Darkness track cost me £300 car repair bill - Dan

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By ( Louder ) published

Guitarist Hawkins reveals his wife nearly crashed when she listened to track from Last Of Our Kind

The Darkness guitarist Dan Hawkins was presented with a £300 repair bill after his wife heard their track Barbarian for the first time.

It appears on the band’s fourth album Last Of Our Kind, released earlier this week.

Hawkins tells Loudwire: “My wife was listening in the car for the first time. She almost crashed.

“The guy at the beginning is my gardener, Trevor, and he’s got a really thick Norfolk accents. She was like, ‘Oh, that’s Trevor – that sounds funny.’

“Then the full force of the track came in and actually kerbed the car. It cost me about three hundred fucking quid because she scraped the rim and knocked the tracking out.”

His brother, frontman Justin Hawkins, says the title track was inspired by films like Hawk The Slayer and The Hobbit. “It’s about going into battle with a baddie, and an Elf is lamenting the fact that if he’s killed, that’s the end of his entire civilisation.”

But he adds: “When you finish an album and you’re getting ready to show it to the press, it does feel like you’re about to pop your head up and charge into battle. I was trying to make it a song that’s about an Elf that’s going into battle, and releasing an album.”

Dan revealed earlier this week that he resisted pressure to become more focused on digital products – and he’d leave the band if they ever abandoned their old-school approach.

The Darkness are featured in the current edition of Classic Rock, on sale now. They’ll play a run of summer dates with new drummer Rufus Taylor, followed by a full-size UK tour starting in November.

Summer dates

Jun 03: London Dingwalls (album launch)

Jul 04: Groove Festival, Wicklow

Jul 05: Daytripper Festival, Waterford

Jul 12: Brownstock Festival, Chelmsford

Aug 09: Boardmasters Festival, Newquay

Aug 30: Victorious Festival, Portsmouth

Blast Of Our Kind tour

Nov 30: Norwich Open

Dec 01: Cambridge Corn Exchange

Dec 01: Nottingham Rock City

Dec 04: Newcastle O2 Academy

Dec 05: Glasgow O2 Academy

Dec 09: Leeds O2 Academy

Dec 10: Manchester Academy

Dec 11: Birmingham O2 Academy

Dec 13: Bristol O2 Academy

Dec 14: Southampton O2 Guildhall

Dec 15: Bexhill De La Warr Pavillion

Dec 17: Bournemouth O2 Academy

Dec 19: Oxford O2 Academy

Dec 20: London Roundhouse

Martin Kielty
Freelance Online News Contributor

Not only is one-time online news editor Martin an established rock journalist and drummer, but he’s also penned several books on music history, including SAHB Story: The Tale of the Sensational Alex Harvey Band, a band he once managed, and the best-selling Apollo Memories about the history of the legendary and infamous Glasgow Apollo. Martin has written for Classic Rock and Prog and at one time had written more articles for Louder than anyone else (we think he's second now). He’s appeared on TV and when not delving intro all things music, can be found travelling along the UK’s vast canal network.