What was the beginning point for your music career? How did it all start?
I like to think it started with the first song written by Hope Darling. It was probably a rudimentary song and I don’t doubt it was probably raw, but it set the stage and put us on this musical journey. It started when the lead singer Gabriel who had been in a cover band for several years decided he had enough of playing other people music and decided to take a stab at writing his own. The rest as they say is history.
Was there any bumps on the road? What kind of challenges did you have to deal with?
There have been quite a few bumps in the road. Pandemic affected us all where shows were cancelled, shows and opportunities were loss. I think the biggest challenge for Hope Darling was the loss of our friend and drummer Patrick Brown in 2017. Long story short, he was at a local bar watching a band and a drunk unruly patron was making racial slurs directed to one of the musicians. Patrick didn’t like it, words amd fists were exchanged and ended helping the establishment kick the gentleman out which resulted in a no trespass order filed against this drunk S.O.B. About a week or 2 later this guy returned to the same bar and unfortunately Patrick was there sitting at the bar with his back towards him and didn’t see this guy come in with a firearm and shot Patrick in the back. Aside from Patrick being our friend, a father, a husband, a son, and a brother he was a 2 tour Army Veteran and I know if Patrick didn’t have his back turned he would of saw this guy coming from a mile away. Unfortunately this event happened and Gabriel pondered for quite awhile if Hope Darling was even going to continue. It was thru the support of friends, family and the brotherhood of the band that convinced him to revive the band.
What was the most fulfilling and satisfying moment so far?
There are quite a few highlights from hearing our song on the radio, to TV on a Netflix series but I think the best is being able to go to a Touchtunes Jukebox found in any bar or restaurant in any state and then pull up our song “Lifeline” and then hear it rocking the room!
How would you describe the music that you typically create?
Emotionally charged, anthemic and melodic rock and roll!
What is your creative process like?
Its triggered with an idea, concept, event, a person, a moment or even an emotion. What follows is usually a melody and then lyrics. Eventually we come together in our rehearsal room to find our rhythm and structure. Its always work in process with each song but in the end we don’t stop working on the song until we can walk out of our rehearsal feeling good about what we created.
If you could change anything about the industry, what would it be?
Should the music industry change or should we as fans, as listeners, as consumers be the ones changing? The music scene is alive and vibrant and the industry has adapted with the rise of the internet. It has created platforms, services, greater accessibility and profit making for them while keeping the artists, bands, musicians working twice as hard. As Richie our bass player says “in the past, artists would tour to promote their album. Now artists release their music to promote their tour”.
If you were asked to give a piece of advice to upcoming bands, what would that be? Always trust your instincts.
What has been the best performance of your career so far?
We have had quite a few great shows, and quite a few not so great but I think the best one to date was when we went to North Carolina for a music festival. It was a musical road trip in the simplest description. We played 2 stages back to back that night, the main Indie show and then a impromptu open jam at a local bar. I think it was the moment, the event, the adrenaline but I felt like we all meshed that day. It wasn’t so much the performance but the feel of having the privilege of being able to perform.
If you didn’t become a musician, what would you be doing now?
We all have various interests but I believe that we would all be doing something in the arts or even music related. Sound engineering, producing, or even just something that allows us to be creative.
What is new with the band at the moment? What are you currently working on and would like to share with the world?
We just released a 9 song album that is currently available on all major music platforms like Spotify, iTunes, Amazon music or Apple music. In the meantime we are in the rehearsal studio writing, and working on new music for a new album.
