As The Darkness’ debut album, ‘Permission To Land,’ reached its 20th anniversary, the band’s guitarists, Justin and Dan Hawkins, joined an interview with Total Guitar. While they were talking about the twin guitar bands that inspired them, Justin touched upon Izzy Stradlin and Slash’s role in Guns N’ Roses.
Starting with AC/DC’s effect on their guitar playing, he said:
“It’s got to be AC/DC. They’re the closest thing to what we’re trying to achieve. Dan is the reliable driving force, the de-facto rhythm machine of the band… very much like Malcolm Young. When I try to play rhythm, it’s always very sloppy, but when we get it right, I think my sloppiness accents what Dan is playing.”
About Stradlin, the vocalist/guitarist went on:
“We’re trying to do the AC/DC version of a two-pronged attack, especially when we play live. I think Guns N’ Roses are a good example as well. People tend to overlook Izzy Stradlin’s contributions to ‘Appetite For Destruction,’ but if you listen to one speaker and hear what he’s up to, it’s his work that allows Slash to fly. Who else would you say, Dan? You’re probably going to go with Thin Lizzy, aren’t you?”
Confirming his brother, Dan added:
“Yeah! I’d say Lizzy and AC/DC are great examples of how we treat our lead movements. Because I’m not really a technical player by any means. In fact, I only know one scale, and Justin taught me that when I was about nine. I never moved on!”
While the said guitarists influenced their sound, the Hawkins brothers also used different techniques and equipment like delay pedals in their works with The Darkness since ‘Permission To Land,’ especially in tracks like ‘Love Is Only A Feeling,’ ‘Open Fire,’ and ‘Motorheart.’ When the interviewer pointed that out, Dan explained:
“Do you know where that’s from? Back in the day, with the various bands in London that I was in, there was one Space Echo that got lent around and given to whoever wanted to use it for that week. I completely fell in love with the sound. With a Space Echo, you have to go into the front end.”
Mentioning his current sound, he continued:
“It’s part of the sound – what happens to your guitar before the amp because of the preamp inside it. That’s why I ended up using that sound a lot. More recently, I have been sticking things in the loop as well, but I still like some delays in the front because it’s part of that Route One sound where the delays are distorting as well.”
You can check out the full interview here.
