Project Description

Interview with

DAN HAWKINS

from

THE DARKNESS

Interviewer: Jarrod Henry

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Rocketing out of Lowestoft, UK in the early 2000’s with a fistful of ballsy hard rocking hit singles and a platinum debut album, The Darkness were hailed by many as being the saviours of rock ‘n’ roll. With a sound that came from equal parts AC/DC, Electric-era Cult and ABBA and with more confidence and swagger than an Aerosmith world tour, the quartet fronted by the searingly high-voiced Justin Hawkins have continued to release a series of albums that have drawn on their particular influences whilst still forging forward sonically with each release.

Now this has all culminated in their about to be released new album Easter Is Cancelled, an ambitious concept work that chronicles the birth, death and rebirth of rock ‘n’ roll. I caught up with Justin’s younger brother, guitarist, songwriter, producer Dan Hawkins recently about the album’s inception, the creative process, new (and old) gear and the forthcoming tour which plans to be something very special.

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So firstly Dan let’s have a chat about the new album Easter Is Cancelled. Can you talk me through the story or the concept behind the album and it’s title?
Well we started making this album and we got about halfway through it and we realised there a theme running through it, which is basically the life, death and rebirth of rock ‘n’ roll. So we basically set about finishing the album to that effect. So basically halfway through we made the conscious decision to write the rest of the songs with that as the subject matter. It’s quite heavy stuff for us really I suppose! This album really is the product of having far too much studio time really. I produced, engineered and mixed this one in my own studio so the approach for this one was that rather than do what we normally do which is write the songs sort of wherever and then record them all as quickly as we can we thought “let’s make a proper studio album like they did back in the old days” and so we went in and wrote in the studio and this is sort of where it took us basically.

Was this something the whole band rallied around? Or did you or Justin kind of steer the ship in that direction?
It was my idea really. I just kind of wanted to try something different really. I mean we always try and do something a bit different on each album but I just really wanted to concentrate on getting things right in the studio and have the freedom to take our time and do it rather than just whack everything down as soon as you can. Everything is a learning process really. I mean we spent nearly six weeks just on one track which we then shitcanned! So doing things this way certainly does have its ups and downs as well.

So I guess having the freedom in your studio and not really having to work to a specific timeframe you were free to experiment as much as you wanted weren’t you?
Yes, one hundred percent. But it is difficult as well. Put it this way: by the end of it I never wanted to go into a studio ever again! Literally I was just fantasising about selling everything and never doing it ever again. Because basically once you’ve bitten off something like this you can’t go back. I was just exhausted from working sixteen hour days for nine months. The next album we’re going to just shit out in a day, m so I apologise in advance for the next album as there’s no way we’re ever doing something like this again!

So I guess with Easter Is Cancelled being called a concept album, the most obvious question is do you have a favourite concept album you listen to?
That’s a good question actually. I was really into The Who as a kid so I guess something like Quadrophenia or one of those early Who albums counts. I remember listening to The Wall in m middle school, when I was  about ten or eleven. We were actually taught that album in music believe it or not. I had the coolest music teacher and so we spent hours listening to and dissecting it so I’ve been big fan of that album for sure.

The great thing about concept albums is that it really does allow you to do things you normally wouldn’t do on an album; you can create themes and atmospheres that you wouldn’t or couldn’t normally do so its white freeing in that respect.
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And that’s obviously something that’s carried over into the artwork for the album as well. And you’ve created something quite iconic for this one haven’t you?
Yeah. Thanks for noticing! That was really the brain child of my brother really. Guess who’s Jesus right? It was never going to be me! And it really has got right up some people’s noses you know. I mean some people… They don’t get it. I mean stuff like Monty Python wouldn’t get through these days at all. It’s not meant to be entirely serious and I’ve heard some people saying that we’re falling back on shock tactics to try and revive our career. I mean I feel like saying “have you actually looked past the cover??” Buff Jesus breaks off 0f the cross and says “Easter is cancelled, I’m not fucking dying” and that has triggered some other concepts surrounding the album as well, like what if Jesus had lived? What if he’d kicked off the cross and kicked some butt and was still with us, would we have someone like Donald Trump running the world? I don’t think so!

All right so you’re heading back to Australia next year to tour the album. Have you given any thought to the stage show at all? Are you going to play the album plus a few older tunes or will you simply the new songs into the set?
Ok so we actually do have something really special planned but I’m actually not allowed to say anything yet. The promoters want to announce it really. But put it this way, we’ve started rehearsals for it already. And what we normally do when we’ve got a tour coming up is not rehearse at all. We’re kind of known for being an old time rock ‘n’ roll band who just turn up and play and feed off the audience. But this is gong to be entirely different, we’re really throwing the book at it this time.

So no giant quasi-religious iconography adorning the stage eh?
[laughs] You’ll just have to wait and see!

So I know you’re a bit of a gear head when it comes to ampsand pedals and such. Have you got any new go to toys in your rig right now? I saw you demoing Marshall amps at NAMM, have you been incorporating any of those or are you still running hot Plexis? 
I’m still very much a Plexi man really. My kind of basic sound has stayed the same through the ages. And one thing I’ve learned is that I do like to experiment to a fault but that I always come back to my favourite amp and my favourite guitar. I mean if Brian May had tried every different guitar and amp down the years he wouldn’t sound like Brian May now would he? But my brother has, we’ve been experimenting a lot with the bad sound on the record and he’s been trying all sorts of different amps. He’s been a Marshall man, a Wizard man, and he’s been going around just trying everything and he’s basically come full circle now and is back sticking with sort of 6L6 and Mesa sounds really. It’s been an interesting but a kind of rewarding process really.

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TICKETS FOR THE DARKNESS 2020 AUSTRALIAN TOUR ARE ON SALE HERE

PRE ORDER EASTER IS CANCELLED HERE

 

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