – Power Move
[Don Giovanni Records, 2009]
"Opening track Bell was the first Screaming Females song I heard – I somehow came across the video and was naturally transfixed by Marissa Paternoster’s guitar playing and distinctive vocals. I’ve been hooked on this band ever since. My favourite track from this album is Starving Dog." [EA]

Downtown Boys – Full Communism
[Don Giovanni Records, 2015]
"Hearing Victoria Ruiz declaring 'She’s brown! She’s smart' on Monstro was so powerful for me, and I love the unrelenting fearlessness and ferociousness of this album. This was punk that was challenging the inequalities inherent in the status quo without holding back. I hadn’t seen a band like Downtown Boys before, and hadn’t realised how much I needed them in my life." [EA]

The Blood Brothers – …Burn, Piano Island, Burn
[ARTISTdirect Records, 2003]
"This is the only band that ever caused my Mum to utter, with absolute disdain, "this is just noise." I loved the smart, controlled chaos of this band and this record, and their unique take on post-hardcore." [EA]

Yeah Yeah Yeahs – Fever to Tell
[Interscope, 2003]
"Again, this album came out during some pretty formative guitar-learning years, and I was as intrigued by Nick Zinner’s playing style as I was by Karen O’s lyrics and vocal style. The album oozed a kind of effortless chic that stood out way above the other indie offerings at the time – playful and sexy on tracks like Pin and Date With the Night, but beautifully tender on songs like Maps and Modern Romance. Also, the first time I left the CD player on and heard Poor Song was incredibly satisfying." [EA]

X-Ray Spex – Germfree Adolescents
[EMI, 1978]
"I think I was about 13 or 14 when I first heard the opening lines to Oh Bondage Up Yours! It felt affirming to hear those words being screamed at me by a woman of colour, but I thought the lyrics were literally about bondage. That’s why I only listened to the song quietly through the headphones or my portable CD player. Over the years I found out more about X-Ray Spex, Poly Styrene and the reality of what they were able to achieve in their time." [Stephanie Phillips]

Sleater-Kinney – The Hot Rock
[Kill Rock Stars, 1999]
"Out of all of the Sleater-Kinney albums The Hot Rock has a special place in my heart. It’s one for the emotional teens who grew up to become emotional adults and still need to write all their feelings down. The production adds so much depth to the band’s sound. The Hot Rock is the album where the band truly sound like the rock stars they always said they were." [SP]

Joy Division – Unknown Pleasures
[Factory Records, 1979]
"Probably one of my fave albums of all time. The drums and synth on Fall Asleep [from Sistahs] were influenced by the sounds on this album." [Chardine Taylor-Stone]

Anthology of American Folk Music (Edited by Harry Smith)
[Folkways, 1952]
"The recorder and percussion on Eyes [from Sistahs] is inspired by early fife and drum music that I first came across in the collections of Harry Smith and Alan Lomax. Fife and drum is an earlier form of the blues." [CT-S]

Suicide – Suicide
[Bronze Records, 1977]
"Back to the synths, dark, melodic, dreamy and just fucking cool. I feel like Way Out, Down Down and Cut your Hair – [all from Sistahs] – carry a bit of the Suicide vibe." [CT-S]

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Sistahs is out now via The Daydream Library Series; Big Joanie play Kid Canaveral's Christmas Baubles at Summerhall, Edinburgh, 15 Dec
facebook.com/bigjoanie