“Influenced by Hemingway, The Pillowman, A Prophet. Sonic boom in love with Santigold, Gil Scot, The Triffids, Wu-Tang. Broken heart, bloody nose.” Confused? In the form of rustic, bruised garage rock, London’s DEARJOSEPH syphon the sounds and imagery of their keenest inspiration points. Set to barnstorm Dalston’s PowerLunches venue tomorrow, the four piece’s Emanuel Ross was happy to answer Wonderland’s questions…
What are you names? How and when did you form?
We began life as a friendship between Alexis Ross, the guitarist, and Piran Miller, drummer, who met in San Sebastian a couple of years back. Alexis is trying to write a book, Piran in some romantic disaster. Alexis is my brother, Piran is Guy’s brother.
Why should we cancel our plans tomorrow night and come to your show?
We think you should come on Tuesday because we’re doing something
relevant and new and original.
You seem to be influenced by literature as much as films and music – is this a fair assessment?
Other music has I would say influenced us much less than literature, art and photography. Eduardo Galeano’s way with the truth, Paul Auster’s New York trilogy, The Pillowman, the humanity of Gatsby, photography by Walker Evans of depression-era USA. Pynchon. There are so many aren’t there – you know. Maybe these lists don’t come across right.
I can’t work out what film or show your default picture is from – can you tell us? How do you go about selecting the images?
The girl in our photo is by Tom Palumbo, he’s dead now but was famous
for beautiful stuff he did in the 1950s and beyond for Getty, Vogue, Life and loads of others. This is him and his wife taken by his son. Another example of the kind of atmosphere, feeling we can relate to. Impossibly glamorous but real, human – something about trying to capture the lost moments with our music the way these writers do in different ways.
What contemporary bands do you admire?
Musical heroes nowadays maybe few and far between. Integrity, cinematic ambition, Wu Tang: insane charisma and massive threat. Alexandre Desplat soundtracks for A Prophet and Beat That My Heart Skipped; 50s Elvis; Blood On The Tracks; Born Sandy Devotional; Santigold’s Disparate Youth for the sick beat; Dirty Beaches; Pistols
in 1976.
NIGHTINGALE from DEARJOSEPH on Vimeo.
Words: Jack Mills