The Darkness

From believing in a thing called love to not letting the bells end, The Darkness have given us many sing-a-long classics, all accompanied with flame red catsuits, explosive stage shows and their fair share of rock n roll escapades. Their home town of Lowestoft not able to contain their power, they’ve toured with Metallica, Lady Gaga and the Stones amongst others. They’re back with their fourth album Last Of Our Kind. And they ARE the last of their kind. Rock n roll heroes that pull no punches. They play two Norwich venues in two days this month, and I spoke to guitarist Dan Hawkins about coping with his brother Justin’s substance abuse, how influential Suffolk has been to their music and their incredible stage outfits.

Did you and Justin grow up listening to rock music?

Well, our parents were really into everything from Bowie, T Rex, Rolling Stones to Blondie and ABBA. Our education in that respect was pretty cool - in particular I would say there isn't anything in my Dad's record collection back then that isn't in mine today! We both listened to and played in local Lowestoft rock covers band from as early as age 12.

The Darkness first got together 15 years ago. What was the Lowestoft music scene like back then? Did you often come up to Norwich for gigs and nights out?

Even after I'd moved to London I would return to Lowestoft regularly - nearly every weekend for the first year in fact! Norwich would be the go-to for the bigger gigs at the Waterfront and other venues but generally there were always bands playing at the Lady Of The Lake, Forbes Brewery and not to forget the indie disco at the Claremont Pier! Actually my first gig as a guitarist was playing a Squeeze cover with Justin and his pal Tree Frog at Forbes Brewery.  We went under the name Some Enchanted Evening.

What was the moment when you realised you might be able to have a career in music?

I think it was when I saw Queen live at Wembley Stadium show on VHS in 1986 or '87. I was about 10 years old and there were 90,000 people, a Queen helicopter and the whole show was just phenomenal. I was very shy at 10, but even back then I thought this is what I want to do when I grow up.

Your stage show earned you a lot of fans early on, before you’d even been signed. What was the inspiration behind your glamorous rock n roll performance on stage?

It wasn't all glamour back then! We just used whatever we could get our hands on. I remember selling out the Astoria (RIP) in London unsigned and with no budget at all and building ramps and stuff out of empty flightcases and tables that were lying around. As far as the outfits, it was generally ladies wear from Camden Market. I think we just wanted to stick out and make an effort - we all hated the fact that all the bands at that time looked like they worked in Burtons - nothing wrong with that by the way. It wasn't cool to make an effort but we didn't care!

How did it make you feel that some people thought you were a bit of a joke band? You must’ve felt vindicated when your debut album went straight to number 2 in the charts and you got to tour with Metallica!

It bugged me that the labels wouldn't touch us because they couldn't work it out. Shows you how many idiots work in the music industry! Yeah we've toured with the best - Metallica, the Rolling Stones, Alice Cooper, Deep Purple the list goes on and on. People have forgotten that rock 'n' roll is very much about kicking arse and having fun, which we still do on a nightly basis. The people who don't get this - will never understand rock 'n' roll.

It must have been really tough for you when Justin suffered from substance abuse and had to go to rehab. How did you cope?

I gave up drinking, and smoking and tried to clear my head over a period of a year. What I didn't realise until I had sobered up was that we were all in a pretty bad way. I am so proud of Justin and what he has achieved - he is living proof that you can fight your demons and beat them - in style.

I know you have a song called Black Shuck, but in what other ways has your home county of Suffolk influenced you as a band?

Wow, too many to mention. As mentioned before, the local music scene in Lowestoft helped Jus and I develop hugely. We have written about The Tollund Man, Sutton Hoo, and more recently about the Viking Invasion of East Anglia.  We feel that Lowestoft's literal 'end of the line' location has made us feel like underdogs from day one…which has served us very well!

What’s your writing process as a band?

Currently we all play in a circle and I will record us as we do. I will shout out the title or theme of the song and then we all have to improvise on the spot. It generally starts with a riff or chord sequence…where those come from is anybody's guess! We do this in weekly intense sessions - we try to do it in a different country each time. The last one was southern Spain and it spawned 23 songs!