From Gaelic folk to Folklore – Paul Dempsey’s musical influences

Music journalists Mikey Cahill and Marcus Teague talked to Something for Kate's Paul Dempsey about his music idols growing up on the bonus episode of Hit Different.

When Paul Dempsey was first brought into his family home, he really had no choice but to indulge in music. It surrounded him, from his older sisters’ love for different styles to his mother’s career as a professional singer.

The whole family was heavily involved with music, as Dempsey’s parents were often out every night performing unique styles. But, as the music fraternity usually does, the sounds soon filled the Something for Kate lead singer and guitarist’s home and introduced him to the industry.

“My first exposure to music was right in my house, one of my earliest memories was watching my mother and her sister sing Gaelic folk music in an Irish club that her and my stepfather ran for about ten years,” Dempsey said on the bonus episode of Hit Different.

“She did around 300 gigs a year for about ten years, and the house was always just full of musicians – half the time they would end up back at our house after shows and the concert would continue in our living room.”

With three older sisters who were all into music and all trained in opera, Dempsey quickly felt that “music was everywhere” in his life. But his tastes soon branched out when he saw David Bowie’s ‘Ashes to Ashes’ music video on Saturday mornings, as his maturing sisters’ presence soon gave him a new range of musical influences.

“My sisters were all starting to go out to gigs and stuff, they were going to see the Birthday Party and Hunters and Collectors, and I just remember stealing their cassettes and listening to their music,” Dempsey recalled.

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We covered it on Hit Different, a weekly podcast that puts music culture in context.

As he continued to grow and develop his music skills, many Australian acts gave Dempsey belief he could forge his own career in the industry. From his continued love for Hunters and Collectors, as well as seeing INXS “down the road at the Sandringham Hotel” and the constant presence of his mother’s performances, Dempsey soon came to think it all “seemed very possible” and not “some faraway fantasy land”.

One of Australia’s more influential acts in the late 20^th century, Hunters and Collectors struck a different chord with Dempsey. Instead of cherishing their hit songs, it was the lesser-known track ‘Under the Sun’ that caught his attention.

“It has this intro that slowly builds and there’s this point where it builds to a peak and everything stops before Mark Seymour just sings ‘and I still can’t get the car started’,” Dempsey said.

“It made me think the music was real and visceral and angry, and that you can express frustration – it was a real moment that still sticks with me.”

Other influences soon punctuated Dempsey’s life as he rose to fame with Something for Kate, as Nick Cave’s style quickly captured his attention. In contemporary circles, the evolving style of Taylor Swift has made Dempsey realise how unique and important music evolution can be to an artist. Yet he saves his highest praise for little known collective Buke and Gase.

“They’re a duo and they’re my favourite musical outfit currently,” Dempsey explained.

“They play these instruments that they make themselves, and they play all this percussion with their feet, they’re just furiously inventive and they’re amazing.”

Hear the full story on Hit Different, a free weekly podcast that puts music culture in context.