FAQ
Herewith a selection of the most frequently asked questions we receive at TheDarknessRock.com. We do try to answer all genuine queries but please read the FAQ before e-mailing us. If you e-mail us a question already in the FAQ, it won’t be replied to. The phrase “it doesn’t hurt to ask” doesn’t apply to questions answered in the FAQ. Be warned, if you’re too lazy to look things up in the FAQ, then don’t e-mail us.
Q. HOW DID THE BAND GET THEIR NAME?
A. “In the olden days” Justin and Dan used to say that “all music comes from the darkness, whether it’s fighting it or feeding off it”. But The Darkness are “pretty much a good-time band… attempting to eliminate the darkness from their followers’ lives” – if that doesn’t sound too religious! The band looked at other names but chose The Darkness as it seemed perhaps the least appropriate name they could have, but they’ve certainly “grown into it”, with journalists dubbing it “suitably dramatic”.
Q. WHO ARE THE MEMBERS?
lead vocals/guitars/synthesizer: Justin Hawkins
guitars: Dan Hawkins
drums: Ed Graham
bass: Richie Edwards
They also served – Darkness members of the past:
bass: Frankie Poullain
Q. WHEN DID THE BAND FORM?
A. Dan and Justin are brothers. Ed went to school with Dan and Jus’. Frankie met Dan in London in 1996. The band formed around 2000, but by then they had all worked with each other in one capacity or another. After Frankie’s departure in May 2005 due to irreconcilable musical differences, Richie Edwards, who had been the band’s backline tech since 2003, was chosen to replace him.
Q. DIDN’T JUSTIN JOIN THE BAND AFTER WINNING A KARAOKE COMPETITION?
A. No. Queen’s ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ was playing on the jukebox in the pub that Justin and Dan were in on Millenium Eve when Justin sprung to his feet and started “contemporary dancing” and “acting like a complete twat” and had the entire pub in stitches. It was that moment when Dan realised a “complete star” – Justin – was in their midst.
Q. BUT AREN’T YOU A JOKE BAND?
A. No. Justin Hawkins explains “We’re not a joke band. People who think we’re a joke band are wrong. We’ve worked at this for years, this is our baby. How would you feel if you were pushing your baby along in a pram and somebody laughed at it? It’s not on. We’re not a joke band, this is the real thing.”