‘Thank goodness that we’ve got Ed Sheeran...’
Heavy Metal Lover and the defiant closing song, We Are The Guitar Men.
“The one thing that I wanted to bring to the new album was just in terms of giving as much of my own studio time for it as was possible – allowing them to come back and spend as long as they wanted on it.
“It’s about as close as we’re ever going to get to making a concept album, with a definite thread of subjects covering life and death, and how we bring meaning to them.”
Beyond laying down their latest recordings, they’ve certainly not been slacking off on the live performances – enjoying performances last year with Alice Cooper and Johnny Depp’s band, The Hollywood Vampires. According to Dan, it was something of a surreal episode hanging out with some of the most famous people on the planet, but it proved to be a blast.
“Our lives are pretty insane really – it was amazing to be playing those shows. I’m not someone that gets starstruck, but with Johnny Depp I actually felt a bit freaked out that we were just hanging out with him. But after talking to him backstage for about half an hour, he was actually pretty down to earth.”
Another highlight from this summer was their invitation to join fellow Suffolk-raised star Ed Sheeran on his UK tour dates. It seems the solo star took time out to chill out with them and share some tales from their home county.
“Ed was very affable indeed – he’d come and see us before and after our shows, which was nice. He’s the only person I can think of that when he is at gigs and there are fans are around, he actually goes up to people and asks them if they and their kids want selfies with him, rather than them having to ask for pictures.
“In a world where we have things like Brexit and Trump, thank goodness that we’ve got Ed Sheeran,” adds Dan, who at 42, says that life in Sussex with his family, which now includes three children, is treating him very kindly indeed.
He jokes that the two of his youngsters who appreciate the music of The Darkness will be remaining on his Christmas present list this year.
“I’ve been a dad for 10 years now and it’s the best thing ever, and makes everything else you do worthwhile,” adds the guitarist, who says when he’s not in his studio, spending time with the family is his foremost priority. As he reflects on his career to date, he acknowledges the band’s success was hard won through paying their dues for years on the live circuit. He recalls that both he and his brother were particularly musical from a young age, briefly playing in a group together called Vital Signs, which Dan joined up with when he was just 12. But far from being overnight trailblazers, he says that it took a long while before they would ultimately make it in a late 1990s music scene that had been dominated by the tail end of Britpop acts.
“Before we got our deal, nobody wanted to sign us, including the label who eventually did. It was a long wait for us to make it – I was 27 and actually at the point where I thought we’d missed our chance.
“So Justin and I just thought we’d form a band playing the music that we wanted to play,” which would finally see their determination pay off, after self-financing their debut singles.
In terms of overall highlights, he says that while gaining the Brit Awards was something to celebrate at the time, it was subsequently gaining an Ivor Novello songwriting award that meant even more.
As for the present day, he enthuses that there will be plenty for fans to enjoy this time around, mixing their new material alongside a greatest hits set.
“It’s going to be really good to be playing some material we’ve not played before, and the whole thing about this being a concept album will be answered on this tour.”
The Darkness’s 2019 tour plays Nottingham Rock City, Friday, November 29, and Leicester 02 Academy, Monday, December 2. Tickets: rock-city.co.uk, academymusicgroup.com/ o2academyleicester/events