Accessibility is relative.

      Three months ago Hal Darling and his debut album, Darling only existed on the extreme outskirts of my prog conciousness. I'd heard my friend Jason mention his name once or twice, but other than that, Darling was just another ultra-obscure name among many in the Wayside Music catalog – just another one of those weirdo bands that I quickly scan past in an effort to separate all the "new music" and "avant-garde" chaff from the prog rock wheat in that often puzzling catalog.
      That was before he E-mailed me and offered to send me his CD for my perusal and eventual review on Reels of Dreams Unrolled . "Sure, what the heck. It's a free CD," I thought. Well, free CDs are not usally good and good CDs are not usually free in my experience, but Darling is an exception. I 've listened to the album many times now, and have grown to like it quite a bit.
      I have also grown to like Hal Darling himself. He is an intelligent artist who genuinely seeks to make progressive music. He is also a nice guy with a good, sometimes bizzarre sense of humor and some interesting things to say about music. Whether you've heard Darling or not, I think you'll find this, Hal's first internet interview entertaining and interesting.
- Daniel Dust

How and when did you get started playing music? What musical training do you have?

      I started playing at age six under the harsh and cruel tutelage of my two elder brothers (both are drummers), who would force me to learn the drum parts of the latest pop opus, note for note, after hearing it just once or twice. If I couldn't do it, and I never could, they would wrap me in a blanket and drag me up and down the stairs. This was in the 1960's, and a few of the contusions that I suffered have yet to heal. My household was The Darling Brothers' Music Conservatory of the Conditioned Reflex... if you play what we tell you to play - you won't die.
      My brothers were playing in rock bands, and they taught me to the best of their ability. I was too young to absorb much at first, but as the years went by, I learned a great deal. Apart from that, I studied composition on my own and with a classical pianist and opera singer in Frankfurt, Germany. I took theory classes in college, and I moved to LA to study drums with Ralph Humphrey. Ralph's a first rate drummer and a very good person who has performed with Don Ellis, Zappa, Free Flight, and a host of others. Formal study at school was helpful in many ways, but I think the essence of my playing emerged from the rehearsal room.

Generally, who are your favorite artists inside and outside of progressive rock? Which ones are the most influential to your music and why?

      Let's see...The Spice Girls, KC and the Sunshine Band, and Poison. I've been influenced by the same core groups as any other progressive fan - Tull, Gentle Giant, Crimson, Zappa, Yes. The Don Ellis Band was a seminal influence, in fact, one of the songs on the disc is dedicated to Don. I loved the earlier Deep Purple stuff. The Allman Brother's Band's first album was something I listened to quite a bit, Argent's Ring of Hands, early Fleetwood Mac featuring Peter Green. Outside the parameters of what is generally termed "rock" music- Basie, Ellington, John Zorn, Bartok, Stravinski, Ives.
      With respect to my own music, Jethro Tull exerted as large an influence as anyone. From their first LP through Stormwatch, I thought that they were fabulous. They played beautifully as an ensemble, the musicianship was superb, great arrangements, intelligent lyrics, they were sarcastic and funny. What's not to like?! They could be an amazingly subtle group, they rarely used overt sophistication for its own sake. At other times, their arrangements were spellbinding in their complexity. I've always thought of them as a drummer's band.
      Zappa and Ellis taught me to take a risk, do what you want and don't look back. King Crimson made me aware of tone color and orchestration. With Purple it was edge and aggression. Kerry Minnear of Gentle Giant changed my thinking about chord voicings and counterpoint.

Who are your favorite drummers? Which ones have been most influential?

      Aynsley Dunbar. Yes, the guy who played with Journey. Listen - the first three Journey albums (all recorded before Steve Perry joined) are good albums. To hear Dunbar at his best listen to Mick Ronson's Slaughter on Tenth Avenue, Zappa's Grand Wazoo,Waka Jawaka, or Chunga's Revenge, either of the first two Flo & Eddie albums, or the recordings of Aynsley's own band - Retaliation. Aynsley is a great one...best feet in the business, singularly unique approach, solid as a rock, always recognizable, a technical genius.
      Michael Giles. He's on the first two King Crimson records. The McDonald-Giles LP has some nice playing, too, but I think his best work is on "Magdalen" from Anthony Philips Sides LP. Giles is a very thoughtful, lyrical, colorful player. He has very curious phrasing and an uncanny ability to create incredible tension. An exceptional drummer.
      Clive Bunker and Barrie Barlow. The first and second drummers with Jethro Tull, respectively. Both were near perfect in the context of that group. Bunker played with peerless taste, dynamics, feel and emotion. Everything he did was appropriate. Barlow's work was more calculated and technical, but always superbly musical. I think that his drumming dramatically influenced the direction that Tull's music took in those middle years.
      Ian Paice of Deep Purple. Great hands - strength, control, and speed out the wazoo. Always very creative in his choice of drums. He could articulate double stroke rolls like no one else.
      These five would be the most influential.
      Others that I enjoy would include Elvin Jones, Terry Anderson, Butch Miles, Ralph Humphrey, Andy McCulloch, Alan White, Joey Baron.

What part has your brother Bryce played in the development of your musical life up to this point if any? How much of a part of Darling is he?

      As I stated earlier, he used to beat me up if I didn't play well, and fear is a good motivator.... Bryce has helped me out in ways too numerous to delineate here. I think I could best describe his role in Darling as a kind of aesthetic sounding board. He has very good artistic judgment, and consequently, I trust his opinion when I might be too close to a project to see it clearly. He occasionally writes a melody line or comes up with a song title. He has control of the visuals and design elements, and he played a few assorted percussion gadgets on the last disc. One of these days he's going to hear a knock on his door, and he'd better not answer it...

What kind of music did you set out to create on Darling? Was there a concious effort to make "electronic" music?

       I wanted to create the music that I heard in my head. Strange, beautiful, anomalous, funny, antagonistic and frightening music. Above all else, I wanted it to be as original as possible. I knew that it would be instrumental music. I wanted it to be very intense, exciting, and energetic; always moving and changing, never static or staid; and full of dynamic contrast. I wanted structure, but not predictability. I knew that it would be highly complex. I wanted to step out into the margins, so I did - frequently. Some of the simultaneous time signature/tempo changes were difficult to execute. I tried to avoid anything that was too familiar or repetitious. I wanted the pieces to be challenging, but they had to be musical. I often thought about the music's accessibility. Should I - could I - make the music more accessible? I decided that changing the music for the sake of accessibility was the worst possible thing that I could do. Accessibility is relative. Complex music may require a greater initial investment of time and attention, but one hopes that this fact will be offset by the rewards that it will eventually pay.
      I did not consciously set out to create "electronic" music, and in the truest sense of the word, I don't think that I have. There are similarities, certainly, in the sounds, production techniques, utilization of computers and MIDI and so on; but my music is more a hybrid of acoustic and electronic styles and instrumentation. I don't think that Darling music is quite as concerned with the soundscapes or ambience that typify electronic music. Most of the instruments that I used are recognizable as such... piano, sax, cello or whatever.

Briefly explain in layman's terms how you composed and recorded the music for the album. How much a part does the whole concept of keyboard sequencing/programming play in this process. (How does sequencing work, anyway?)

      My particular approach to songcraft usually begins with a chord progression or a melody line rattling around inside my skull. Sometimes a bass part or a drum pattern will be the point of origin. I'll fire up the sequencer (which is a computer program that acts as a record/playback/editing device that stores all the essential data describing a musical performance without actually storing the sound of the instrument in question) and lay down the first track or two. From there I attempt to augment and extemporize the original idea into something larger and more sophisticated. This process usually involves tons of editing, gnashing of teeth, pulling of hair, screaming, drinking of beer, weeping, smoking of cigarettes and other activities that one normally associates with composers. Weeks, months or years later, something like a song may (or may not) appear. At this point the sequencer tracks (of which there may be as few as one or as many as thirty) are transfered to ADAT (digital tape) and locked to a time code reference. The next step is to record real-time performances where necessary, like all the drum and percussion tracks, or any additional instrumentation; i.e. chanting monks, tap dancing mice, a baboon with a handgun... Once all the tracking is finished, I can mix it down and ship it off to the mastering facility.

Why not form a more traditional band to play your compositions? Are there any plans to do so in the future?

      I am not currently trying to assemble a group, but I've not excluded the idea from the realm of possibility.
      The political and logistical problems that plague musical groups are numerous. I tried to find the right chemistry of players here in the Midwest, then in the Northeast, then California, finally in Europe - to no avail. The musicians would often burn out, the time required in rehearsal alone was enormous, not to mention conflicts over musical direction, getting the players to show up sober and on time, etc. And more likely than not, it was for little or no financial gain. After a decade or so (!) I finally concluded that my musical ambitions were too weird and too difficult technically to be fully realized within the confines of a performing group. Emerging technologies made it apparent that music production was going to change very rapidly. This was around 1987. Here I am in 1997, doing things by myself that I could never achieve in any of the bands of which I was a part.
      Many musicians offered up their services when the Darling disc was being made. You know, "hey,let me do a guitar solo in this one!", that kind of thing. I was usually happy to let people give it their best shot (I'd give them a cassette dub of the song in question to rehearse with) but no one ever made it to tape. I remain open to others who would like to try.

Have you ever attempted to perform this music in a live setting? If there was demand for it, would you attempt it? What would you do if you were invited to a progressive rock festival like Progfest in L.A. or Prog Day in North Carolina?

      I have not attempted to play this music live. I would love to play this stuff with a group of great musicians! If the demand was high enough to offset the liabilities, I would seriously consider it, assuming that I could find the right players.
      If I was invited to a festival, I would be more than flattered, but forced to decline for the obvious reason that a live Darling does not exist. For now.

What are your feelings on the current state of progressive rock?

      It is encouraging to know that there are some people who retain an interest in pushing the envelope a bit. I don't have the time to keep up with current events like I should, but based on what I've heard, I sense a rather disturbing tendency to look back rather than look forward. The golden era of progressive rock is long passed, and it is not going to come back, no matter how much we kick its corpse. As a young musician, I was attracted to progressive music's permissiveness. Musical ideas that were deemed unfit for other styles could find asylum with the progressives. Today there are those (alleged) progressive aficionados - musicians and fans alike - who decry or reject any music that does not bear a striking similarity to, or is otherwise derivative of, music from the "classic" period. What purpose does this serve? Must we become the very thing we despise? I lived through that time, it was a period of remarkable creativity. But what musical end is accomplished by asking modern day progressives to reconstruct the past? To do so is expecting them to abandon the very credo by which they live. If we're going to call this stuff "progressive", then by God - let's progress.

Much of the track-by-track commentary you wrote for the album cover insert is remarkably self-deprecating. Taken literally, one might arrive at the conclusion that you really don't think your music is any good. Is this just a sarcastic reaction to critics of your music or prog rock in general? What are your feelings on the way prog rock has historically been treated in the press and the marketplace?

      First of all, if I didn't believe that my music had something to say, I wouldn't be doing music.
      I'm a musician, and I think that music should entertain. The liner notes are just another stab at entertainment. Their self-deprecating nature is just a reflection of who I am. I love music and I take it very seriously, but it is music, just music, not the end of the world. The music on the album says something quite different than the liner notes do, and since folks don't seem to write that much on the sleeve these days, I thought that it would be time well spent to reveal a more fallible and workaday aspect of the artist. Hopefully people will laugh a bit too.
      I won't deny that my comments were at least in part intended to deflect some of the criticism that is commonly leveled at progressive music. Pretentious, bombastic, pompous, self-indulgent, overbearing...how many times have we all heard these adjectives used to describe progressive rock? Sometimes it deserves such harsh treatment. My music is certainly self-indulgent inasmuch as I play whatever I want to play. I'm sure that there are individuals who will find my work to be embarrassingly pretentious as well. That's too bad. If my liner notes can assuage a prejudice, or persuade a skeptic to give the disc a second chance, so much the better.
      Historically, the press has not been kind to progressive music. Consider the cold business facts:
The music press is interested in selling magazines. Catering to mainstream tastes will maximize the number of magazines sold. Progressive rock has not had mainstream acceptance for quite some time now; this means that prog does not sell. As a consequence, it will be ignored or summarily stigmatized. Music is a commodity, like toothpaste. The music media can make money if some kind of music is selling, and some kind is always selling, like toothpaste. Perceptions of quality or originality have little real effect in the marketplace. The media does not give a rat's ass who you are or what you do as long as you help them sell what they are selling. Many musicians are happy to play along, fame and money have a very strong allure.
       That being said, a special case must be made for the numerous publications cropping up around the world that are devoted to different musics. I've met a number of remarkably talented, intelligent, dedicated people working at these places who are the potential saviors of all musicians who want to do something truly individual.

How have the critics responded to your album so far?

      I'm happy to report that the progressive and avant-garde journals have been overwhelmingly positive. Peter Thelen, Exposé Magazine's editor in chief put Darling (released November 1996) on his list of best releases for 1996, which was a lovely thing. Thanks Peter! I'm pleasantly surprised at the critical reaction, and obviously very grateful to the writers who have been so open-minded and supportive. They've helped establish an ongoing radio presence for Darling in several key markets throughout this country and Europe.
      The music is often described with adjectives like "bleak, nightmarish, tortured," or mention is made of how the music would be the perfect soundtrack for horror or science fiction films. Many reviewers seem to think that the CD is not the sort of thing that your average progressive rock fan will immediately embrace. Here are some things that have been said, to the best of my recollection at least... "for those looking for a musical challenge," "not as much progressive rock as it is progressive jazz," "great stuff if you're a musician, but simply too intense and technical for most tastes."

You have said that many people say your music conjures up frightening images and that it is bleak or nightmarish. Was it your intention to create such dark sounding music? Why do you think the more upbeat, happier sounding tracks have not gotten as much attention?

       I typically have faith that the music will turn out the way it should, but having said that, I don't have as much control over it as you might suspect. Sometimes things take off, and I just have to get out of the way. Writing music is a very cathartic experience for me. While I am for the most part a happy and reasonably well adjusted individual, I do have my demons. My fear of failure is never far away, but the love of my life is never far away either. This seems to have a polarizing effect, driving the musical result to the extremes of light or dark. I have repeatedly thought that the best way to exorcise a demon is to compose his requiem.
      The upbeat and happy songs have not necessarily gotten less attention. In fact, most of the radio play that I'm getting is split pretty evenly between the extremes. Journalists lean towards the darker material when characterizing the disc, but often single out the livelier things as the best tracks.

Since your music is so cinematic in nature, have you ever thought about doing soundtracks for films?

       Yes, I have. I am not currently equipped to do that sort of thing, as I don't have the required video machines and monitors. If a suitable opportunity was to arise, I would seriously consider buying the equipment to get the job. Eventually, it's something that I hope to do.

The first album was apparently written over a course of many years, do you have a backlog of material waiting to be recorded?

      I have many works in progress, from a few bars of melody and rhythm to pieces of music that are, apart from mixdown, completely finished. I also have a few outtakes that were done for the debut disc, but did not make the final cut. I could probably put out another disc almost immediately, but I'd much rather hone the existing material and write new things that are more genuinely representative of how I'm playing now.

What do you do besides music? Do you ever hope to become a full-time professional musician?

      I work part time for an audio/recording equipment company. Since I regularly put in about fifty hours of music and music related business a week, I already consider myself to be a full-time professional musician. It is true that I can't make a living from record sales yet, but I hope to change that.

Are there any record deal or distribution plans in the works? Where is Darling currently available? I know it's in the Wayside catalog, is there any interest by either party to form some kind of deal with Cuneiform?

      I have not actively solicited many labels, although I plan to. I wanted to get a feel for what it would be like to be my own label and distributor. It certainly does take time to promote one's self, time that I would rather spend on more musical matters. If the right deal comes along, I'll take it, but years of struggling with this very thing has made me somewhat cynical about record companies, particularly with respect to progressive music.
      The Darling CD is currently available from ZNR, Wayside, CD Treasures, and directly from me at Drums Productions, P.O. Box 34747, Omaha, NE, 68134-0747. Or you can e-mail me at hdarling@synergy.net . In the very near future, the disc will be available from Belle Antique in Japan, and K. H. Heidenreich in Germany.
       Lots of people say that I belong on Cuneiform, and maybe so. Hopefully I've got a leg up being in the Wayside catalog, but we'll see. I have not contacted them yet.

What are your future plans? Have you started work on another album? If so, how will it compare to the first album?

      I hope to expand the awareness of Darling music as much as possible. I'm always trying to broaden my radio support, and I'm going to push the disc into every market where I can reasonably expect a modicum of success. As I said earlier, if a mutually beneficial record deal comes my way, I'll go in that direction. If not, I will try to secure the best possible distribution deals for North America, Europe, and Japan.
      The new record is well underway. It should appear in the spring of 1998. It is my sincere hope that it will be a better effort, more mature and refined in every way. Which is a polite way of saying that it won't be very mature or very refined in any way. Early indications are that it will have a slightly more pronounced classical influence in its instrumentation, some of the pieces will be longer and built on a larger scale, and like the debut, it will probably be difficult to describe. I really don't know how it will turn out, but with a little luck, it should be a pretty good time.