The moment Black Francis was inspired to become a musician
Charles ‘Black Francis’ Thompson, the iconic frontman of Pixies, is undoubtedly one of the most important luminaries of alternative rock as it exists in the modern day. Fronting Pixies, Francis brought unique identity to elusive and often comical lyrical compositions while his bandmates helped to establish the group’s characteristic loud–quiet instrumental dynamics.
Perhaps Pixies’ most direct and influential disciples were Nirvana. In the early 1990s, Kurt Cobain listed 50 albums that inspired Nirvana the most. Pixies’ Surfer Rosa appeared at number two on the list, accompanied on another page by the following note: “I was completely nihilistic up until about four or five years ago when I first heard this. It changed my attitude. It made me finally admit, after being into punk rock for so many years, that I finally liked other styles as well. It made me finally admit that I’m a music lover.”
Other notable musicians inspired by Francis’ pioneering work include Radiohead, PJ Harvey, U2, The Strokes, Weezer, Arcade Fire, Pavement, and David Bowie, who covered Pixies’ song ‘Cactus’ on his 2002 studio album, Heathen.
In turn, Francis was inspired by a colourful array of musical heroes during his rise to prominence. David Bowie, R.E.M, The Velvet Underground, Iggy Pop, Talking Heads and Captain Beefheart are among Francis’ early influences, but at the very beginning, his fascination with music was sparked by a drum kit.
“When I was about five years old, I think,” Francis revealed in an interview with The Talks. “I saw some drums in the window of a house of a neighbour. I heard the sounds. I didn’t know what the sound was, but when it was quiet one day, I looked in the window to see where the sound was coming from, and I saw that there were these things that I would eventually learn was a drumset, drums. I think at the time, that’s when I knew that I wanted to be associated with this kind of activity.”
With the dream ignited, Francis grew up an avid consumer of music and made moves to become a musician. Asked whether the dream was difficult to pursue, Francis replied: “At times, it’s been difficult to maintain it, but in the beginning, it took me about one or two years before I was officially a working musician. It did not seem like it would be very hard. It came very naturally.”
“I listened to music, I wrote some music. I can’t say that my attitude was necessarily ambitious,” he added.
Watch Black Francis perform one of his earliest filmed sets with Pixies in 1986 below.
