James Young of electronic duo, Darkstar, talks to Seán Hayes about losing their lead vocalist, the challenges of developing a unique sound and the problems facing young people today.
The great industrial cities of North England have, for decades, been synonymous with denim-clad, anti-establishment rock bands of disillusioned youth, producing such canonical figures as The Smiths, The Stone Roses and Pulp, to name just a few. Hailing from these same hinterlands, however, James Young of Darkstar shakes off any influences of his legendary predecessors: “We don’t try to embrace anything indie, to tell you the truth.” What the electronic duo do embrace, though, are carefully crafted, beat-driven melodies and stark, socially-aware lyrics. Clarifying on this, in the type of Northern accent where “-ing” is pronounced “-ink”, Young adds: “not that indie’s a bad thing; it just doesn’t really interest us. We try to put our own personality and hearts into it.”
Forming in 2007, Darkstar co-founders Young and Aiden Whalley have continuously been praised and heralded by publications such as FACT Magazine, The Fader and The Guardian for both their technical skill and their direct, honest messages and themes. This support, however, plays second fiddle to an already established, calm assurance and astuteness held by the duo: “We’re quietly confident, I think. We’ve got belief in what we’re capable of.” The musical scene has, in recent times, seen a decline in originality and innovation – Young corroborates this himself, admitting “there’s nothing pricking my ears just right now.” It can be challenging to find, and equally develop, a unique, recognisable sound. Young is well aware of this challenge, adding the further difficulty of “the business end of things.”
“Once you get to the third album, the novelty of being a new act has completely gone. You’re in between sustaining a profession and hobby.” He continues, explaining: “Aiden and myself have been working together for nine years. It’s a very intense setting. It’s difficult, at times, to keep it stimulating but we manage to. It’s just trying to keep it fresh really in the studio and enjoying it as much as possible.”
It is possible, if not likely, that this close relationship could have come under great pressure after the departure of James Buttery, who had been Darkstar’s lead vocalist. Indeed, many groups in the past have failed to recover from such a dramatic shift in dynamic, attempting instead to continue as if nothing had happened. Buttery’s departure, however, gave Whalley and Young the chance to return to the type of music Darkstar had released in their formative years – a time when the group had also been just a duo. Looking back now from where he is based in his London hideout, Young maintains that there was only one way forward: “I think it takes time to reconsider things. Immediately afterwards, it was black and white what needed to be done. The mechanics of it and what happens next is just something you have to feel out.” What did happen next was the recording of Foam Island, the group’s third record, subsequently released in November.
The album offers an oftentimes highly disillusioned and bleak portrayal of life for young people living in North England. Many of the tracks sample interview extracts carried out by Whalley and Young with members of their respective hometowns. Cynical and downcast voices, mixed with atmospheric synths and beat driven hooks, can be heard pointing out that “There doesn’t seem to be anybody current that’s able to understand the issues that we have / It’s a different kind of struggle,” while a young woman regrets the lack of opportunities presented to her growing up. It is a highly political and socially-aware message – that young people are struggling to be represented and heard today – and a highly conscious move on Young’s part. Explaining the process behind this new direction, Young acknowledges: “We definitely wanted to explore that side of things for our third record. I feel like there was a political element we may have leant on slightly in the first two records and this time I felt like it was important to realise that and just try and be genuine with it. We wanted to talk about things that affect people on an everyday basis.”
Recording for the album and the required interviews were two processes which went hand in hand. It was a long task, according to Young, to fully gain the trust of these people and to forge meaningful relationships with them. Young, though, believes that it was worth the effort, adding: “I was more interested in giving them the platform really and then contextualising it in a way that they saw fit too. The main priority was for it to be true to the people who contributed to it. I didn’t want it to be sensationalised or anything like that. I think it’s just an honest portrayal.”
“Once you get to the third album, the novelty of being a new act has completely gone. You’re in between sustaining a profession and hobby.”
While this honest portrayal of North English youth does highlight glaring problems in the social and political systems, Young maintains that there is still some room for youthful optimism: “I didn’t want it to be a cliché, ‘grim up North’ album. I wanted to explore that kind of feeling before the bigger responsibilities of life come along and take you off guard. I wanted there to be an optimism and I think, particularly at the beginning of the album, there is. I think it’s about as optimistic as young people can get, given the circumstances of some of the policies we’re seeing now being brought in.”
Young seems equally uncertain about his own future, remaining reserved on upcoming plans for the year. He does confirm a string of tour dates around Germany, the homeland for any enthusiast of electronic music: “Germany’s always been a very forward thinking place in electronic music. There are definitely artists from Germany that I listen to a lot in the past and now.” Apart from that, Young notes the likelihood of touring the festival circuit this summer and while an Irish date is, as of yet, unconfirmed, he admits his eagerness to return: “We’ve played Ireland twice – Dublin and Cork. I had a great time in Ireland.”
Foam Island is out now.
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