| Ian and Ben talk to Marshall Law magazine |
| The diversity of their influences plays a large part in the creative process of the highly original song-writing which has become a Gomez trademark. We began by asking Ian and Ben about their musical background, when they started playing and just who are their heroes and infulences? Ian: "I started playing around about 13. In terms of what I heard around the house my mum likes musicals while my dads into rock! My influences were people like Francis Rossi, Geoff Hanniman, C.C Deville and Mark Czezalik from The Red House Painters. I'm currently listeing to and early 70's CBS complilation called "Fill Your Head with Rock". Also "Mood X" by Stephen Fellows." Ben: "I started playing around 13 as well, but not really properly until I was about 16 or so. My Grandad, mum and sister all sing well, and have done so in public - for money! My dad could play most Chuck Berry tunes and would then try to solo like Jerry Garcia. I was influenced by players like Jimmy Page, Mick Mars, Slash, Ry Cooder and naturally Jerry Garcia. As we're in the studio at the moment we are very influenced by each other. Most of our songs come from being influenced by what the other guy's are playing at the time. Other than that currently it's Taj Mahal, Ali Farke Toure and Marc Ribot." The Rest of this interview is mainly Guitar based and is availabe in the early 2000 edition of Marshall Law |