From Amy Lee to Beyoncé: The icons who inspired Spiritbox’s Courtney LaPlante

Spiritbox’s incredible Courtney LaPlante is already a hero to many – but who has she been inspired by? From Björk’s visuals to Trent Reznor’s outsider status, here’s who has helped shaped the singer into the star she is today…

“She’s such a great talent. She was one of the first women I saw who got up to such a high level [while dealing] with sexism in her industry, and then came out the other side in control. She chose to surround herself with people that she knows are going to be on her [side] and then uses her platform to uplift people like myself, who are also dealing with that sort of thing.”

“She’s such an amazing visual artist as well as a recording artist. Björk’s always taught me that you can make whatever music you want, and you don’t need to bend yourself to something that you’re not, because people will smell the inauthenticity on you and see that your heart’s not in it.”

“I just really like Trent Reznor’s whole interaction with the music industry, where he’s so beloved, but he’s still proudly an outsider. He’s someone who showed me that you can have other passions outside of your band – like how he scores movies. I think it shows that he’s a really well-rounded person.”

“Beyoncé was the first artist that I realised was proud to showcase how much work and effort goes into being an artist, aside from just the talent and musicality. People that sing her kind of music, there’s so much room for them to express themselves in a way other than singing. I love how in control of each aspect of her whole brand she is – I’m inspired by how obsessed she is with everything from the drum hits on her music to the colour of the lighting on her tour.”

“She’s someone I think we’re going to see have that trajectory where she [and Paramore] keep becoming even better artists, and instead of making more commercial music they’re completely untethered from that. It’s not about the commercialisation of their music and terrestrial radio and stuff; it’s purely about their art and their live show and their fans. No matter what genre of music you put Hayley in, she has one of the best voices I’ve ever heard.”

This article originally appeared in the spring issue of the magazine.

Read this: Spiritbox: “No matter how quickly you ascend to something, you still have to earn it”