The Darkness
We're Not Afraid To Make Mistakes

08.07.2015

In the first few years of their career, Great Britain’s The Darkness managed to shake the world with provocative, funny and sex appealing videos, unbelievable catsuits and equally unbelievable falsetto of frontman Justin Hawkins, crazy live shows and, of course, hit songs. Going straight to the top with their debut album, falling flat with the second one, The Darkness came back with album number three in 2012 – and they apparently intend to stick to their guns this time around. A new album, “Last Of Our Kind”, released in June 2015, confirms the band’s readiness to keep on blinding the public with their darkness until the very end. We reached out to bassist Frankie Poullain to discuss the band's current state of affairs, and he got up close and personal from the first seconds:

Where are you calling from?

Moscow…

Good. Last time we were in Moscow was late 2012 with Lady Gaga. We were her support then.

Did you enjoy it?

Yes. It was our second gig in Russia. The first one was in St. Petersburg. Yeah, it was cool. What I remember is that the next day I went to a supermarket and bought some caviar. It was the last concert of the tour and I wanted to bring home something worthwhile. But when I got home I realized that the caviar was past sell-by date. So it’s probably the worst present I’ve ever bought anybody. But that’s my fault. I didn’t read the label properly.

Talking about that tour with Lady Gaga, how did you get to perform as opening act for her show?

Who knows… I think Lady Gaga had several mentors when she was a young talented New-York singer-songwriter and one of them was one of her boyfriends,  – or mentors if you first call him that – and he was a big heavy-metal fan. So I think she had a real taste for a while for British metal, you know. Def Leppard, Whitesnake and that kind of stuff… You see that sometimes with the outfits that she wears. So yeah, I think she wanted a band like that and we kind of fitted the profile. So we thought it could be fun. We got to tour America for the first time as well. So it was good experience for us.

Are there any pop stars you like and (maybe) wish to work with?

To work with pop stars… maybe not so much… Ehm, it could be with Prince. I’m not sure if Prince is a pop star. But I suppose he is in some ways the most interesting pop star, most charismatic. Maybe you have a suggestion of a pop star we should work with?

No idea, really… You are special yourselves and you need someone extraordinary…

Yeah, and in pop music there’s much compromise, isn’t there? I think it’s hard for a pop star not to lose their identity. If they’re under pressure to conform to the public’s expectations and what the public wants, could they keep their identity? I think you can see that physically in the way they look, the way they dress, and also musically, in their songs… They are under pressure to conform to what the public wants so musically they lose their identity too, which I think is sad.

Do you think your band has this strong identity that you can never lose?

No, I wouldn’t say we could never lose it because I think the band lost its identity somewhere around the second album (“One Way Ticket To Hell… And Back”, 2005). That’s why the band broke up. But since we reformed we’ve kept the band’s identity. I think actually we lost a little bit with “Everybody Have a Good Time” (off 2012’s “Hot Cakes” – ed.) and with the video for that. That in my opinion was a bad move. So occasionally we do lose it.

Do you feel like during those hiatus years the band lost much time that you could have spent building up your success?

It was a terrible decision to employ Roy Thomas Baker as the producer of the second album. It was very bad decision making, very poor management and too much money. (laughs) Too much money in terms of budget I’m talking about. It takes a very special discipline-focused band to have an almost limitless budget to spend on an album and not to make mistakes. Too many choices for an artist is a bad thing. I think some of the greatest pieces of art were created in the environment of struggle and sacrifice, not in the environment of Beverly Hills uptown stay-as-long-as-you-like, working with an extremely self-indulgent record producer like Roy Thomas Baker. What you end up with is a lifeless album. Some of the songs on the second album I think are really good but the production is extremely lifeless. My favorite song from that time is actually “Hazel Eyes”, and unlike the rest of the album, it’s faster and more energized.

But you left the band even before the second album was released…

Yeah, at that time there were quite a few problems in the band. The classic story, you know. It happened many times to many bands. But we’re lucky we had an opportunity to re-form and to have another chance.

But what made you come back together after all?

Because there’s the time I enjoy my life the most in The Darkness, the most fun, and the sense of duty as well… to entertain people. And I guess there is a certain kind of rock-fanatic who isn’t satisfied with what’s on offer and they kind of need what we have. So I guess we’re a cult band. At the moment we’re a cult band. And we’re really enjoying being a cult band because it hadn’t been the same before. We went from being obscure to be huge. But being a cult band is fun because it feels like it has more longevity and more freedom. We have more creative freedom and the fans are more extreme and more passionate. So more quality, less confetti.

As we’re talking, there are just a few days left to the release date of your new album “Last Of Our Kind” . Do you think you will be able to sleep the remaining three nights? Are you excited? Are you thrilled?

(laughs) We’ll have to sleep because we have to play this weekend in Germany. We’re leaving early morning and we’re playing tomorrow night in Munich. So hopefully I’ll sleep, but I’m very excited. Some people heard the album already. And it’s online as well so people can a little listen, like a little taste it and see if they want to buy it. And so far everyone who had a listen is buying the album, so we’ve been told. So I’m really excited and happy about that.

And if you compare this record to the previous ones, what is different and what remains the same?

The drummer is different. Because Emily Dolan Davies played drums instead of that previous drummer. She had a warmer drum sound. The album is much warmer sounding than anything we’ve done before. There’s a lot more bottom end on it. And it’s more impassioned and emotive. It’s more, I guess, just laid-bare and I think that this album deals with defiance. Defiance is probably the thread which connects all the songs. Even though there are some songs about history and some songs that deal with relationships, and some songs that deal with the music industry, this thread runs through everything, it’s one of staying strong and true to your beliefs, and to who you are. That’s why I used the word defiance. It also deals with characters in history. For example, the Vikings in East Anglia, the barbarians and also the Irish man with the children who were kidnapped in the song “Roaring Waters”. These are historical songs and they also involve the idea of defiance.

Do you think that choosing this theme is a sign of growing up and becoming more mature?

Yeah, I guess you think that for a few seconds until you listen to songs like “Mudslide” or “Open Fire” which deal with immaturity and being a child. (laughs) Yeah, there’re both sides to it really when it comes to maturity and immaturity. Which is, you know, what we are like as people, isn’t it? Because nobody is really mature… Even though many people pretend to be mature all the time because in a human there’s also a lot of pretence and conforming to how they’re supposed to behave.

Why did you part ways with the beautiful Emily Dolan Davies and how do you feel about the new one?

It was difficult for Emily to deal with the sacrifice side of things in terms of touring. She was more into recording than other things... And now we are very-very pleased to have opportunity to work with Rufus Taylor (the son of Queen's Roger Taylor – ed.). And it’s going very well. He’s willing to travel and have fun with us and also take risks as well. I think he can give us some kind of “injection of youth”. And also he’s got a good sense of humor and he can sing as well. And he drums harder than any drummer we worked with before. All in all, he’s just really a nice guy. Humble as well. He’s not a big ego.

Are there any tracks on the album that you personally recommend?

Well, let’s say “Mighty Wings” if you’d like to listen to something challenging. It’s 6 minutes long and it’s extremely ambitious. Musically it’s our most ambitious project and it deals with mortality and you can hardly imagine Justin dealing with those themes but he does in that song and I think he does it really well. After the chorus, when the thing becomes too dark, he erupts with a really outrageous guitar solo which is kind of out of place, but hopefully in a beautiful way.

When will you come to play in Russia?

I hope we’re gonna come this campaign. This campaign will run for the next year and a half hopefully. And I think there will be a good chance to be in Russia at some point. I don’t think we will be there at any festivals this summer, but next summer I think is a good chance. And I think this tour (the European leg of it) is gonna take us eastwards. So it can be possible to stretch it as far as Russia. I really hope this is gonna happen. On The Darkness official Facebook page you can find what we’re up to. And you can make your opinions.

Do your Russian fans try to communicate with you somehow?

There’re super fans who are very enthusiastic – “super fans” we call them. On our Facebook page “The Darkness Army”, there are a handful of Russians there. Or people with Russian names anyway. And some of them message me on Facebook and ask me questions. And they have very strong opinions. And quite original opinions too. It’s definitely a different mentality I can see at work. I like some Russian literature. I really enjoy Chekhov, his short stories, and Dostoevsky as well. Though I can’t pretend that I know that much of Russia as a country.

Hope you’ll have a chance to see more of it. Okay, my last question is: Are your outfits the result of your inborn sense of style or of careful deliberation?

They involve a mixture of passion, pushing the envelope, playfulness and naivety. We’re not afraid to make mistakes. It’s always temptation and fun. And I would say … We don’t try to fit in, trying to fit in is certainly the antithesis of rock’n’roll.

The Darkness on the Internet: http://www.thedarkness.co.uk

Special thanks to Maxim Bylkin (Soyuz Music) for arranging this interview

Interview by Ksenia Artamonova
Photos by Natalia “Snakeheart” Patrashova
May 29, 2015
(с) HeadBanger.ru