I had the pleasure of chatting with Blackpool based three-piece Darlia this week. Following the release of the bands debut album, 'Petals', back in February, the Darlia hype has only continued to flourish. With another Reading and Leeds slot booked for next month, expect to their name to become more of a household one in the near future. Here's what they had to say...
1. For those who haven't heard of you yet, who are Darlia?
We’re a three-piece rock-ish band from the north west. We’ve released a few EPs and a mini album.
2. You released your debut album 'Petals' back in February, how has the response been?
Petals was a mini album - a little bit longer than an EP and not long enough to qualify for a full album. I’ve written too many songs to count and had the perfect idea of Album 1 for about 10 years. When the time was actually approaching to release it, the whole idea had changed. I almost didn’t want to release an album I’d essentially written a decade ago. I'm 21 and still changing. To get around this we released the songs we had on EPs, to give them a better send off into the world, and to alleviate the pressure of releasing a full album for a few months while we actually recorded it.It’s quite ironic how I’ve done interviews with magazines and explained to them the fact I’ve written a bazillion songs since I was in the womb, then when we released Petals they said it’s because we don’t have enough material.
3. What do you enjoy most about being in a band and what made you start one?
There’s a few things. One is actually having a platform to release your music. I’ve always said this, I’m not in a band because I think it’s fucking cool. I’ve never bought into anything like that. I started a band because I’d been writing endless songs and I wanted them to be my communication to the world. I wanted to start a band since I was about 9-10 years old. I think everyone does, but I never grew out of it. I remember being in primary school and day dreaming away about how Im gonna do it, then during high school actually planning it. Then college was executing it. Another thing I love is having the opportunity to visit places I’d never have gone without the music. For example the furthest I’d been before starting this band was Scotland. Never been near a plane, ferry etc. Then one day my manager phoned me and said ‘You need to get a passport mate. You’re going to Australia.’ Now I’m literally travelling the world with it. And that’s fucking great. The reason I wanted to start a band was a cocktail of escapism / needing an outlet / pure love of music. I don’t think I’ve mentioned it much in interviews but I have something called Synesthesia. I thought it was normal and that everyone had it, until I was about 17 when I was trying to explain the ’smokey grey’ noise to someone. Anyway that contributes massively to my song writing and why I do it.
4. Who are Darlia's biggest influences and inspirations?
I’m definitely more influenced by things that happen to me than anything else. I don’t care for novelty bands, I don’t care for throwback bands. I think the 60s was a fucking great era but I’m not going to emulate that for the 2015 novelty factor. That’s why I get so pissed off when we get called a grunge band, because grunge was something that happened in the 90s. There has been absolutely no intent in that. Music wise I am in music-love with Dolly Parton and Kate Bush.
5. Where do you enjoy playing the most?
Manchester and Bristol. London also, but there’s generally a layer of static silhouettes at the back who are probably there to write disappointing things in a shitty blog.
6. What has been the highlight of Darlia's career so far?
When we were touring with Gerard Way I was just walking around in jubilance in between the shows and during the sound checks. I have a lot of respect for him. I think he’s an excellent creator. Also playing R&L and the response we got was astounding.
7. You're no strangers to the festival fields, but which is your favourite to play?
R&L! It was just fucking perfect. Half an hour before we were due on I was worried how many people would show up. 15 minutes before we were on they were fucking chanting our name. People seemed to know the songs we hadn’t even released yet. It’s just reassuring, isn't it?
8. Where do you see yourselves in five years time?
I don’t see myself in five years. It’s actually quite worrying.
9. What's next for Darlia?
There’s been a lot of updates in the last few weeks. I’m excrutiatingly excited about them. It will change everything. It will also explain a lot of things. Secrets for now, but all shall be revealed
10. Where can find out/hear more from you?
Twitter, Facebook. Both are heavily populated with ramblings and band updates.