Jonathan Coulton Shares What Influenced His Artificial Heart Album

In 2011, singer and songwriter Jonathan Coulton released his eighth studio album, Artificial Heart, which was produced by John Flansburgh of They Might Be Giants. In the series Point of Reference on Seattle Met, Coulton shares five pieces of pop culture that shaped Artificial Heart. He discusses the influence They Might Be Giants, Billy Joel, The Long Winters, Leonard Cohen and John Hodgman had on the album. Artificial Heart is available to download at his site.

Here’s what he had to say about They Might Be Giants’ album, Flood:

There’s no getting around the influence of They Might Be Giants. Flood was the first time I’d ever heard them and I was in college. It was like nothing I’d ever heard before. It was a really thrilling thing because as a guy who had written some sad songs and some funny songs in high school—that weren’t very good—they were the first band I’d heard that was funny and weird but also incredibly sad at the same time. When I was working on this album and handing these songs to Flansburgh, in the back of my mind that whole time was, like, ‘Oh my God, I’m giving these songs to the guy who made Flood.’

image via Jonathan Coulton