Sydney musician Jack R Reilly has gained a reputation his for live shows, and his habit of referencing films both in-song and onstage. Naturally, the next step was to make an EP based upon that.
Video Tapes explores areas of love, relationship and identity, and it does so through the scope of four films: Beetlejuice, Clerks, Labyrinth, and Edward Scissorhands. Jack has detailed the influence each of them has had on his work below, giving us his own take on what makes each one a classic.
The record is out on October 6th, but you can stream the album below right now, and read up on Jack’s ruminations on Jareth the Goblin King.
Strange and Unusual
Film: Beetlejuice
The first song I wrote as Jack R Reilly was a song called ‘Lydia’. It was a love song dedication to Winona Ryder’s character of Lydia Deetz in Beetlejuice. Seven years later, and the adoration is still prevalent. Although this isn’t a love song, she is still the inspiration behind this one. The song is set just before her character decides that she wants to spend her eternity in the afterlife with The Maitlands, the family who are haunting the Deetz family home.
I wanted the track to convey a sort of innocent naivety, and the possibility that although Lydia’s guilt might be a little misplaced, she still feels it so much. That’s something I really connected to.
Title Dictates Behaviour
Film: Clerks
I have had an unwavering love and support for Kevin Smith since the age of eight. Kevin Smith is so important to me as an artist, I find him endlessly motivating and endlessly inspirational. So, there was always going to be some kind of Kev inspired track on here. This one in particular is set just after Clerks ends, with the idea that the two lead characters Dante and Randal actually desperately need each other.
With the protagonist of the film being Dante, and the resolution being that he has to make changes in his life, to me it seems like he’s aspiring to be more like Randal – more confident, self-aware and with a more relaxed attitude to life.
The song itself is playing with the idea that Randal reciprocates these feelings and desires change himself. He aspires to grow up a little and take life a little more seriously, like Dante. I feel that that’s a fairly universal feeling – everyone else is killing it, while we are struggling. Grass is greener and all that.
I Ask For So Little
Film: Labyrinth
From being mesmerised with him playing Jareth in Labyrinth, to being in hysterics watching him sing “See his Pug-nosed face! Pug-pug! Pug-Pug!” on Extras, to falling in love with his music throughout, I grew up with David Bowie all around me. I’m still sort of processing his death, and I don’t think I’ll ever really be able to. No other artist has been woven into my DNA quite like he has. So, this song is basically just a tribute to him.
The lyrics kind of suggest that the lead character Sarah who is stuck in the Labyrinth develops a sort of affection for Jareth, the Goblin King responsible for putting her there. I also really wanted to try and capture Jareth’s perspective in the whole thing too, so the bridge does that.
Sometimes You Still Catch Me Dancing
Film: Edward Scissorhands
This was the first track I wrote for the EP. I think that shows when listening to it. It captures me in that state of still sort of exploring what I wanted to do. This is the most direct of the songs, and is basically just a conversation between the characters Edward and Kim. I wanted to convey the idea of them just reflecting on their time together. That reflective feeling I get from the song was the reason I wanted to close the EP with this track.
