Interview: Darlia - GigslutzGigslutz

Darlia are about to embark on one hell of a summer. Touring with Twin Atlantic, and a number of festival dates set – including Community Festival, which will take over Finsbury Park on 1 July with some of the most exciting new talent this summer – it’s going to be a huge one for the Blackpool band. Yet amidst all the excitement, we can’t ignore the elephant in the room: where the hell have Darlia been for the past two years? What happened?

“It was loads of reasons,” explains Nathan Day. “There was nothing wrong with us, we’re all fine with each other. It was just a political thing that we had to fix: it was out of our control.” For those who were unfamiliar with Darlia before, they were climbing their way up the scene with a string of release and notoriously exciting live shows. Then they fell off the radar, but it seems the break was both necessary and productive. “When you’re locked in something or stuck in a rut you can end up just carrying on doing that thing, in that rut. Sometimes you have to be drastic to get out of it, so it was definitely necessary.”

Whilst we may have been missing Darlia, the return was worth it. Blasting back onto the scene earlier this year with ‘The Ballad of Black and White’ Darlia’s return was bigger than expected – and with a track that Day supposedly wrote when he was 16. So why’s it taken until now to make its way out? “I wrote the rhythm of the verse when I was 16, but the chorus is completely new. We needed more members to do the song, really. And we got new members in so we could do it now.”

For a band that were seemingly solid and established, it must be hard to introduce new members, and while Day readily admits they didn’t get it right first time, they seem settled now. “Before the Camden show [Darlia’s return to the live scene], Dave and I got the new members in – but it was pretty close before that. Only a couple of months or so. We did the show and we had a keys player and guitarist, but we don’t have them anymore. We liked them, but it just didn’t work. We’ve found a new guitarist though, and trust me, he’s a wizard.”

And what of the live show? For a band that were so prevalent almost three years is a long time to not play a show. It must have felt good to be back. “100%. I didn’t smile once in those 2/3 years. It was one of the worst times of my entire life. I’m so blessed that we’re back doing stuff and we’re busy.”

Yet with bands struggling enough as it is, the risk of going away for a while and slipping off the radar seems to be quite big. It must have been scary to come back. “I didn’t know what the Camden show would be like,” Nathan admits. “But it sold out in a couple of days.” And what about returning the music scene in general? “When we first started we didn’t know anything – no bands or what was going on. It was like that again, just sort of going ‘hi, we’re here!’ But it’s so easy to get wrapped up in that politics and to let that consume you. You’ve just gotta enjoy yourself.”

And finally, onto new music. In their time away, Nathan and the band have supposedly piled up songs for an album. What can we expect from it? “We’ve got loads of tunes written, ready and done. There’s loads of choice, we could do anything with it. We could have stuff that sounds like the early stuff, or it could be brand spanking new. I want to do a mix, ‘cause I don’t want to lose those older songs. In terms of an album, we’re just going to put things out there and not focus too much. It can get overwhelming.”

As long as Darlia are back though, we can hold off for an album: baby steps. And who are Darlia’s recommended new bands for 2017? “Twenty One Pilots… I don’t know, I’m so out of touch, I don’t know anything!”

Darlia play Community Festival on 1st July alongside Slaves, Catfish and the Bottlemen, The Wombats and more. Tickets available here.