Inspired #241 - Saccades
Manchester-based artist Saccades has just release ‘Flowing Fades’ - which is filled with indie pop synths and dreamy vocals. He took a moment to talk to us about the inspirations behind his music.
Who are your top three musical inspirations?
My musical inspirations change daily, so for this I’ll keep them classic and simple.
First of all I’ll go with George Harrison; his contributions to the Beatles are some of my favourite songs of theirs and out of the 4 I like his solo material the best. I can imagine it must have been pretty tough trying to get creative ideas across in a band with Lennon & McCartney for years.
Next I would say Arthur Lee – the mythology around Love and his songwriting is something I’ve always admired and ‘Forever Changes’ is still one of my favourite albums.
Lastly I’ll go with Jeff Lynne – he’s still going strong after over 50 years and as Alan Partridge said “ELO are the band The Beatles could have been…”
Is there a certain film that inspires you?
I remember the first time I watched A Clockwork Orange when I was younger; I was so fascinated that i re-watched it straight after it finished. Everything about it was and is still inspiring to me – the design, the locations, the music, and of course, the original story.
I just love that early 70’s era of British cinema along with films such as The Devils, Straw Dogs, Get Carter, O Lucky Man etc.
What city do you find the most inspiring?
There are a few cities that i find inspiring for various reasons; history, architecture, nightlife etc. all help, but I wouldn’t say there’s one that stands out, because there’s always a bad and uninspiring element to every city - particularly when it comes to affordability these days.
As exciting as a city can be, I find getting out and reflecting on them triggers more creative inspiration for me.
Who is the most inspiring person to you?
I think I’m going to have to be cheesy here and say my wife, Kat. Nothing is more inspiring than to be able to share the experience of creating art and travelling the world with someone.
What were your inspirations when writing your new album?
Moving back to the UK from Berlin initially inspired it and then after that our US tour provided a lot of new inspiration - the epic landscapes and endless driving provided a lot of time for contemplation on what I wanted to do with the songs. Finally, lockdown and the associated peace and paranoia were a big influence on how the album ended up sounding.
How would you like to inspire people?
I didn’t get into music through having a famous parent or money, unlike a few of the bands you see these days - I started out making music for fun with friends and on my own In my bedroom, so to be able to have released so many albums and toured all over the world for the last decade is amazing and I hope that might inspire someone to pursue what they like doing.