Q&A:
David Cale Who are your earliest influences? Bette Midler, Joseph Chaikin, Samuel Beckett , Judy Garland, Sam Shepard, Harold Pinter, Ntozake Shange, John Guare, Laurie Anderson, Joni Mitchell.
Which musician inspires you? I love the band The National. Aaron and Bryce Dessner compose the music, and Matt Berninger and his wife Carin Besser write the lyrics. I’m inspired by Taylor Swift’s productivity and growth.
Where is the best place to write?
“Seeing Bette
My house upstate New York.
Do you get writers’ block? No, I don’t get it. I have periods where I’m
perform in London in more productive than others, but so far, I haven’t ground to a halt. (Tempting fate the late ’70s was what saying that!) really inspired me What gives you comfort or peace? to do theatre, to try Poetry. Langston Hughes, Lucille Clifton, and affect people Mary Oliver, Rumi, etc. South Park and the way she was affilm noirs oddly relax me. And listening DAVID CALE'S to Billie Holiday. 10-SONG PLAYLIST: fecting me. It was If you could have any singer perform kind of incredible Shirley Horn "Here's to Life" your songs, who would it be? John Prine "Hello in There" that 10 years later Harry Styles. Joni Mitchell "Amelia" I’d be a guest on Marvin Gaye "What's Going On?" Where do you find inspiration for a story? Leonard Cohen "A Thousand Kisses Deep" her HBO special.” A romance. Joan Armatrading "Love and Affection" What solo performers inform your work? Laurie Anderson, Karen Finley, John O’Keefe — his show Shimmer, Spalding Gray, Marie
PHOTO COURTESY DAVID CALE
Brassard, a Canadian artist . Her piece David Cale and Bette Midler at the screen-
Jimmy was a big influence on Harry Clarke.
ing party for the HBO
What excites you most about revisiting Harry Clarke with the original team?
Special Bette Midler’s
Watching Billy and Leigh work together
Mondo Beyondo, Pal-
and seeing where Billy ’s extraordinar y
ette Restaurant, Los
performance will go. It grows and grows and
Angeles, March 9, 1988
grows. It’s a living thing.
Aretha Franklin "Until You Come Back to Me (That’s What I’m Gonna Do)" Joni Mitchell "Judgement of the Moon and Stars (Ludwig’s Tune) " Moby "The Sky Is Broken" Moby "My Weakness"
LISTEN TO THE DAVID CALE PLAYLIST:
2023/24 | ISSUE 3 | 9
