I have DK to thank for introducing me to Alkaline Trio eleven or twelve or so years ago (I do not remember) by taking 45 minutes to send me Hell Yes via my troutty dial-up connection. I don't know if I'd say that they'd led me to other bands that I liked, but I do think they helped me cultivate the taste for punk and alternative rock (and they remain one of my favorite bands).

Other than them, my first experiences of "holy trout what is this" go to the White Stripes when I heard Seven Nation Army and The Strokes' Reptilia for the first time when I was thirteen or fourteen or so. I clearly remember thinking "I need to find more music like this" while listening to both of these songs, and they ultimately kicked off my search for more alternative rock, which is the genre I would say I learn the most toward. The music videos themselves also might have had something to do with it, I was completely mesmerized by both the first time I saw them. MTV and VH1 midnight music videos did a lot for me as a teenager and probably had the most effect on my taste of music since discovering it (The Von Bondies, Jet, Incubus, The Killers, Chevelle, My Chemical Romance, Marilyn Manson, and many more).