Interview with Darlin

What got you into music, and if you had not gotten into music what would you be doing today?

• Daniel – Probably my parents taste in music, I remember listening to Ace of Base in my mums car and being like ‘this is good’ haha, I like to think id be doing something creative, but I’m rubbish at painting and drawing so maybe not ...

• Sarah: I watched a lot of musicals with my grandad as a kid and my love of music really grew from there, if I hadn’t gotten into music … well I probably would’ve opened a cat café by now and gotten into crushing debt.

What do you like to do when you are not playing music and how does that influence your creativity?

• Daniel – Sarah sleeps and that influences her continuous sleeping haha

• Sarah – I’m exhausted from being married to you

• Daniel – We all vary in what we do outside DARLIN, and I think ultimately because there is 6 of us, we have this kind of family vibe, where our problems and successes in our everyday lives really influence the energy of the band, which in turn changes the music. Sarah and I watch a lot of old movies and listen to older music, and this has seriously made DARLIN sound the way we do, like a 70s throwback sound mixed with 00s rock, probably because we watched The Warriors on the weekend, we wrote that song

How long has your band been around?

• Daniel – Secretly for like 3 years, but in terms of since launching, like 3 months, super new

• Sarah – Good time to get in

Where are you based and how did that influence your music?

• Daniel – Hertfordshire and Essex really, and I cant speak for all the guys in the band, who have all had really cool journeys and all these amazing musical achievements, but I honestly feel like growing up in Essex we had some of the best bands around and still do, from being so young and getting to be a part of the huge scene in Essex, its influenced everything I’ve ever written really, who I looked up to, my first steps into the wider industry, we are super lucky here and I feel blessed to be a part of it.

How did you come up with the name of your band and what does it mean to you?

• Sarah – Its me obviously, I’m the darlin’

• Daniel - Obviously

Tell me about your most memorable shows.

• Sarah – We haven’t played any yet, not quite time to roll back the curtain, but its soon, and its going to be like a big pink explosion, you’re not ready, I’m not ready .. no seriously, I’m not ready.

If you could play any show with any lineup, who would be on the ticket?

• Daniel – Fleetwood Mac, Michael McDonald and Christohper Cross, and DARLIN would play like 1 song and then sit down and watch the masters do their work haha

• Sarah – You could play one song if you like, id be trying to sing with Stevie Nicks, I think we’d get on.

• Daniel – I don’t doubt that, you get on with everyone … like a Labrador

What is some advice that you would give to someone who is just getting into playing in a band and some advice that you would give to your younger self?

• Sarah – Don’t worry about being perfect, just play lots and enjoy it

• Daniel – Advice to my younger self? …. Calm down, like maybe come down about 2 notches, I was a lot haha. Maybe, don’t take any of it for granted? I think it can all be such a blur sometimes. Try and be present, it’s all a gift, and you don’t really appreciate it the first-time round, just try and truly absorb the moment because its fleeting.

Of your songs which one means the most to you and why?

• Sarah – Velvet, because it was our first song written and I remember Dan writing it in the bedroom and working out harmonies, and all of a sudden it was like, oh! and there was DARLIN, and Velvet is out now !! go listen now, stop reading this and go listen, and then come back, straight back, have a cup of tea and then read the rest of this interview.

• Daniel – Ooooo that’s a good question, its probably Without You Here, which you guys won’t get to hear for a little while yet, sucks to be you guys.

• Sarah – Yeah sucks to be you guys, it’s another fave.

What is the creative process for the band, and what inspires you to write your music?

• Daniel – So I kind of make these skeletons of songs with the drums, bass, guitar and synth all roughly

• outlined on a demo, and then usually Sarah and I work with Rob and we pull it all apart and make it adhere to proper musical standard, he translate much of the gibberish haha and he adds his lead guitar and we rewrite little bits and pieces

• Sarah – Then we have meetings and rehearsals and Joe, Simon and Dave all add their views and changes to everything and rewrite and organise the parts so they are tight and sounds good, then we hash out a lot of the vocals.

• Daniel – Then it gets sat on a bunch, and we live with it for a while, make more changes, then we go to record it properly. For the 4 singles in this cycle, we recorded with the musical wizard and beautiful human Oz Craggs at his gorgeous seaside studio in Folkestone, Hidden Track. Oz helps us make even more changes and we hash out bits that might still be not sitting well, Oz does his magic and poof, you’ve done a DARLIN.

What kinds of messages do you like to get across in your music?

• Sarah – You’re all welcome here. It’s a pink campy fun pop rock band, what’s not to love? Everything is so bloody serious all the time, why can’t we just have a space to go where you can disconnect from all the background noise and just have a good time ? We wanted that, so DARLIN exists, we hope it can be that for other people too.

Do you ever have disagreements in your band, and how do you get past them?

• Daniel – We have never had one single disagreement, because I’m always right …

• Sarah – I disagree with that ...I firmly object haha

• Daniel – 6 people, 6 really different, how could you not disagree on something as subjective as music ? We bicker like a family, and support each other through tough times, and all that colours and shapes the music, which is why we are what we are. Without pressure, and without a journey, it’s not as special, at least not to me, I really trust our process and value everyone’s input and believe in what we’ve created together. We really are proper mates; you should see the WhatsApp groups…

• Sarah – A portal into a strange and magical universe, but with more memes.

What are your plans for the future, and do you have anything that you want to spotlight that is coming up?

• Daniel – To invade your lives and set up shop

• Sarah – Nicely, to invade your lives nicely, and bring biscuits ...

• Daniel – This metaphor and this interview has gotten out of hand and must be stopped.