As a band we are hugely influenced by cinema and the effect it has on you. The same way we listen to music and there are certain songs that can change your life forever, we think that is also true of film.
From heartbreak to bewilderment, the cinema can ignite emotions we never thought we had, and this has been imperative in the birth of INHEAVEN.
Here are five films that inspired our band.
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Eraserhead [David Lynch]
As everyone knows, David Lynch is a true visionary – his first feature film Eraserhead is a great example of his genius. The film took him years to make as trying to secure funding for the project was an uphill struggle, however it cemented Lynch as a cinematic giant and he has continued to produce some of the most experimental and influential pieces of cinema the world has ever seen. He pioneered the use of low level background noise in this film, there isn’t a moment of silence which is actually very unnerving.
If you want to feel things you didn’t know you had inside you, I urge you to watch this film alone with the lights off. We found the film so thought provoking that we named our band after the Lady in the Radiator song [written by Peter Ivers who was mysteriously bludgeoned to death in 1983].
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Singles [Cameron Crowe]
This was the first film we watched together, so it automatically became part of the INHEAVEN trajectory. Like Lynch, Cameron Crowe has an exceptional talent for depicting strange human emotions – and producing the best film soundtracks ever. Singles is about a group of 20-somethings growing up in Seattle in the early 1990s, and their daily struggles of being in bands, being in love, and the secrets of happiness.
The soundtrack is a compilation of all of the greatest songs from this era, featuring The Smashing Pumpkins, Mother Love Bone, Pearl Jam, Soundgarden, Paul Westerberg.
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The Graduate [Mike Nichols]
“One word – plastics”. The Graduate is the original coming of age film that explores the melancholy summer haze between finishing university and ‘real’ life. It’s the story of Ben [Dustin Hoffman] who feels overwhelmingly trapped in his parents middle class American dream, and his disturbing relationship with his father’s business partners wife/the mother of his love interest.
Some of the scenes in this film are so iconic they have since defined classic Hollywood and it’s fair to say Nichols created the best wedding scene in a film ever. Simon & Garfunkel are just the icing on the cake to this 11/10 film, which has played a big part inspiring our music video narrative.
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Dead Poets Society [Peter Weir]
Probably the best film set in a school ever. Weir captures every emotion possible in 128 minutes, and delivers a really moving and inspiring film. John Keating [Robin Williams] is the teacher that rebels against tradition and tries to motivate his class to explore the world outside of the textbook. Whilst this film is classic late 80s Hollywood, it’s got a distinct Britishness to it which I think gives it it’s ‘darkness’. Meeting in caves at night to discuss poetry with your friends seems like the only way to spend a Friday night in middle America.
Films that can be tragic and woefully optimistic at the same time are the foundations to which this band was built upon – Dead Poets Society was the blueprint for this.
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Pretty In Pink [John Hughes]
John Hughes is the godfather of coming of age cinema. Every frame he had ever shot exuded teenage emotion and fantasy. His use of fictional Chicago suburbs and creating a teenage utopia is something we have used as inspiration for pretty much everything we have created. He can do no wrong, and we could write a whole article just on his films alone. However Pretty in Pink is the one that changed the game for us. The friendship between Andie [Molly Ringwald] and Duckie [Jon Cryer] is one that every young person on the planet can identify with.
Duckie dancing around the record store so in love with Andie that he’s in pain is how we want our songs to feel when you hear them. Being an outsider, making your own clothes, being obsessed with music, being bullied at school – this film has everything you could want. A real classic piece of inspiration with yet another an incredible soundtrack.
Films we wanted to include but didn’t have space – Good Will Hunting, My Girl, Donnie Darko, Forrest Gump, The Virgin Suicides, Kes, Velvet Goldmine, Four Weddings And A Funeral, The Man Who Fell To Earth, Quadrophenia
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Catch INHEAVEN at the following shows:
September
14 Birmingham The Rainbow
15 Bath Moles
16 London Heaven w/ Sundara Karma
17 Brighton Patterns
21 Newcastle Think Tank
22 Derby Radar Love @ The Venue
23 Oxford The Bullingdon
24 Gloucester Underground Facebook
29 Nottingham Bodega
30 Liverpool Studio 2
October
1 Portsmouth Southsea Festival @ Little Johnny Russell's
5 Cardiff Clwb Ifor Bach
6 Plymouth The Underground
7 Reading Purple Turtle
8 Manchester Neighbourhood Festival
12 Glasgow O2 ABC2
13 Hull Adelphi
14 Leeds Brudenell Social Club
15 Norwich Norwich Sound & Vision
19 Guildford Boileroom
20 London Boston Music Room
21 Leicester The Cookie
22 Stockton on Tees Ku
