7. David Bowie★
How far does Bowie go back for you?
He’s kind of always been there. Some of my best friends at school were really into Bowie, maybe at around 13, 14 I was introduced to Ziggy Stardust. Into my later teens and early twenties Low was on heavy rotation. I know this often happens when someone like that has passed away, but he does just seem to be uniquely ubiquitous as a source of inspiration. I feel with someone like Bowie, even if you’re not that deeply engaged with his output, he still remains inspiring as you can just feel this total commitment to his own creativity and to a sort of truth through that. I know that might be a funny thing to say about someone who has shape-shifted so much but I don’t see that as untruthful, I see that as a kind of questing for true expression, basically.
I still think his presence is so powerfully felt, like Prince or Grace Jones, just so otherworldly, distinctive and uncompromising in a way. You don’t get a sense that these people were pandering to anybody else’s will about how to tick a box. I wanted to put that record on, not as a kind of emotional response, but because when I heard that single, ‘Blackstar’, at the end of last year, I became so excited about hearing the record, and I just haven’t had that feeling for such a long time. It was literally like I was counting down, I just couldn’t wait. I remember watching the video and hearing the single and just going: "Fucking yes." I put the record on the list primarily for that reason, because I’m just so grateful for that feeling, and it is a rare feeling.
