Hit Different: Paul Dempsey's recollections of David Bowie
Dempsey on Bowie and "one big happy travelling family"

Music journalists Mikey Cahill and Marcus Teague talk David Bowie and Paul Dempsey's greatest memories of touring with the music icon.
Something for Kate lead singer and guitarist Paul Dempsey has had an illustrious life in music which began with his mother’s influence as a professional singer. But no moment in his career ranks better than when he got to tour with the late David Bowie and his band.
“It was such a nice time, he was just so nice and so was his whole band,” Dempsey said on the bonus episode of Hit Different.
“Every single person on his crew of around 100 people that were in the travelling party were so cool because they all loved the guy at the top that they all worked for, it was just one big travelling, happy family.”
It was a time for Dempsey to pinch himself, as his relationship with Bowie meant he was invited to tour Europe with his band in 2017 and 2018 for ‘Celebrating Bowie’. Yet his first memories with the famous performer were about his childhood reactions to Bowie’s confronting music videos, and particularly hit song ‘Ashes to Ashes’.
“I actually had the opportunity to have this conversation with Bowie and talk about that video, and what it did to me and how it scared the shit out of me when I was a small child,” Dempsey reminisced.
“He laughed at me and apologised for scaring the shit out of me, and then I told him how worried I was about him when I watched those videos.”
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We covered it on Hit Different, a weekly podcast that puts music culture in context.
But the illusion of Bowie from childhood to adulthood changed drastically for Dempsey, as he soon came to forget his fears for the icon and instead relate to him as a peer who influenced him greatly. When he was able to meet Bowie on tour, he quickly came to realise how welcoming the band was.
“At one point (on tour) I had to see a doctor in a bit of an emergency with an allergic reaction, and one of the band members told me they had a doctor and that I should just go see them,” Dempsey laughed.
“I was like, ‘so I don’t have to rush to a hospital or anything?’, and they said no and just really looked after us.”
While “so many things happened on that tour”, Dempsey would soon cherish the memories he made with the late singer. Dempsey’s brightest recollections of Bowie were of their private conversations together, where he got to see a different side to the eccentric star that proved his humble and caring nature.
“He was just so amazing at putting you at ease immediately, it was almost like a magic trick,” Dempsey said.
“In the moment, he had this miraculous ability to be a totally normal, yet extremely charming and funny person.”
“A lot of the time, when I’d be talking to him it’d be at soundchecks and he’d be wearing jeans and a T shirt and a baseball cap, and no one had ever seen that David Bowie.”
Hear the full story on Hit Different, a free weekly podcast that puts music culture in context.