Damian Darlington – Brit Floyd

Brit Floyd is ready to head out on their 2016 World tour "Space and Time CONTINUUM" boasting a brand new, million dollar light show and state of the art video design.d we had the opportunity to reach out to Vocalist, Guitarist and Musical Director, Damian Darlington, for a preview of what to expect and recent changes in the members.

Damian Darlington

Hi Damian. Thanks for taking the time to chat with us today. Probably one of the biggest changes with Brit Floyd right now is the replacement of Bobby Harrison with Edo Scordo. Were there any growing pains with such a change in the heart of the band?

Edo fits in perfectly and is just the person to recreate the David Gilmour guitar parts for us and he is a great guy to have on the road too. Obviously it has been different since I've worked with Bobby since 2008 to look over and seeing Edo there in his place. It's been about 8 months since he took over and he fits in perfectly.

What are some of the new things added for this years tour?

Well, we shuffled the setlist around and we've added some songs into the set that we've never played before along with some old favorites that we haven't played in some years too. Of course people will get to hear Pink Floyd's Greatest Hits, if you want to call them that. We also redesigned the light show so there will be a different look coming from the stage. We will still have the circular screen that people are familiar with. We are always making an effort to change things and there will be many new things for fans to see this year.

Has Brit Floyd exceeded the expectations that you had when you first put this together?

It's been almost 22 years since I started playing in a Pink Floyd tribute band and I never thought I would still be doing this 2 decades later and playing for larger and larger crowds at more exotic venues around the planet so from that point of view, it never ceases to amaze me. Looking at it from the point of view of people appreciating Pink Floyd music doesn't surprise me because I continue to see how popular the music continues to be and how new generations are discovering it all the time. So from that perspective, it's no surprise.

How do you breathe life in songs that are 50 years old? How do you keep them fresh to play?

Its a combination of continuing to appreciate and respect this music from my personal perspective and I feel the musicians on stage with me feel the same way about it. That plus the appreciation of the audience. That is what keeps it fresh. Those people came to hear this music that we are playing and their energy is what feeds us and it keeps it exciting to play even though we've played these songs hundreds of times. It is still an adrenaline rush doing this.

Pink Floyd was never a 'band oriented' group. They took a back seat in the equasion and let the music and show take the forefront of the experience. How do you connect with the audience and balance the two?

We certianly approached it in a similar way. In our band, there isn't any one musician that would stand out from the other as opposed to bands like Led Zeppelin, Who or the Rolling Stones. The music and the light show is more so the personality than the individual musicians. But we certianly connect with members of the audience at each show especially in the first few rows. We don't want to be just robots up there regurgitating this music. We get into what we do and there are some engaging personalities onstage so it is a balance to be struck.

The authenticity of your recreation is second to none. With such an aggressive touring schedule, how many stand by musicians do you have ready to sit in?

You mentioned 'on stand by' in your question. We have such an aggressive tour schedule, playing upward of 150 shows per year, that not everyone can commit themselves for that amount of touring so yes, we have to have a pool of musicians who can help us cover those shows year round. The core of the band will stay the same and pretty much everyone who will be playing with us has played with us in the USA with the exception of Edo Scordo.

Does the setlist change during the tour or is it set?

We do allow some space in the setlist to change things around night to night. The main body of the set is structured for the whole tour but we have space in the first and second set to change a track to keep things interesting for us and the audience because people do come to multiple shows on the tour

With such an aggressive tour schedule, playing every night, do you get time to enjoy any of the cities you're in?

It all depends where we are lucky enough to have a day off fall. We will usually travel to the next venue before the day off so we can spend it seeing the sights. It's good to get a little time off the tour to clear your head and take in the surroundings.

Do you prefer large arenas or smaller quaint venues?

They both have their attractions. When you're in an arena, you have a bit more space to set the show up just the way you want and in a smaller venue with a smaller stage, you have to make a few compromises. From the perspective of being on the stage playing the show, it has different atmospheres. It is fun to do intimate gigs in small venues for different reasons. You can connect more with the audience. I really don't have a favorite. They both have their pluses and minuses.



For more on Damian and BRIT FLOYD, visit their website:

www.britfloyd.com



Tour Dates:

North America 2016

www.britfloyd.com

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