The Darkness

The Darkness means three words in the language of BBM- BRITISH. GLAM. ROCK. This band has been through it all over the past decade, with over a million ‘quadruple platinum’ album sales, rehab and a reformation. Having scooped up Brit Awards, Kerrang! Awards and winning the VH1 ‘The 100 Greatest Hard Rock Songs’ with ‘I Believe in a Thing Called Love’, it seemed impossible for the band to not return to the world of long-haired glitter rock with a vengeance. BBM’s Frankie Salt caught up with lead singer Justin Hawkins ahead of their Australian tour..

Good evening or should I say Good morning to you Justin, how are you doing?
Not bad, not bad at all thanks for asking. And yourself?

Yeah real good thanks. How are things back in the UK?
Yeah I’m in my house in Norfolk, East Anglia and of course it’s pissing it down with rain! So you lot over in Australia definitely are not missing out! Where are you from then? Manchester is that?

(Laughing) more Derbyshire way but not too far. So how have things been for you guys since New Year?
Things have been great, been awesome. Really successful tour of the U.S, which was completely sold out. Great things happened throughout the tour. We did the whole Superbowl thing and it was just amazing to see and feel such a buzz about the band after such a long time. America just accepted us again, which was great after the split, maybe they just didn’t realize we had split ha-ha. We just fell straight back into the whole thing and it felt right.

You’ve had such a great reception coming back. How long did you guys actually split for?
About six years actually. My brother and I had a massive falling out and I think becoming a dad played a part in that also. But then we became friends again, then we became brothers again which was cool and it evolved naturally from there. As soon as we started getting on with each other again, it became obvious we should meet up with the other guys and see if they feel the same. It felt right. We would never do this for the sake of it now. At the end of the original second album campaign, the fun element had gone and that was the main thing of what we do. There was no way of getting that back and we had to give the band up which was gutting. So now it’s so important that we are back and having fun, making the audience feel good too which is the main aim for us.

Well, I remember seeing you play when I was a wee teen back at Leeds Festival. The fun element was striking on stage and you’re show was talked about for days after, just for being such a different act there at the festival. You guys were obviously having the best time in the world, how do you think the band has changed since then? Obviously the band and your music has evolved…
Well I actually believe that we are a lot better now. We were just sat having a drink in the Hard Rock Café when we were in America and they started playing old rock videos of bands. They were playing videos from 2004, so we were watching ourselves and we looked static. At the time you think you’re going for it, but then when you watch back you realize that you probably weren’t giving it your all. Nowadays, we mean serious business, we’re not battling with absolutely raging hangovers and we are just generally a lot fitter (laughing). We used to call our gigs “medical miracles”. And they were. We used to spend the first two songs sweating out the hangovers and then it was all about just getting through it. It’s just not like that nowadays.

Ha-Ha, so you lot are much better behaved now?
(Laughing) yeah, in some ways!

So if you weren’t making the music nowadays, what do you think you would be doing? What have you been up to for the last six years? Were you still playing and producing music?
Yeah, I was part of a band in the Darkness gap. My passion has always been and will always be to make music. We made three albums during that time and then I coproduced the new Darkness album. The band will always come first.

Yeah, that’s what shines through on the stage for your fans. So you’re coming over to Australia soon?
Yeah very soon, I’ve just had my first tanning session. Bring it on. (laughing)

Haha! You guys are so glamorous!
Yeah, maybe not so much haha.

So what music influenced you the most when you were younger?
My parents were always big music fans. I can pretty much say that the basics of my music collection was theirs. From Pink Floyd to everything that was cool throughout that era. They had guitars, which was enough to be around when we were younger. They were also big party animals. I can always remember them having parties and playing music really loud so we couldn’t get sleep. I think that influenced more than they ever thought it would!

So where abouts did you grow up in the UK?
We basically grew up…oh oh my one year old is tapping me ha-ha! (So that’s what you have been up to since the band split). We were born in Surrey and grew up there until I was 3. Then we moved into the real countryside. We were real country bumpkins. We lived in a caravan until we could afford to move into the house that was being built. It was a 6-mile bus ride to primary school, we were real country folk and then we got to a point that the rural upbringing wasn’t really working as we were getting bullied. Social skills were difficult as we were so far from other kids. So we moved more into the town and we started playing music.

Could you ever imagine being anything other than a rock star?
Well when I was really young, I thought that I was going to be a tractor driver or a truck driver.

Wow, you really are a country bumpkin (laughing). What’s coming up for you guys then? Australia is quickly closing in….
We come over in May and we are only doing a short tour. I genuinely wish we were coming over for much longer, it seems so rushed. We are missing out on going to Perth and I love that place. We will be back again as soon as we can though. Australia has always been so good to us.

Well, keep making the music and keep it glam, thanks so much for the chat!
No worries, cheers, thanks for your time!

The Darkness Tour Dates:
May 5th 2012- Panthers, Newcastle, NSW
May 6th 2012- University of NSW, Roundhouse, Kensington, NSW
May 8th 2012- Palace Theatre, Melbourne

Listen to The Darkness’ latest single ‘Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us’ below:

And why not check out What’s On in Sydney… click HERE

By Frankie Salt