On May 7th, Nando Machado The Darkness bassist Frank Poullain for the seventh episode of The Wikimetal Happy Hour . Did you miss this unmissable conversation or want to relive the best moments of this chat? No problem, check out the highlights of this conversation.
The interview began with Nando recalling when they met for the only time, here in Brazil, when The Darkness came to open for Lady Gaga in 2012. Poullain explains to Nando that the band wasn't sure if it was a good decision to do that tour, but they had to accept after seeing the places in the world where they would be playing for the first time if they embarked on this tour with the pop star.
Frank talks a bit about his quarantine, revealing that he recently moved to the English countryside, where he's been gardening and enjoying nature more. The musician states that he feels very lucky, especially since he feels sad for countries where the government is a complete joke, like Brazil and the United States.
Regarding the references to other bands in the humor of the most recent album, Easter Is Cancelled , Poullain says that, in fact, it wasn't other bands, but rather English humor that greatly influenced English bands in general to be more eccentric than those from other countries.
Nando shows some covers of the 1979 film "Life of Brian" and the comedy group Mython Python , and Frank states that they are major influences on the writing of Justin , the vocalist of The Darkness, and says that one of the things he likes most about his bandmate is his ability to access his inner child through these influences.
The duo also discussed and compared the English and American versions of the series "The Office," which also influenced the band's compositions, with the bassist believing that the American version is too "colorful" and lacks the same "charm" as the British one.
When shown a picture of Queen , Poullain states that the band is an influence on The Darkness, but not as much as people think; rather, they are more of an inspiration for being theatrical and eccentric like Queen.
Regarding AC/DC , the bassist says they are definitely a big influence on the band, and he prefers Bon Scott on vocals, and the group's older material, highlighting the production of the songs from that era.
Nando asks the musician how the band knew that Easter would be canceled this year, considering the title of the group's most recent album, and Frank explains that they used their noses to sense it and, not to recommend not using other senses to know what's coming.
The first track on the band's latest album, "Rock And Roll Deserves to Die," says a lot just from the title. Frank tells Nando that he prefers old-school rock and that he greatly values the fusion within the genre.
A question that's always a bit of a bitter pill to swallow, Nando asks about the next steps for The Darkness. Frank says that something will be announced in a few months, and that's all he can say. Furthermore, he says that all the members, even though they can't produce together, are creating things individually, so for the next album, the creative process will be different from the last one, where they were very close, and he thinks that will be very interesting.
Check out the full interview below between Nando Machado and Frank Poullain for The Wikimetal Happy Hour :
