Darkness frontman Justin Hawkins thought he was “too old” to be a rock star at 18
The Darkness’ Justin Hawkins thought he was “too old” to be a rock star at 18, the frontman said in a newly resurfaced interview.
The musician, who is the lead singer and guitarist in the band, told Metro newspaper that he thought he wouldn’t make it as a musician once he reached 18 and started to study music and work behind the scenes instead.
He said: “I remember when I got to about 18 and I saw bands like Ash coming up and thinking, ‘Well this is over, I’m already too old!’ But I still wanted to be in music, so I went and studied music technology and got a job in a recording studio,” (via Yahoo).
He then went on to reflect on his journey and being signed by a label, aged 25. “Then I made a sort of easy-listening cassette of songs that I’d written for my grandfather for a Christmas present. And it got heard by somebody at a publishing company and they thought, ‘Oh, this kind of easy listening stuff is ideal to synchronise with films and TV shows and adverts’ and they signed me.
“I did a lot of stuff. I did HSBC, Mars Bars, Audi… and then I did the Ikea advert, which basically paid for our first album and bought me and my brother our first Les Pauls.”
Last month, The Darkness shared the trailer for their upcoming feature-length documentary, Welcome to the Darkness. You can watch it above.
Directed by Simon Emmett, the documentary will tell the story of the band’s formation in the early 2000s, their fast rise to fame as well as their crashing disbandment in 2006, finally covering their reunion in 2011.
The film is set to be released in cinemas for one night only on November 9 and it will be available on digital download and Blu-ray from December 4. Visit here for tickets to the showing.
As described in a press release, “20 years on from their platinum-selling debut, Justin Hawkins, his brother Dan Hawkins, bassist Frankie Poullain, and new drummer Rufus Taylor tell their story, in their own words of The Darkness’ comeback tale.”
The documentary arrives amid news of a 20th anniversary reissue of the band’s landmark 2003 album ‘Permission To Land’, which features their best-known single ‘I Believe In A Thing Called Love’.
The band are also set to tour the UK and Europe in celebration of its milestone birthday, playing the album in full on every date as well as other hits from the rest of their discography. Visit here for tickets.
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Elizabeth Aubrey
NME
