The Spark Parade

Singer and musician Lubalin has been infatuated with Steven Spielberg's classic sci-fi family movie E.T. The story's emotional depth and (for a kids movie) surprisingly complex character development stuck with him from the moment he first saw it as a child through to adulthood. The production design and overall aesthetic have had a big impact on his own work and have informed his approach to conne...

GRAMMY-Award winning songwriting and composing duo, Barlow & Bear (Emily Bear and Abigail Barlow) have been breaking boundaries in musical theater by independently carving their own path in the heavily male dominated space. Part of their success is their vastly different tastes and influences, as evidenced by their Spark choices. Abigail absolutely loves Katy Perry's breakout album One Of The...

Bastille front man Dan Smith first saw Scream as a pre-teen and instead of being terrified, he was instantly hooked on the horror genre. It was also his gateway to a whole world of cinema, including films by directors like David Lynch and Stanley Kubrick. Scream had a huge influence on his approach to music making, helping him to infuse his work with references from other mediums. The Spark Parade...

Singer and songwriter Rosie Lowe became infatuated with Erykah Badu's second album Mama's Gun at an early age. She's continued to love its eclectic musicality and powerful melodies into adulthood. But it's the lyrics that hit her the hardest. Badu talks about body image, heartbreak, motherhood and other weighty topics with humor and joy. It's a combination that has had a profound impact on Lowe bo...

The Spark Parade is a podcast that dives deep into the films and albums that have inspired today’s creative icons. Hosted by Adam Unze, each episode features a unique conversation with an artist about their chosen film or album, and how it sparked their artistic journey. Follow us on social media: Instagram/Bluesky/TikTok: @sparkparade Subscribe, rate, and leave a review wherever you listen! For m...

Irish singer, songwriter and musician Orla Gartland has always been fascinated by Imogen Heap's unique approach to music making. Her use of ambient sounds and new technologies has always pushed Heap's work to the forefront of the musical landscape. Gartland is enamored of Heap's lyrics and her forward thinking production and has taken inspiration from both in her own work. The Spark Parade is a po...

Singer/songwriter KIMBRA loves the creativity and experimentation that runs through The Love Below, Andre 3000's half of Outcast's monster hit double album Speakerboxxx/The Love Below. She loves his fearlessness and its served as a model in the creation of her own work. Andre 3000 took a left turn from hip hop to genre's including r'n'b, soul and jazz. The experiment paid of an the double album ha...

Maxïmo Park front man Paul Smith's first CD purchase was George Michael's legendary album Listen Without Prejudice Vol 1. The album imprinted itself on his brain because of Michael's skill as a lyricist and musician. But he was also infatuated with the album's weirdness. Excluding the hit single Freedom '90, it's an album full of ballads and meandering melodies. It was a radical act for one of the...

Travis front man Fran Healy first heard about the Academy Award nominated film Aftersun in an interview about the importance of music in film. This reference would resonate through Healy's relationship with the film. It spoke to him and sunk into his consciousness in a way that only music had done before. He watched Aftersun over and over, getting something new from the narrative and performances...

Singer, songwriter and producer Noga Erez first taste of Kendrick Lamar's masterpiece To Pimp A Butterfly came when its smash hit single Alright was played for her on the set of one of her music videos. From there, she quickly became infatuated with the beats, rhymes and broad range of sonic influences evident in each of To Pimp A Butterfly's tracks. She's drawn inspiration from Lamar's work for h...

The Killer's Game director JJ Perry has idolized Jackie Chan's work throughout his adult life, but it was Chan's career defining film Armor Of God that cemented Perry's devotion to his work. Chan's dedication to his craft, complete fearlessness and infectious joy provided Perry with a template for his career as a stuntman and film director, a template that he continues to apply to his work to this...

Singer/songwriter Ashe sits down with Adam to talk about her Spark, Carole King's record breaking, earth shattering, emotionally devastating masterpiece Tapestry. Ashe talks about the direct impact Tapestry had on her songwriting and the inspiration she drew from it while composing her highly anticipated new album Wilson. The Spark Parade is a podcast that dives deep into the films and albums that...

FOALS and Yannis & The Yaw front man Yannis Philippakis was hooked on the singular sounds of Pixies legendary debut album Surfer Rosa from the first time he heard it. Since becoming a musician himself, Surfer Rosa has influenced the way he plays guitar and his approach to writing and recording music. His personal connection to the album even extends to a stint as Kim Deal's pen pal! The Spark...

Singer, songwriter, producer and engineer Sam Evian has always loved The Beatles music, but seeing Peter Jackson's epic Beatles documentary had a profound effect on the way he makes music. The live to tape recording style used by the band (everyone in the same room playing together live) inspired Evian's preferred production set up and laid the groundwork for the recording of his latest album Plun...

Nick Carpenter, better known as Medium Build, has been a huge Weird Al Yankovic fan since childhood and he clearly remembers getting Yankovic's tenth album Running With Scissors as soon as it was released. Carpenter loves Yankovic's humor, the way he blends multiple musical genres and his daring use of instruments that are rarely found in pop music like the accordian. Medium Build's latest album C...

Musical comedian Sarah Hester Ross loves School Of Rock's... music and comedy, which has (perhaps obviously) had a huge impact on her career path. She really admires Jack Black's warm, funny performance, but also recognizes his skilled musicianship and incredible improvisations. Catch Sarah at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival this August with her show Sarah Hester Ross Is What? and her special Don't...

Singer, songwriter and front woman of the band Rainbow Kitten Surprise, first saw the film Scott Pilgrim Vs The World as a teenager while living in her home state of North Carolina. She loved the energy of the music and the film's depiction of queerness. The way the onscreen bands played their interest has had an effect on her own playing throughout her career. The new Rainbow Kitten Surprise albu...

Bethenny Frankel doesn't really watch much TV, but she found The Handmaid's Tale during the pandemic and was so drawn to its compelling performances and topical themes that she breezed through the entire series. Bethenny finds The Handmaid's Tale to be both a cautionary tale about the world we could be heading towards and a reflection of the world in which we live. Bethenny appears in the Lifetime...

Singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Judith Hill has loved Captain EO, the Michael Jackson starring short film that accompanied an attraction at Disney's theme parks, since she was a small child. She loves it's message of spreading joy and positivity through music and has used those principles throughout her career. The first of a two part Tribeca Film Festival series kicks off with a look...

Singer, songwriter and queer icon Daphne Guinness first listened to David Bowie's sensational fourteenth album Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps) when she bought it with her saved up pocket money as a child. Little did she know she'd later work with the man himself on her own debut album! Scary Monsters provided a template for Guinness' musical output, her work ethic in the studio and her willingne...

Singer/songwriter Girli started watching the classic Reese Witherspoon movie Legally Blonde as a small child and loved that it embraced a traditionally girlie femininity while still embraces feminist principles like the right to self-determination and self-sufficiency. Legally Blonde mostly adheres to a romantic comedy structure and Girli loved that the romance wasn't between two people, but rathe...

This week on  The Spark Parade , the multi-talented  Maya Hawke  celebrates Chaos Angel by diving into an old, and we mean  old , piece of art that has remained a source of inspired for years -- Euripides' classic Greek tragedy  The Bacchae.  Listen now. Hawke first became aware of Euripides, expectedly, in school. As a teen, she appeared in a high school product...

Singer/songwriter Sasha Alex Sloan was so taken by the limited series Fleishman Is In Trouble that it inspired a song on her new album Me Again. Sloan connected with the series' themes of facing middle age, the breakdown of relationships and the pressures put on women to be all things at once. Be sure to check out Me Again which is out now and learn more about Sasha Alex Sloan here . The Spark Par...

Shannon and The Clams vocalist Shannon Shaw has been drawn to Patsy Cline's smooth, sad, devastating voice since she was a small child and the songs on Patsy Cline's 12 Greatest Hits have had a huge impact on her own songwriting. The desperation in the storytelling, the songs' soaring bridges and choices in Cline's vocal delivery have provided a writing and performing template for Shaw. The album...

Dark Matter author, screenwriter, and showrunner Blake Crouch was more than familiar with Cormac McCarthy's bleak but beloved novel  No Country for Old Men  by the time the Coen brothers adapted it for the big screen. Even still, those dang Coens blew his expectations out of the water. On this episode of  The Spark Parade , Crouch gushes about the film  No Country for Old...