THE County Gazette had a catch up with one of Taunton’s most promising groups, The Darlingtons, as they aim for complete music stardom.

Kiran ‘Kiwi’ Roy (lead), Dan Young (guitar), Alex Bispham (bass) and Chris Holmes (drums) have been representing the South West all across Europe on their latest jam-packed tour, with their most recent gig nearer to home at the well-known The Louisiana, Bristol.

A lot has changed for the band in the last couple of years and, after their awesome set in Bristol, Chris and Dan told the Gazette all about it.

Chris said: “We’ve been taking it seriously as a band since late December 2012 to January 2013 and this year has picked up again. We did 80 gigs last year to build our gigging experience up, which was hectic, and a lot of those were playing to empty rooms.

“But this year has been completely different, we’ve still managed to get a really good quantity of gigs in which, by the end of the year, should be between 60 and 70.

“The main tour that we’ve just been on was the first string of dates where there wasn’t a single bad date, if we could do that every month we’d be the happiest people alive.”

The guys also talked about their hometown and how the music scene has taken a dip in recent, hard times.

Dan said: “We had a venue called the Perfect Fifth a couple of years back, me and Kiwi use to work there, and there was a bit of a scene there but it shut down and there hasn’t really been anything since.

“The recession and the smoking ban didn’t really help. We very rarely play a gig in Taunton, but when we do, we’ll get a really good crowd. It’s just finding a place to do it that’s the biggest issue, it takes a lot of effort to organise one around there.”

Chris said: “The Brewhouse is a little too big; we’d rather get a small venue of around 100 to 120 capacity and fill it out rather than a venue that can fit 250 but only get 100 people in. If you get a smaller venue and you proper pack it out, the atmosphere is great, and all our best gigs have been in tiny venues.

The Darlingtons are building a strong fan base up north with Sheffield becoming their ‘second home’.

Chris said: “We use to be managed by a bloke in Doncaster and he put us on with a band called Catfish and the Bottlemen in October last year, they’re going through the roof now and their second single has just been B-listed by Radio One and they’re out in America touring.

“Neil, our manager from Aggressive Management, came to see us and really liked our set and booked us for a couple of shows. Over the next couple of months after that, Neil began to take over the reins and management side of things.”

The band will be heading to Sheffield’s Owls in the Park and Tramlines festivals in July and, with a new single on the way, Chris is enjoying the rollercoaster ride.

He said: “We’re really looking forward to the next few festivals and our new single, it’s been stressful getting everything organised but it will be worth it.”

My first impression from watching The Darlingtons live in Bristol, having first heard their track ‘Rotations’ in Taunton’s Apple & Parrot pub, was one of pure excitement. Their raw energy on stage is electric and their ability to write and perform hit tracks is fantastic – I would be highly surprised to not see this group hitting the big time in the next five years.

To keep up to date with the band’s tour and new single visit www.wearethedarlingtons.co.uk/ or the Facebook page at www.facebook.com/thedarlingtons.