Inspired #348 - DC Gore
DC Gore releases his debut solo single ‘California’ - a synth driven melancholic track. He took a moment to talk to us about the inspirations behind his music.
Who are your top three musical inspirations and why?
Talk Talk
I could have picked Pet Shop Boys as they probably had the biggest influence on my writing, but discovering "Spirit of Eden" completely turned me upside down as to what the possibilities were. Hollis’ unwavering commitment to making the music he wanted to make still inspires me; he even managed to help me reconcile my interest in Jazz and Classical music, for which I (if not the people around me) would thank him.
John Grant
Pulp made me feel ok about using humour, self-depreciation and one liners in my music but JG made me double down on it. I used to listen to a lot of singer songwriters, and I don’t know if it’s an English thing but the level of sincerity always stuck in my craw. I just can’t handle it. That Whitney Houston song "the greatest love of all", I hate that song.
The Roches
Just incredible song writing. I do love Country and Americana and the fact that their two most well-known albums were produced by quintessential Englishman Robert Fripp just makes me love them even more.
Is there a certain film that inspires you and why?
‘Crash’ or ‘Until the End of the World’ probably. Wim Wenders gave me the big sky and the perspective of Americana that only a European could have, but ‘Crash’ is the one I think. I love David Cronenberg, but I don’t think he really captures what I love about J.G. Ballard. He gets the sexual stuff but not the humour, the doddery English man not quite getting it and just stumbling through all the insanity. It’s where a lot of my favourite comedy comes from; 'local man ruins everything' sort of vibe. The situationism and the absurdity is what really appeals to me. Being a writer is often being a voyeur and Ballard made me feel ok about this.
What city do you find the most inspiring and why?
I know London better than anywhere but Manchester is my spiritual home. My family are all from there but as I grew up in a London Satellite, it had a sort of exoticism which has never left me. It is one of the great sadness’s of my life that no matter how many Paul Morley books or Smiths records I digest I will always be from a small commuter town with an M25 junction.
Who is the most inspiring person to you and why?
David Berman is probably the person I go back to more than any other. He connected a lot of things for me, poetry and music and a way of looking at my own inadequacy with humour. I suppose he gave me something to hope for and when my oldest friend passed away in 2019, I took his first name as my middle name, something which Berman did too.
What were your inspirations when writing your new track?
American Television. I didn’t get a TV till I was a teenager and so I always wonder if I relate to it in a slightly different way to most people. There’s a lot of references to TV shows in the song and one of the lines “just because I’m reading Rousseau doesn’t mean I can’t quote Scrubs” came from a break-up argument I was having. Like a lot of ex-pat writers I admire, I think there’s something about going abroad that can really distil your sense of being English. I’ve never felt more pasty and Alan Bennett-esque than standing on Venice Beach.
How would you like to inspire people?
I’m not big on inspiration but I know that being brutally and uncompromisingly honest was something that gave me a lot of comfort in the people I looked up to. I suppose I hope that by doing the same I get to be part of the shared tapestry of language that connects us. Perhaps one day someone from a nondescript London border town will listen to my music and think - I could do that.
