On 1 November 2022, the university was extremely fortunate to welcome the singer-songwriter Dan Gillespie Sells. As part of the first Inclusive Sussex: In Conversation with event, Dan discussed the importance of inclusivity and identity within the arts. Alongside Dan, the panel consisted of David Ruebain, Kate O'Riordan and Sharon Webb.

An award-winning songwriter, Dan is the lead singer of the band The Feeling; having worked alongside artists such as Becky Hill and Chaka Khan. Dan has received a variety of awards for his involvement in the arts, such as the 2015 Stonewall Award for Entertainer of the Decade and the 2017 Best Composer at The Stage Debut Awards. However, many students will know Dan due to him composing for the musical Everybody’s Talking About Jamie. This made waves within both the arts industry and the LGBTQ+ community, as the musical follows 16-year-old Jamie Campbell, as he overcomes prejudice whilst exploring his gender expression. The musical has since been a resounding success, with Dan noting it has productions across the globe. It was also developed into a 2021 film.

Pieces such as Everybody’s Talking About Jamie, greatly contrast with some of Dan’s early experiences within the industry. He discussed how his early gigs were ‘quite a macho environment’ containing a lot of ‘sniffiness against pop music.’ When asked what signalled this change Dan remarked ‘It [pop music] became successful, that's what changed.’ Relating specifically to pop music, Dan discussed how ‘most people don’t want to work for their art. Most people are too busy!’ This sort of easy, joyful listening would often invoke harshness from the press: ‘there’s a sniffiness for anything that isn’t for white blokes of a certain class.’

Through the panel, Dan discussed the relationship between his upbringing to his art. He noted: ‘Being political informs the way I do things. It doesn’t inform the art… The end goal isn’t to make a political piece of work…There’s politics in my work because of who I am.’ Despite his immense involvement in disability, women’s and LGBTQ+ movements, Dan does not consider himself an activist, instead considering the political elements of his work as ‘a bi-product of [him] wanting to make art.’

Highlighting this cause and effect within art allowed Dan to discuss the importance of story-telling. He argued that ‘everything we do tells a story’ and noted the danger of this due to the world consisting of endless competing narratives. However, he contended that the arts allow us to make sense of these different narratives and see the bigger picture. This ‘stepping back’ allows us to understand how ‘we are much more connected than we think.’

Dan developed this through discussing identity formation. The panel discussed how you cannot forge an identity alone, rather your identity exists in relation to others. This interconnectivity resonated with Ruebain as he noted the cultural impact of HIV+ gay men allying themselves with the disability movement. Another example included Dan discussing how queerness and class interrelate, noting that ‘queerness somehow… gives you a strange shortcut to other classes…Your queerness connects you to everyone who is also queer.’ This ‘slipstream’ added to the panel’s consensus that personal identity acts as a part of a larger framework of interwoven narratives

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