My gateway band was defintetly the Cure, my dad was a huge 80's pop fan, so I was exposed to The Pixies, The Smiths, Depeche Mood, and The Police, this led to listening to Sonic Youth, Interpol, Flaming LIps, and Wilco. I'm (unfortunetly) still in my punk phase, my punk gateway band was The Ramones, I heard them on a old skate video about four years ago, and then it was more covered bands like, The Clash, MxPx, Rancid, NO/FX, and Anti-Flag and The Sex Pistols, but it got better when my 8th grade girlfriend introduced me to The Damned, Black Flag, Op. Ivy, Dead Kennedys, Jawbreaker, and the Germs, so I wen't headfirst into it. But mostly it was thanks to The Cure and Depeche Mood.