Those Darlins Interview: SXSW 2010

Posted on Mar 8th 2010 8:15PM by Mark R. Collins
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Even if Those Darlins' brand of catchy country music isn't your type of bag, not only are the three college friends cute as a button, but the live shows are a riot and Nikki might even throw a hamburger at you. The band's self-titled debut album features a blend of country and punk rock you can only find in the Appalachian mountains. We caught up with Nikki Darlin while she was wallowing in the band's hometown of Murfreesboro, Tenn., trying to protect her true identity before heading to SXSW.

How did the band form?

Oh fuck. I hate that question. We met on the internet. [silence] Okay, I'm kidding. Jessi and I met at a Rock 'n Roll camp and eventually we started living together and then we were just hanging out playing on the front porch. I don't even remember why we invited Kelley over but we didn't have any intentions of starting a band, we were just hanging out making music.

Your bio mentions pop music a lot, how would you define your sound in your words?

Like a roomful of queef. No, I'm kidding. The whole pop thing is brought up a lot because we write simple, catchy songs. I don't think of us a mainstream pop band, we will never be that band you see on MTV with a top music video but we're the pop music of our genre and in a more classic way, kind of like The Beatles wrote pop music in their day. We're not intentionally like 'we're going to make a million dollars with a pop band!'

What are your influences?

A lot of Appalachian country music. We grew up in the middle of nowhere so that's just music we know and that we can relate to. Since then it's been a lot of Rock 'N Roll but a little bit of everything across all genres. I like listening to my old record collection when I'm at home since it can't go on the road.

How did you come up with the name?

Well you know we're southern girls so we just called each other darlin'. Before we had the band we would call each other that. So when we got asked our band name and we just said The Darlins. Apparently there is already a band named The Darlins so we had to change it to Those Darlins.

And its just a stage name, our last names are not legally changed to Darlin, but if anybody ever asks we'll say yes just to mess with them.

Seems like you guys have an active online presence?

We're definitely trying to connect with the fans. I consider myself more of an entertainer than I do a musician. Our live shows are really so much more than the music, it's always different and we will go with whatever the crowd is like on a given night. We want you to show us what your city is like. You guys like to party? C'mon, show us! bring it! We want to have fun with you. If you want to get drunk, jump on stage and take your pants off, that's cool. Make as much of an ass of yourself as we are.

Have you played any practical jokes on tour that stand out to you?

Mostly we just fuck with the band that we're touring with. As much as possible. But only if they can take it. Actually...its more fun when they can't take it. There was this one tour we were on and at the very end we left a bloody tampon on one band's windshield and a stink bomb in the other band's van. I won't say which bands.

What are you looking forward to most about sxsw this year?

We played last year and had a blast. We had a bunch of shows the last day and I got really drunk. Then we went to this industry party and I got even more wasted and was throwing hamburgers out of a second story window at people on the street. The sad part is that they were kinda fancy hamburgers that were probably pretty good. Also I thought the people I was throwing hamburgers at were just pedestrians but they were coming to the party we were at so it was kind of awkward when they walked in.

The thing about SXSW is we didn't realize how big of a deal it was. We were totally happy to be selected but didn't know much about it and then we got down to Austin and looked around and it was like, 'woah, this is serious stuff.' So hopefully I can keep my s--- together this year and have some fun.

How much collaboration goes into your tracks?

It's a fluctuating thing. We started out writing songs on a patio so you can imagine how something comes together and gets re-arranged. The song writing process is still like that we just don't do it on the front porch anymore.

What do you miss most about the band's home base of Murfreesboro, Tenn., when you're on the road?

Nothing. Just my bed. It's really just a place to crash in between tours and I'd rather be out playing music anyways.

Mark R. Collins is a contributor from Seed.com. Learn how you can contribute here.