Sunday, February 22, 2004

Bring it on =P

You can still ask questions in the previous post, no worries ^__^
That doesn't mean I don't accept your pants though, SomeGuy ~_^
And I'll be seeing Last Samurai in a matter of hours, so expect to read about it tomorrow ^___^

In the meantime you can go Here and scroll down until you see "The Last Samurai - written last night" ;)

But right now I'm going to put up an article/interview with The Darkness, for Tony and others (CRH being the first to mention them directly to me) who are into the band. ... I just hope we're meaning the same band, or this will be highly amusing, in an embarrassing sort of way ^_^;

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The Darkness is the band who's re-opened the gates to the 80's hard rock era, with full on falsetto singing, spandex and guitar solos. A further sign of a revival of the wonders of glam rock, is the reunion of Swedish band Europe.

- "For real ? That's the best f-ing news I've heard in a long time", says guitarist Dan Hawkins.

Dan is slouching in a hotel couch next to bass player Frankie Poullain, who is slightly hung-over. Singer Justing Hawkins is prancing about in a pair of leather pants cut so low, half his ass is showing, forcing the record labels representative to run and buy "tunnbrådsrulleer" (thin flat unleavened bread, usually stuffed with mashed potatoes, sausage and stuff).

Along with drummer Ed Graham, they are The Darkness. The band is currently topping any and all charts and filling up arenas with their updated 80's hard rock.
Their debut album "Permission to land" has sold in more than 1,5 million in England, 30 000 copies have been sold in Sweden and they are currently bringing up a storm in USA. With a quarter of a million sold albums, The Darkness is already the biggest British band to be exported to America.

- "It might seem like all of this has happened rather quickly, but it's been a long and tough road. We knew 10 years ago that we were just as good as any of the band showing up on MTV, but no one took us seriously", says Dan Hawkins behind tinted sunglasses.

Europe and AC/CD

They were hopelessly uncool back then. Today The Darkness is "the best thing to happen to rock, for more than 20 years". With a mix of pompous symphonic rock from the 70's and the long-haired, spandexwearing hard rock of the 80's, they've brought life to a mocked and despised music genre.

- "People are saying that it's all hype, but I think we're about to see an explosion of new hard rock bands. People are tired of today's pop music, which is either completely nonsensical or angsty and miserable", says bass player Frankie Poullain.

Their musical heroes include bands such as AC/DC, Thin Lizzy, Queen, Def Leppard and Van Halen. Dan Hawkins mentions Swedish hard rock legends Europe, who coincidentally are reuniting this year.

- "For real ? Is it our doing ? Ha ha, that's fantastic ! I bought Final Countdown when I was 10 years old and I've always thought that Europe is a brilliant rock band."

The Darkness is working hard with conquering the world and making the best of their situation. Because after the tour awaits their most difficult task to come – surviving the hype.

- "We've got nothing to be ashamed of. We've never tried to be something we're not. We trust our ability to entertain live. All we need to do is wake up in the morning, BS about, get up on the stage and everything sort itself out", says Frankie and Dan adds:

- "Everyone in the band has the attitude of 'let's take over this angstridden planet and make it a happier place'. That will take us far, I think."

Finally comes the touchy subject everyone wants to ask and The Darkness has heard to boredom. Are they being ironical, or being serious ?

- "We've never backed down from our ideals just to satisfy anyone else. We're doing our own thing and try to have as much fun as we can with it.
What's wrong with that ?"

Tidbits

Members: Justing Hawkins, Dan Hawkins, Franki Poullain, Ed Graham.
Originates from: The Hawkins brothers grew up in Lowestoft, southeast England.
Background: The band was formed in 1997 by bass player Frankie Poullain and guitarist Dan Hawkins. After looking for a suitable singer, they found one in Dan's brother Justin when he performed Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody" at a karaoke bar in their hometown.
Random fact: When "Permission to land" was released in America, the band had to record a version where they censured the cussing. "f***" became "duck", "m*****f*****" became "mama mama", among other things.
Currently: Touring Europe.

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