Cameron Crowe Recounts David Bowie’s ‘Seismic Effect’ on Music

TCA 2016: “He was the most generous and exciting interview subject that I was ever allowed a lot of time with,” filmmaker and former music journalist says

David Bowie performs with a guitar in 2004
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Cameron Crowe took some time out from the “Roadies” Television Critics Association panel on Tuesday to discuss his experiences with the late rock legend David Bowie.

David Bowie‘s impact was so huge that he presents himself as a role model to artists to remind them that it’s not about branding,” Crowe said. “It’s about this restless need to be creative. … David Bowie was the anti-branding artist. And for a musician or young artist or anybody coming up, it’s great to look to Bowie at the seismic effect he had on people.”

Crowe revealed that when he was working as a music journalist for publications like Rolling Stone in the mid 1970s, Bowie reached out to him to do an interview. That interview turned into a six-month engagement, in which Bowie granted Crowe unfettered access to his creative process.

“He was the most generous and exciting interview subject that I was ever allowed a lot of time with,” Crowe said. “There were no limits. Everything was discussed. He said, ‘Ask me anything.’”

Crowe also praised Bowie for his refusal to conform to mainstream expectations, forging his own path and blazing a trail for young artists in modern music.

“The amazing thing I came away with was, even then … he was always obsessed with music and art, never the business,” Crowe said. “He always shook it up and always served the gods of creativity.”

Crowe is currently serving as the writer, director and executive producer of the Showtime series “Roadies,” which follows the road crew of an arena rock band. The show will premiere on Showtime in the summer of 2016.

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