Darren Hanlon: The Elbow’s Connected To The Funny Bone

For one to declare that Darren Hanlon is an enigma would be a huge understatement. This folk singer-songwriter has continued to defy conventional typecasting since he went solo and released the exuberant track, ‘Punk’s Not Dead,’ and albums Hello Stranger and Little Chills. Having released album number three, Fingertips and Mountaintops last year to critical acclaim, this tea and rice milk drinking, occasional spruiker of Gympie coffee, young punk fan come Madonna worshipper and folk singer, has delighted fans with his eclectic style and repertoire that boasts songs such as ‘There Aren’t Enough Songs About Squash’ and ‘The People Who Wave At Trains’. Hanlon recently spoke to The Dwarf, something that more often resembled coffee with a mate, rather than an actual music interview.

Hanlon is about to embark on the ‘Touching Elbows’ tour, one whose moniker derived from his song, ‘Elbows.’ Darren describes this as referring to touching someone’s elbows on a dance floor. The shows will feature music from the current album intermixed with some greatest hits and songs that were overlooked on the previous tour. Despite a growing catalogue of material to choose from, Hanlon has a clear favourite, that he enjoys performing. “I actually do enjoy playing ‘Elbows’ the song because it’s a story. I kind of feel like I’m Bob Dylan or something when I’m singing it because the chords are really folky. It’s just one of those songs that I’m happy with lyrically and melodically.”

Hanlon and his band are frequently acknowledged as learning a new cover for each tour. On the last tour, the group performed ‘Ring Of Fire’ as a joke at a pub. Hanlon was then amused when people began requesting it at subsequent shows. While these musicians enjoy performing music penned by others, time constraints prevent them from diverging too far into this terrain. “The problem is we’ve got too many songs to play (laughs). Unless we become Bruce Springsteen, its kind of hard to fit them all into an hour and a half show”.

Hanlon need not worry about winning crowds over with drawcards and “big hits,” as he also has the option of creating intrigue through visual aesthetics, and he once said that they like to up the ante in the costume department for each tour. “Well it is winter, which is a great sartorial month. You’re not sweating so much on stage. Maybe we’ll don the suit, you never know… I think we’ll go on a shopping expedition next week before we take off”.

To capitalise on a suit’s visual appeal, Darren could simply bedazzle it. However, he requires some convincing, as he has not yet made any steps towards the glam genre. In 2007, ladies and gentlemen, what we need is a vanguard for a new folk and glam genre. “Glam folk? Glok? I’m sure there could be some crossover somewhere…Like Tyrannosaurus Van Hart or something”.

It seems Hanlon and band may have some time to prepare for this extra-special shopping trip. In addition, Darren is a self-confessed, seasoned op-shopper who has seen his fair share of oddities for sale. “I guess my album of Beatles songs done by dogs barking was probably one of my prized possessions. ‘Beatles Barkers,’ yeah”. Personally I find the notion of this to be barking mad. I’ve heard of a dog listening to his master’s voice, but this is ridiculous. So does Darren have a favourite track?

“Well I can’t say because it’s in dog language. No, ‘I Want To Hold Your Hand’ is pretty good because its got some sheep noises in it too”. Dear reader, I will leave you to think of your own joint Beatles/dog puns as Hanlon graciously offers, “I Want To Shake Your Paw”.

Hanlon also admits that despite not owning a dog, he is the proud owner of the book ‘How To Groom Your Dog,’ published circa 1970. Thanks to the volume, Hanlon is now an expert in canines and feels he could best use them as musical accompaniment. “I pride myself in being an expert on most things and that’s another feather to my bow…Maybe I need to get some dogs up on stage? Maybe I need to tour with dogs, singing dogs?”

It is clear that Hanlon is an animal lover and he feels that the lyrical content of his songs are not idiosyncratic as they are all about love. “I think a lot of them are just about girls. And then every now and again I’ll just throw a curve ball about a kickstand or a sporting match and it throws people a little bit. I think I’ve got to find more interesting subjects”.

Writing songs about people close to you can act as a creative muse but can also turn problematic in some instances. “I once broke up with a girl and said, ‘By the way, I wrote that song about you.’ She was like, ‘Get f**ked.’ She didn’t really care for that, knowing that information”.

Furthermore, Hanlon’s album Fingertips and Mountaintops was recorded mainly in a silent movie theatre in Pomona, Queensland, a place where as a child, Darren used to go to watch Buster Keaton and Laurel and Hardy films. Upon listening to the album it is obvious that the theatre’s ambience assisted Hanlon in creating an album with an underlying theme of nostalgia. Darren revels in the past, and has fond memories involving music. He reminisces about attending country music concerts with his parents and seeing Slim Dusty play. He adds, “I actually remember being at the very first Gympie muster, swimming in the creek with all the other kids, and I remember the music in the background. Some of my earliest memories are of going to sleep at night listening to records my Dad had put on in the lounge room. We’d all listen to it and if he was still awake he’d go and change the side”.

Darren’s ears were not confined to listening to country music as a youth. Just prior to starting high school, he bought his very first album with his own money, a copy of The Sex Pistols’ ‘Never Mind The Bollocks’. Before this purchase, Hanlon had also borrowed money from his parents to buy some “daggy music” and Madonna’s debut self-titled album. “I was obsessed. I had posters of Madonna everywhere on my walls. That and A Country Practice. I had two scrapbooks, Madonna and A Country Practice”.

Further to this admission, Hanlon had a friend who liked his Manual-Arts teacher’s roommate and she introduced him to the world of punk. This trio also introduced the young Hanlon to R.E.M., Paul Kelly, The Triffids, The Go-Betweens, The Clash and The Jam. “I guess a lot of it is just tracing backwards, it just all came out of that. I guess I developed a healthy love of lyrics and good songs. I had a good teacher”.

And these influential people in Darren’s life did not have to look at the tea leaves in his favourite beverage to predict what a proficient and unique songwriter he would one day become.

Share this article on Facebook