Bullseye with Jesse Thorne is a production of Maximum Fun.org and is distributed by NPR.

It's Molesi. I'm Jesse Thorne. Time now for the song that changed my life. It's a chance for a guest to talk about the music and specifically the one single song that most shape them into the artist that they are today. On deck this week, Joey Santiago, guitarist for the Pixies. You know the Pixies, right?

With your feet on the air, your head on the ground

If you made a Mount Rushmore of quintessential 80s alternative bands

I mean, first of all, great work, that sounds like an ambitious but fun project.

You're probably good at stone carving or

whatever. But anyway, if you were deciding what goes on that Mount Rushmore, you polled your friends,

pixies would probably be near the top, maybe at the top. They've influenced countless bands,

Nirvana, Radiohead, Weezer, The Smashing Pumpkins. The Pixie Sound changed everything.

Who was behind it? Well, Black Francis, the lead singer. He'd sort of snarl and shout sometimes,

soar and lilt over the melody at others. David Lovering, the drummer, punchy and playful.

Kim Deal, the brilliant bassist and singer,

who would go on to form the Breeders,

another legendary alternative rock band,

and our guest, Joey Santiago,

a guy who's just as glad to lay back in the cut

with a nice quiet riff as he is to shred in his signature style,

loud, discordant, and wholly unique.

To celebrate the Pixies' 40th anniversary, the band is back on the road, they have dates literally all over the world.

If you live, I mean, somewhere, anywhere, odds are the Pixies are going to be playing a show near you this summer.

When we asked Santiago about the song that changed his life, his choice of artist didn't shock us,

it was Jimmy Hendricks.

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