Twin Peaks was
a popular show in 1990-91 with a US audience of 34 million. The show’s
co-creator David Lynch was already an Oscar-nominated auteur when he set about
writing it with Mark Frost. While its game-changing cinematic qualites were
appreciated at the time, what is truly remarkable about Twin Peaks is how this otherworldly creation influences other art
forms, now more than ever.
The
cult TV show, set in 1989, concluded with an enigmatic quote from Laura
Palmer’s doppelganger: “see you again in 25
years”.
In
the show’s fictional world, that time is now.
The Sound From Another Place
Ever
since Australia became the only country to send Julee Cruise’s 'Falling' to the
top of the charts in 1991, local bands have been looting the show for
inspiration in a way only matched by the Scandinavian
metal scene. Why this is fictional town is yet to
release its grip on the Australian imagination is one of its most profound mysteries.
"There’s
something very exotic about a small town in America," says
singer-songwriter Sophia Brous, ahead of her performance in the star-studded In Dreams: David Lynch Revisited
show at London’s Barbican Theatre. "It’s a like an inverse version of Crocodile Dundee. We like stepping into
the cold austerity of a town like that, it’s like a holiday."
Isobel
Knowles, member of the Icypoles and formerly of Architecture in Helsinki,
thinks of Twin Peaks in similarly
cinematic terms.
"Australian
cinema often tells stories about people and places which seem light and happy
on the outside but have dark undercurrents," Knowles says. "This
darkness goes very deep and it’s never resolved. It’s not necessarily as overt
as Twin Peaks, but it’s always
there."
Knowles
also links the show’s setting to its Australian appeal.
"In
Twin Peaks, the forest is a giant
aspect. The Australian wilderness is inherently creepy, and having grown up in
Australia it's impossible to dissociate environment from history. Maybe this is
another reason it's so appealing to Australians."
Brous
agrees. "In Australia, we’re on this island on the other side of the world
and there’s a sense of inquiry from being far away. We’ve gravitated towards
different scenes, like the growth of punk, or industrial…the development of
someone like Nick Cave for instance. In Melbourne especially, because of stations
like RRR that represent new and interesting forms of music, there’s been
platforms for new and interesting stuff."
That Show You Like Is Going To Come
Back In Style
New
and interesting stuff is what grabs attention in local band scenes and Easter
eggs for Twin Peaks fans litter current gig guides. Psych rockers Vicuna Coat
and hardcore combo Flesh World are both named after clues in the show. The big
mystery of the series ('Who killed Laura Palmer?'), led to the name of pop-punk
act Laura Palmer.
Psych
band White Lodge and defunct shoegazers Ghostwood (whose members turn up in
Jagwar Ma) both take their names from locations in the show, while post-rockers
Laura and Adelaide country-pop quartet The Audreys are happy to let their names
suggest it. Less-obsessive fans can spot the influence in electro duo Peak
Twins.
Songs
like ‘Leo Needs a New Pair of Shoes’ by Ben Frost and ‘The Fish in the
Percolator Song’ by Hobart new wavers hMAS – both created
away from a world populated by bands looking to drop hip references – are particularly
interesting examples.
But
it’s not just about clever pop cultural references - bands are mining Twin Peaks for musical inspiration.
Melbourne
indie-pop group the Icypoles recently grabbed international
attention for their cover of 'Just You', a saccharine
love ballad written by Lynch and played by three of the show’s troubled teens.
"'Just
You' is this pop song stuck in the
middle of this beautiful, moody world," says Knowles.
"To
most people, a song is just a snapshot or a short moment, but at the same time,
it becomes its own thing after that point. This mix of pop music and cinema
matched with a lot of the work I’d been doing as an artist."
Diane, make a note
For
those who directly work with Lynch – such as the headliner of this year's DARK MOFO
festival, Chrysta Bell – there is the danger of being reduced to a muse, of his
identity overtaking their own.
"There
will be a risk of that if I don’t kill it on the new record," Bell says,
"But there is no downside to the endorsement. If I didn’t enjoy discussing
him so much then the only downside would be being asked about him more than
people ask about me. But I truly care for him and respect his talent, so that’s
not an issue. It’s a win-win."
Jazz
legend Jimmy Scott, who sings Angelo Badalamenti and Lynch’s Sycamore Trees in the series' surreal
final episode, is similarly confident about working with Lynch.
"David
Lynch saw me and wanted to use me," Scott says. "He said he liked my
aura. I didn’t understand the storyline at all. He had me in a dark room, in a
suit and bow tie singing to a dwarf," he laughs.
Where we’re from, the birds sing a
pretty song
The
show’s soundtrack lives on in music by artists like the Dunes, the Paradise
Motel, early HTRK and most bands described as ‘dream-pop’. Brous says it’s the liminal state between
dream and reality Lynch explores that so many find appealing.
“He’s
someone who’s very into the threshold between the subconscious and the
conscious. He often uses these ethereal, bell-like voices that flow in and out
of… that through you, it’s like music flowing through you. He’ll have someone
like Jimmy Scott with a strange and beautiful tone, and use these unusual
sounds. He knows the voice is naturally the most expressive instrument there
is, and that we respond to it unlike any other.”
The
unusual, always appealing to a creative and subversive arts scene that feeds on
a revered international influences like Lynch, is still yet to become usual.
With Lynch himself increasingly focusing on his own music instead of film, his
appeal to an Australian artists isn’t dying anytime soon.
As
Bell says, “any artist that really digs Lynch’s thing and delves into his work
will probably end up with some influence in her own creations. It’s such a
strong spice, it can’t help but make it’s way onto your dish. At least a few
sprinkles. Sometimes more.”
