{"id":38532,"date":"2019-10-02T08:38:01","date_gmt":"2019-10-01T22:38:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/maytherockbewithyou.com\/mtrbwy\/?p=38532"},"modified":"2019-10-02T18:57:17","modified_gmt":"2019-10-02T08:57:17","slug":"frankie-poullain-of-the-darkness-interview","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/maytherockbewithyou.com\/mtrbwy\/2019\/10\/frankie-poullain-of-the-darkness-interview\/","title":{"rendered":"Frankie Poullain of The Darkness"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>\u201c\u2026we don\u2019t want the wishy washy stuff, we just want the stuff that has the visceral impact and that doesn\u2019t make you over think and just makes you feel good or feel bad, it\u2019s stuff that makes you feel.\u201d<\/p>\n

From Release: The Darkness will be spreading their Easter Is Cancelled message across the land with an Australian and New Zealand headline tour in March 2020. On a mission to lead us to the sunlit uplands of inclusivity, togetherness and rock’ n’ roll fellowship, The Darkness will play shows in Perth, Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide, Brisbane and Auckland. These performances promise to be incredibly special, reflecting the grand scope and vision from the band’s new album Easter Is Cancelled, alongside epic live favourites such as ‘I Believe In A Thing Called Love’ and ‘Love Is Only A Feeling’ from their spectacular canon of hits.<\/p>\n

We gave Frankie a call to talk about \u2018Easter Is Cancelled\u2019 the new album from The Darkness, its creation, concept, differences, their forthcoming Australian tour, suits, cowbells, and much more\u2026<\/p>\n

To start, it\u2019s been about four years since we last chatted, so let\u2019s catch up, how have the last four years been for you?<\/strong>
\nThe last four years, what\u2019s happened in the last four years? So many different things have happened in the last four years it\u2019s almost impossible to answer I could probably ramble on for the rest of the day actually talking about the last four years. I\u2019ve had extreme highs and extreme lows and I\u2019ve probably changed a lot as a person and I\u2019ve had a very rich and involved and tense time. Musically it\u2019s been very good I think in terms of this new album coming back to the point.<\/p>\n

Your new album \u2018Easter is Cancelled\u2019 is coming next month, and a concept album to boot, what was the idea behind running with a concept for this release?<\/strong>
\nBecause we\u2019ve spent so much time together the four of us there was lots of recording at the same time in the nine months previous when we spent a long time with each other and gradually it just evolved into it really, \u2018Rock and Roll Deserve To Die\u2019 was the track, was the benchmark that we laid down to ourselves and also to rock bands in general. From there the songs developed, there\u2019s a lot of songs of heartbreak, personal relationships going by the wayside and the one constant I guess was the guitar and our love for music which is why it ends up as an unashamed love for guitars. I also think it\u2019s a theme of wood running through the album, man\u2019s relationship with wood which I think there\u2019s so many things wrong in the fact that we\u2019re not in tune with wood anymore, that may sound a bit farfetched I\u2019m talking about how music evolves, how music is created really, classical music and their instruments that are created lovingly from wood and guitars as well. Then also there\u2019s another type of wood, back in the day when people would crucify in medieval times when wood was used as weapons of destruction when people like Jesus would be executed for being rebellious. It is quite a far reach in things but it\u2019s a start.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>So what if anything did that allow you guys do differently this time around compared to your previous releases?<\/strong>
\nWell we had time, and Justin had time to open his heart and deal with the things going through it, and we had time to bond with each other and connect with each other, these are the kind of relationships we never had before, Dan and Ru would be jamming and riffing away and doing heavy stuff you know, like \u2018How Can I Lose Your Love\u2019 and \u2018Easter Is Cancelled\u2019 are heavy riffing stuff, and Justin would be holed away with a classical guitar and he\u2019d be channeling things and songs like \u2018Deck Chair\u2019 and \u2018Confirmation Bias\u2019 so we had a chance to try everything really. Then we have \u2018We Are The Guitar Men\u2019 the last track on the album which is myself, Dan and Justin coming up with something which is shades of ELO and Travelling Wilburys and it\u2019s also probably our most Beatles-esque one, I know bands can\u2019t be the Beatles but I do think that the verse in that is the only time really we\u2019ve gone Beatles-esque, every band has written a song like that in their career, the melody I think is quite McCartney-esque.<\/p>\n

I always like to pick one song that stands out on the album and for me it\u2019s \u2018In Another Life\u2019 such a great song\u2026<\/strong>
\nOh wow that\u2019s interesting, we thought we\u2019d almost gone a bit Shania Twain on that one, it\u2019s got country elements and doesn\u2019t sound like us and has a little bit of \u2018Love Is Only\u00a0 Feeling\u2019 we don\u2019t normally do that the power ballad thing but I\u2019m glad you enjoyed it, thanks.<\/p>\n

You\u2019re heading back to Australia, and the shows here have always been amazing, what do you think it is about Australia that just loves what you do?<\/strong>
\nWell the further you are away from home the more you can reinvent yourself and sub-consciously it\u2019s like being on another planet and also the funny thing about Australia is it\u2019s a weird culture and time travel exercise it\u2019s very surreal especially when you\u2019re jetlagged, it\u2019s a strange thing first it feels familiar then unfamiliar which is like a multiverse, it\u2019s like you\u2019re taking different turnings and history and it blows your mind really when you go to Australia. It\u2019s great because it\u2019s liberating, very liberating.<\/p>\n

As the catalogue grows, are you as a band finding it harder and harder to put a set list together?<\/strong>
\nNot really , we kind of agree it\u2019s the stuff that makes us feel good, we don\u2019t mess around too much, the cream rises to the top, we don\u2019t want the wishy washy stuff, we just want the stuff that has the visceral impact and that doesn\u2019t make you over think and just makes you feel good or feel bad, it\u2019s stuff that makes you feel.<\/p>\n

Out of all the album tracks and B-Sides is there one song you wish you played in the set that never gets a run?<\/strong>
\nYou mean one that I want in the set that the guys don\u2019t? Maybe something like, well we have a cover of \u2018Earth Song\u2019 by Michael Jackson that we usually do in rehearsal, but we\u2019ve never played that live would\u2019ve been nice to play that live once. There\u2019s also the B-Side to the Christmas song, \u2018I Love You 5 Times\u2019 we only played that once at a fan convention, we also played that at or very first gig so it\u2019s the only song that exists from our very first Darkness gig.<\/p>\n

So over time it can be easy to say what\u2019s changed but what would you say is the one thing that\u2019s stayed the same in your time in The Darkness?<\/strong>
\nProbably the sense of irreverence.<\/p>\n

For you in terms of moments that stand out, what for you has been that moment you\u2019ve been able to have by being a part of this band?<\/strong>
\nThe MTV Europe awards in 2004, it was in Edinburgh where I come from and it was just so good to be in my home town and it was presented by Christina Aguilera and Justin Timberlake, and Christina Aguilera was dressed in a metal gown when she introduced us and we were propelled from underneath the stage on these columns that came through these holes on the stage and in terms of reaching a TV audience it was just mammoth, hundreds and hundreds of millions it was just a buzz on a pure buzz level it was very hard to beat, not that I was particularly a fan of MTV but it was kind of surreal you know.<\/p>\n

I put the word out to The Darkness Army and asked for a few questions, so firstly, do you have a designer for your dashing suits?<\/strong>
\nYes, Angela Bright she\u2019s Canadian she\u2019s moved over here now and started off with Justin\u2019s stuff three or four years ago and then gradually her skills became Justin started looking better than all of us and we said OK you need to start designing all of our clothes. Now she\u2019s kickin\u2019 ass, especially she\u2019s got a great eye if you\u2019re fond and grew up with and have an appreciation for things like The Bee Gees back in the 70\u2019s that\u2019s one thing that we all agree on. You know the Bee Gees came from Manchester England? *laughs*<\/p>\n

Did you do all your own stunts in the \u2018Rock and Roll deserves to die\u2019 clip?<\/strong>
\nYes we did all of our own stunts and it took hours, my hair took weeks to recover they put this horrible grease on it and I was worried it was going to fall out afterwards, it took a while to get curly again. A song like \u2018Rock and Roll Deserves To Die\u2019 and we decided if there was going to be a video for that song the video has to be something that other bands wouldn\u2019t do because otherwise how can you lay down a gauntlet to other bands if we\u2019re not willing to run that gauntlet ourselves, and Justin came up with the great idea for the bald wigs because there\u2019s no was Coldplay would do that, Maroon 5, there\u2019s no way that even another rock band, could you imagine Guns N Roses doing that? Maybe your guys would do it, the only other band I can imagine would do that is Airbourne, I don\u2019t even think Steel Panther would do that, that\u2019s us laying down the gauntlet to Steel Panther they wouldn\u2019t do that.<\/p>\n

Do you have a message for your adoring Cow Belles fan group?<\/strong>
\nI do yeah, they make me feel loved and that\u2019s the most important thing on earth.<\/p>\n

If you had to build a super group, vocals, guitar, bass and drums from any musician in history who would your line-up be?<\/strong>
\nI don\u2019t believe in super groups, I don\u2019t believe it works like that, it doesn\u2019t work if you have the best of everything, it never works, time has shown that it never works it\u2019s to do with temperament and there are so many irrational things at play, you know humans are innocent characters and there\u2019s not even a mathematical equation that could capture or define what will make a good rock band, there\u2019s something else going on, something molecular, something that people give off and how you resonate with other human beings. There\u2019s a reason why it happens and we don\u2019t know the kind of rational, it\u2019s something you feel and I know that\u2019s a long winded answer but I don\u2019t believe in that. It\u2019s like you\u2019re creating a dish and using like all the purest ingredients, it wouldn\u2019t work if you mixed foie gras with oysters and with caviar all in the same sauce it would be too rich.<\/p>\n

Lastly let\u2019s look ahead to the future, finish this sentence for me, in 2020 The Darkness want to\u2026<\/strong>
\nExplode into oblivion.<\/p>\n

‘EASTER IS CANCELLED’<\/strong>
\n\u00a0AUSTRALIA & NEW ZEALAND TOUR 2020<\/strong><\/p>\n

WED 11 MARCH \u2013 <\/strong>METROPOLIS, FREMANTLE
\nFRI 13 MARCH \u2013 <\/strong>ENMORE THEATRE, SYDNEY
\nSAT 14 MARCH \u2013 <\/strong>FORUM, MELBOURNE\u00a0
\nSUN 15 MARCH \u2013 <\/strong>THE GOV, ADELAIDE
\nWED 18 MARCH \u2013 <\/strong>THE TIVOLI, BRISBANE\u00a0
\nFRI 20 MARCH \u2013 <\/strong>POWERSTATION, AUCKLAND<\/p>\n

MORE INFO<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

Presented by SBM Presents<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Essential Information<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n

From:<\/strong>\u00a0Lowestoft, Suffolk, UK<\/p>\n

Band members:<\/strong>\u00a0Justin Hawkins \u2013 Vocals, guitar, Dan Hawkins \u2013 Guitar, Frankie Poullain \u2013 Bass, Rufus Tiger Taylor \u2013 Drums<\/p>\n

Website:<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0http:\/\/www.thedarkness.co.uk<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

Forthcoming release:<\/strong>\u00a0Easter Is Cancelled \u2013 (October 4 \u2013 Cooking Vinyl)<\/p>\n