We recently asked our lovely readers via Facebook and Twitter to pose questions to The Darkness frontman Justin Hawkins. Unsurprisingly, they came flooding in with topics ranging from ice cream to laser vision. Here’s what cat-suited rock hero had to say…
Dom Harrison asks: If you had to be half man and half sausage, which half would be sausage and which half half man?
“Well I’d definitely be a lovely vegan sausage, a Quorn sausage. And I’d be all sausage on my right hand side, I don’t mind the left hand side of my face. So I’d be a right-sided sausage, but still with my tattoos.”
Connor Wilkins asks: When are you going to tour the UK with Steel Panther?
“As yet there is no plans for such tour, but in our hearts we are always on tour with each other. I really like those guys, they’re good friends of mine. It would be good though, a dual headline tour… or a dual support tour! We’ve never even discussed it actually, it might destroy us all. I’m not sure the world could handle it to be honest.”
Christopher Thomas asks: Do you still endorse eating in the Red Rose curry restaurant in Upper Holloway?
“I haven’t been there for many years but I only have fond memories of eating there. Abdul, the main guy there, is a good man and a great supporter of The Darkness over the years. As far as I’m concerned it’s still the greatest restaurant in the world. If I had to suggest what to order? Well you take whatever your meat of choice is, back in the day when I was a meat eater it would have been lamb, and I’d have a lamb jalfrezi, balti, bhuna. It’s been marinated in spices and butter for a week, then marinated some more for another week, then covered in more spices until you can’t actually tell what it is anymore.”
Dan Wright asks: Do you have laser vision?
“Well I have got better than 20⁄20 vision, although it’s not actually laser guided. But if they were to build a robot based on me then I imagine it would have to contain laser vision to make it most accurate.”
Steve Hyett asks: What’s your favourite Carry On film?
“Carry On Behind… Yes that is a real one. It’s great you should check it out, it’s about an archeological dig. My favourite cast member is Kenneth Williams, in Carry On Behind he’s doing a slide show and he says ‘and the next thing we have is of enormous interest’. And of course it’s a person with very large breasts.”
Brian Treanor asks: What’s your favourite ice cream?
“I like lychee sorbet. I’m a vegan now, but you can get vegan rice milk ice cream. But the lychee sorbet is delicious. Lovely.”
Stephanie Kaye asks: What’s in your toiletries bag?
“Ooh… Lots of things. But, I have to mention these, mothballs. I’ve got hairspray and all the stuff you imagine in there, but every man needs mothballs.”
AJ Cage asks: How many spandex outfits do you own?
“Far too many to actually count, I wouldn’t even be able to guess. I think I own at least half the world’s supply of spandex costumes. How many… I don’t know, honestly. A ball park figure? In the tens. It’s not quite three digits, but very close.”
Scott Richmond asks: Do you still believe in a thing called love?
“Oh, hold on, I can’t talk at the moment because my sides are splitting. The short answer to that is; yes. But I’m inclined to think less so, these days. I could give you a longer answer about telling why I do… But maybe not as much as I once did. It’d be awful if I told you some heartbreaking story now wouldn’t it? So I won’t, I’ll just say that I do believe in a thing called love. But love hurts.”
Paul Guerra asks: How do you hit those high notes with your voice?
“It’s the power of positive thinking, I actually get myself into a meditative state and I imagine hitting those notes. It really is that simple, I just wanted to do it and out it came. I can’t explain it, it’s like an astral projection. You can achieve anything if you really put your mind to it. If you think you can or you think you can’t; you’re right.”
Anthony JB asks: What inspired the lyrics to the song Growing On Me?
“Well, those lyrics are deeply personal and I think revealing the nature of such a beautiful song would dull the impact and the mystique of it. So I respectfully decline to comment.”
Cameron Brown asks: Would you rather be a taco or a burrito?
“There are rather a lot of food-based questions here aren’t there! I think I’d like to be a burrito, I do like tacos but they’re not for me at this stage. A burrito with flash fried green chillies and a delicious plate of beans.”
Iain McCallum asks: You were the first band to bring glam rock back and make it fun, which bands do you think make rock fun?
“Oh god, Steel Panther, Kiss, Iron Maiden, all those bands are fun… I mean, rock music is meant to be about having a good time and making music you enjoy and that is fun by its very nature isn’t it. I think if you didn’t have fun watching those bands then you are going to have a lot of trouble in later life. Yeah, when we came out there were a lot of bands that were a bit mopey but I think a lot of those bands were focussing on just one feeling or emotion. I like bands that can express a lot of different things and I think we are one of them.”
The Darkness’ new album Last Of Our Kind is out now.
