Producer and musician Daniel Lanois has spoken about the formative influence of Jimi Hendrix's 1967 album Are You Experienced on his development as a young artist, describing music as a series of "portals" that led him from one discovery to the next. Best known for his production work with Bob Dylan, U2, Brian Eno and Robbie Robertson, Lanois traced how a childhood love of surf instrumentals evolved into a deeper curiosity about the artists and scenes behind the records he loved, ultimately shaping his own path into music.

Lanois recalled first picking up a tin whistle at nine before moving to pedal steel guitar, later studying players such as Buddy Emmons and being captivated by The Surfaris' 1963 hit 'Wipeout'. He said Hendrix's 'Foxy Lady', recorded in December 1966, was a revelation for its boldness and its use of the so-called "Hendrix chord", and that it drew him towards New York's Greenwich Village scene and figures like Bob Dylan and Allen Ginsberg. Hendrix himself had moved to the neighbourhood in 1966, performing at Cafe Wha? and forming the band Jimmy James and The Blue Flames while developing the guitar style for which he became renowned.