Feel the ‘juice: how Tim Burton’s movies are shaping new music

In partnership with Warner Bros. UK

Tim Burton is a master of the macabre. From Edward Scissorhands’ haunting suburban nightmare to the spooky and spectacular world of new sequel Beetlejuice Beetlejuice (out September 6), the acclaimed filmmaker has been a pioneer of creepy but cool culture for nearly 40 years. His movies possess an inimitable style, and their use of music has inspired countless musicians.

To celebrate Burton’s new gothic masterpiece, we corralled some of our fave rising artists (all Burton superfans of course) to wax lyrical on the bizarre bard’s best work.

Brigitte Calls Me Baby

Heart-on-the-sleeve rock ‘n’ roll driven by a certain romance 

“As a band who turned loving Tim’s films into personality traits for most of their adolescence, it might be harder to pinpoint how Tim’s work hasn’t influenced us all creatively. An infatuation with The Cure’s music and videos, combined with an affection for the worlds of Pee-Wee’s Playhouse and Universal Monsters created the perfect through-line to Burton’s oeuvre; honest and unafraid to confront humanity, celebrating both its beauty and its gloom. His films are aesthetically off-kilter but sharp; out of step and contentedly so – all traits which are deeply instrumental themes in our sound and style. Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice, and Winona forever.”

Fave Burton cut: Beetlejuice

Lip Critic

Animalistic hardcore punk by way of euphoric 808s

Frontman Bret Kaser: “I remember watching Batman Returns as a kid and it scaring the hell out of me, but I loved it and kept wanting to watch it again and again. I loved the way the movie balanced fantasy and realism – and felt like it didn’t care if parts of it ‘made sense’ as long as they were entertaining and effective. I try to carry that same idea in the music we do with Lip Critic, never worrying about if something should or shouldn’t be in a song or performance and just thinking about if it serves our end goal.”

Fave Burton cut: Batman Returns

Friko

Peppy indie rock that promises catharsis and melodrama

Vocalist and guitarist Niko Kapetan: “One of my most influential movies creatively is The Nightmare Before Christmas. It was one of the first movies I saw as a kid because my grandparents had it on VHS so I’d always have it on while going to bed. The feeling it gave me as a child (and still does) is akin to watching Russian animator Yuri Norstein’s animation work as an adult. This dreamlike feeling that everything is always a step away from being horrifying but instead it’s very beautiful and engaging. The music video for our song ‘For Ella’ was so influenced by Tim Burton’s visual aesthetic to the point that the video’s creative director Alice Avery and I were asking ourselves constantly if something was ‘Tim Burton enough’.”

Fave Burton cut: The Nightmare Before Christmas

Ashaine White

Soaring jazz twisted into ferocious alt-rock

“One of my favourite Tim Burton works is Ed Wood. I’m a sucker for a rags-to-riches story and Burton was able to take a seemingly boring concept and force his personality into it, shaking up the biopic format for the better! You also obviously have to mention Edward Scissorhands, Corpse Bride and Alice In Wonderland, which all had teenage me in a chokehold. Tim Burton, to me, represents the outsider – he’s someone who encourages artists to follow their intuition and see their ‘otherness’ as an advantage. His ability to ensure his works mean something to him and portray depth in characters, visuals and storylines, influences me as a musician to push boundaries, dare to be different and put time and care into the details of worldbuilding when creating music.”

Fave Burton cut: Ed Wood

Heartworms

Gothic post-punk that’s finding its dancing shoes

“Ever since I first watched The Corpse Bride as a child, I’ve wanted to live in Tim Burton’s world. It was somewhere I felt I could escape to and be a cool freak with cool clothes. I feel as if his work enhances my senses – I can literally smell the rain pouring on Victor’s coat when I watch The Corpse Bride, or the mango milkshake and Bobinsky’s armpits in Coraline. It makes you feel uncomfortable, but in a safe way. My love for dark humour and imagery definitely owes a lot to him. I’m not necessarily conscious of that influence when I work, but he inspired me to want to create my own crooked world and take control of it. When I’m writing music, I’m imagining the story as a whole, not only how it sounds but also how it looks, and I’d be lying if I said I didn’t often visualise a song in Tim Burton’s world.”

Fave Burton cut: The Corpse Bride

‘Beetlejuice Beetlejuice’ is in cinemas September 6

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