NEWSLETTER

Photo: Travis Hugget

Those Darlins are three ladies from Tennessee who make free, rollicking country inspired tunes, which sit very comfortably alongside the music of bands like The Black Lips, Heavy Trash and King Khan and the Shrines. The full band is Kelley Darlin, Jessi Darlin and Nikki Darlin and their debut self-titled album is like a big breath of unpretentious fresh air.

Vice: Hi Kelley, how are you? What have you been up to?
Kelley Darlin: Well, I’ve had a long day teaching squirrels at rock n roll camp.

Whaa? You were teaching squirrels at rock n roll camp?
Ha, oh my god, is that what you heard me say? That would have been amazing but I was teaching some girls at rock n roll camp, not squirrels.

Oh, that’s great but can we just pretend that you were teaching squirrels to play the guitar and the drums and that they were all wearing denim and studded leather and whatever else rock n roll squirrels would wear.
Yeah, they’d be going crazy up there on the stage with their little moves and big bushy tails. The girls I teach are pretty amazing too though.

Right, what’s rock n roll camp all about then?
Well, it’s a program that I started seven years ago to teach young girls how to play music. I actually met Nikki and Jessie at the camp so it’s kind of a special place for us.

And do the young girls have to show any natural musical ability to begin with?
Not at all. Basically, the idea is that they form bands and we act as their managers who help them get a song together for the final showcase. It’s really a rock n roll camp in the most genuine sense—pick up an instrument and make lots of noise.

Sounds awesome. You’ve recently been on tour opening for Dan Auerbach of the Black Keys. How was that?
It was great. They were the biggest crowds we’d ever played to so that kind of heightened the professionalism. We like playing dives but bigger shows are obviously exciting. Jessie would introduce him some nights as Dan Outback and I’m pretty sure he had no idea. I thought you’d like that.

What’ve been your most memorable shows?
We’ve played quite a few shows for our families actually. The reason we started touring in the first place was that we wanted to go and see our families, who were about a ten-hour drive away, so we’d book shows along the way to break up the drive and hopefully help pay for some of the gas. It was kind of like taking a boyfriend home to meet your parents but instead it was, “hey, meet the band”.

What’s the most ridiculous thing you’ve written a song about?
“DUI or Die” is pretty funny. It’s so literal that it’s kind of ridiculous. Nikki and I both spent a whole winter without cars because we lost them drink driving. In Murfreesboro where we live you have to have a car—there’s no public transport of any kind—so the two of us were stuck trying to cheer each other up all winter. We’d play a bunch of Beach Boys and dance around the lounge room. We had fun.

You guys make playing music look like heaps of fun.
It was so nice to meet two really like-minded girls who were fun and adventurous and hilarious and cool and creative. It was kind of like finding our clan. And that’s what it’s all about I guess.

EBONY IVORY
Those Darlins’ self-titled album is out now through Spunk.

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