By Dylan Bryant (Music Editor)

Upon its release in April 2010, Darwin Deez’s self-titled debut album was met with universal praise and acclaim. In order to celebrate the 10th anniversary, Darwin and his band have just completed a run of UK headline shows to play the album in its entirety. I had the chance to catch up with Darwin ahead of the Brighton show at Old Market, and started by asking if he had been to Brighton before;

“Yes, I like the sand-free beach. I’m glad to be here on tour doing my thing.”

Darwin’s iconic live performance is renowned for its creative edge where he and his virtuosic band bring a dance party to the stage to accompany his playful indie-pop grooves. Darwin teased; “We have a new dance or two we’ll be doing.”

With these dances, comes Darwin’s addictive gritty sound which may be credit to the fact that he recorded his debut album in his own apartment using only a PC and a cheap microphone.


Laying claim as the original bedroom pop artist, I asked “How do you feel about the evolution of the ‘Bedroom Producer’?”;

“The potential remains the same. There is a lot of rather soulless new music on streaming services these days. I call it “Spotify wave.” It’s always listenable but almost never has depth. If you want depth and personality, the bedroom approach will not interfere with those things. It can help.”

Discussing creativity during the pandemic Darwin says; 

“The pandemic wrecked my creativity. I had extra time, yes, but no inspiration with nothing happening in the world, socially. I’ve gotten more into production and recording though. Invested some money in some gear. That’s been fun.”

Elaborating on his song writing process, he adds; 

“I’ve been doing lyrics first a lot since my 2nd album. Double down was riffs first in like 50% of the cases.”

Darwin Deez, Bizkaia International Music Experience – BIME 2015, Bilbao Exhibition Centre – BEC, Barakaldo, 30/X/2015. Foto por Dena Flows

Hailing from New York City and having just visited the big apple myself, I asked Darwin his favourite thing about the city;

“the best thing is probably the breakfast sandwiches you can get at any corner store/deli/bodega. You can get sandwiches cheaply and they’re delicious. The restaurants in general set a high bar that other cities struggle to meet.”

‘Radar Detector’ serves up as a personal favourite of Darwin’s snap-crackle-pop gems. With its choppy guitar and bright production, it’s a firm staple on any of my summer Spotify playlists. I asked Darwin; “What’s your favourite track to listen to when the suns out?”; 

“I’ll go for some beach boys. They have a lot of music from the 70’s that’s lesser known but some of it is quite beautiful.”

Discussing more of his musical influences, Darwin explains;  

“Jacob Ciocci (extreme animals) inspired me a lot in the beginning and open mic night helped me find my voice lyrically. I had no identity lyrically before I did that. I went every Monday for a year or more. It was like music college for me. I always recommend artists do that.”

Darwin is known for his iconic live performance, and I finished by asking; “what’s your favourite thing about performing live?”; 

“I just love being with my friends in the band. and hanging out after shows feels luxurious sometimes. I don’t mind a sunny drive either. Especially a short one. The UK drives are always short. I’m surprised people don’t travel more for shows in the UK. Like it’s only a few hours between towns there. Sometimes people in USA will drive 5+ hours to see us play. Brits won’t go more than 45 mins away from home for a show, but I guess they don’t really have to!”

Darwin put on an incredible show, and the dances lived up to the expectations!

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