Roughly three years ago in Halifax, The Darcys became a band. They were students and often found that they couldn't muster the time to create, promote, and then tour an album properly. That's not to say they didn't give it a try, which is how they ended up with a debut album entitled Endless Water. Being unable to promote it properly, the band put it online and ended up charting in Melbourne, Australia. The album eventually sold out. Alas, school ended and it looked like The Darcys would have to disband.

Then it dawned on them that they all lived within a four block radius of each other in Toronto. Game on.

The Darcys begin their three month national tour today. I managed to get in a phone call with Wes (drums) to discuss how the band had progressed so quickly since their move back to Toronto.

"That's the interesting thing about The Darcys... I always say that we've been a band for three years, but we've only really been able to focus on the band since May of last year. We like being able to play shows in more than just Halifax and Toronto."

And it seems like The Darcys have taken advantage of that time since May.

"Yeah, we did the whole country from September to November. We've also done Toronto to Halifax many times as well."

This time around, The Darcys will still be promoting their last album. Since it sold out, they've re-pressed it and they have also recorded a cover of Final Fantasy's The CN Tower Belongs to the Dead, which can be downloaded for free at The Darcys' linked website above. They will also be playing a pile of new material that can be found on the new album that they have just finished demoing (it should be released by the end of the 2009).

When I was reading some online articles about the band, many reviews rant about their incredible live performances. Usually when I see this I'll ask how a band feels that their live performance translates onto a disc.

"Well that's the thing, for us it was kind of the opposite. We were in Halifax and just started this little band in the basement. We were schooling in Halifax, doing our theses or whatever, and we really just jumped into the studio before really road testing it and playing a lot. So, the record's kind of soft and poppy and kind of buoyant at times - but still very melodic. Now that we've been playing it a lot live we've hashed out our own sound."

Clearly it sounds like The Darcys next record will have a different sound. Probably harder and more robust - a lot of reviews compare their live performance to that of the Constantines.

"I really feel that this new record will have a lot more energy to it. The new stuff that we've been working on has a really cool sound to it. I don't even know how to describe it because we're still fleshing it out. It just feels like the right environment and all the songs sound like a unit. I'm hoping that when the record comes out you'll here it as one."

The Darcys will be playing at the Whippersnapper Gallery with the Black Hat Brigade on Thursday March 26th. And then they are on the road for three months.

Photo by Michael Novalski.