Full Summary for Rise to Fame:

Sometimes hitting it big isn't easy. Sometimes it is. Sometimes it comes down to pure chance and being in the right place at the right time. It's always hard work. Three bands from three cities meet in a Battle of the Bands competition and embark on a journey together through the trials and tribulations of the music industry. Axel/Saïx with eventual Axel/Roxas, Sora/Riku and several other pairings. Great big music industry AU set mostly in Chicago with stops in Detroit, Anaheim, and other locations across the United States. Takes place in the year 20XX. Rated M for sex, drugs & rock and roll.

Rise to Fame: Chapter Track List
These are the songs that the lyrics I use for the chapter titles come from.

1. "Too Drunk to Fuck" Dead Kennedys link
2. "Warm Winds of Santa Ana Feel All Right" Rancid - Brad Logan (California Sun) link
3. "Took a Wrong Turn Wound Up in Michigan" Kimya Dawson - Tire Swing link
4. "Used to be Love Drunk Now I'm Hungover" Boys Like Girls - Love Drunk link
5. "Welcome to Chicago, Motherf_ckers" Kill Hannah link

Rise to Fame: Track List
These are the songs that make appearance within the body of the fic.

1. Nirvana - In Bloom link (ch. 3)
2. The Smiths - There is a Light That Never Goes Out link (ch. 3)
3. The Beatles - You Really Got a Hold on Me link (ch. 3)

I'm not going to list all the music I listen to while writing cause it's a lot, it varies and it's all on

Rise to Fame: Band Influences
This list should be looked as the bands' influences not as "this is what they sound like exactly!" But I think by listening to/watching these it will help fuel your imagination in really grasping what they might sound like. Most of this will be interspersed throughout the fic, but it's all here for quick reference.

Eight-Finger Dichotomy
To get a general idea of what of what they sound like, check out these various rock songs that feature an electric sitar:
Green Day - Extraordinary Girl link // Rolling Stones - Paint it Black link // Metallica - Wherever I May Roam link // Aerosmith - Taste of India link // U2 - Fast Cars link // Alice In Chains - What The Hell Have I link // Disturbed - Stupify link // Guns N' Roses - Pretty Tied Up link // Megadeth - A Secret Place link // Alanis Morissette - Knees of My Bees link // Type O Negative - Less Than Zero link // Nightwish - The Siren link (bits and pieces)

Check out this guy's stuff, he's got some really neat sitar and guitar made to sound like a sitar sounds: link
Favorites include: link // link

This guy talks too much, but it's some good information on the Rogue electric sitar: link

Demyx has a Rogue electric sitar, an NS/Stick set to bass tunings, a basic electric guitar, an electric acoustic guitar tuned to produce sitar-like sounds, multiple effects pedals and does a lot of eight-finger tapping. Youtube has many many examples of these.

Saïx has a drum kit with the standard rock setup. Naminé has a keyboard, synth and sampler that she uses.

Twilight Blaze
The White Stripes - pretty much any song of theirs featuring guitar and not keyboard
Local H - Bound For The Floor link // California Songs link
The Black Keys - 10 A.M. Automatic link // Your Touch link

Roxas's has bass pickups on his electric guitars and he utilizes effects pedals. Xion has drum kit with the standard rock setup.

Paopu
Pop-punk (I really could have linked their entire catalogs, but that'd be really time consuming.
Blink-182 - The Rock Show link
Boys Like Girls - Love Drunk link
The Academy Is... - About a Girl link
Surf Punk
The Queers - Punk Rock Girls link // Don't Back Down link // I Can't Get Over You link // Day Dreaming link // F_ck This World link
Dead Kennedys - Too Drunk to Fuck link // Police Truck link
Rancid - Brad Logan (California Sun) link

I wanted to show some good examples of the surf rock influenced punk rock, but Paopu is fun SoCal pop-punk with a hint of that surf punk sound.

Riku has a few bass guitars. Kairi has a few electric guitars and utilizes effects pedals. Sora has a drum kit with the standard rock setup.

I hope all of this gives you a clearer picture of their sounds.