THE DARTS - INTERVIEW & FRENCH TOUR ! : "you can expect even more new, unreleased surprises in the set! "

It had been a while since we last talked about DARTS, and yet they deserved it! Bertrand Tappaz reminded us of this by playing their latest track on his show “VOIX DE GARAGE” (an excellent show, by the way, we highly recommend it)... So we picked up our pens and contacted Nicole, their singer, to find out more. Go see them in March, their show is really worth it!

Photo by Tina Gross

Could you tell us what has happened with the Darts since we last spoke at the end of 2023?

Nicole: So much has happened, it is hard to know where to start! We put out the album Boomerang which sold out multiple times, and toured a massive European, UK, and US tour in support of it. We even recorded two new singles in Lyon, France. At the end of that Boomerang tour though, it was clear that the hard touring were taking their toll on the touring lineup. There was a lot of difficulty developing on many levels and sadly it just was not working well towards the end for any of us. I was also getting busy with my solo project, Black Viiolet and was truly happy with the team I was assembling there, so it gave me a unique perspective on how to build the right team for this demanding schedule. I brought on board Lindsay Scarey, a great bassist in Seattle (who had actually been mentioned to me over the summer by her fans in Germany!), Becca Davidson (a labelmate and beast of a guitarist who had toured with The Darts briefly in 2024), and the original Darts drummer, Rikki Styxx. These musicians are serious professionals and road warriors who build their lives around touring and recording, so the whole operation hit a new level right away. Adrenalin Fix Music released the compilation Nightmare Queens last June, 2025, which also contains the 2024 singles. The new lineup toured again massively in 2025 in support of the release, Europe, USA, and UK, and the album sold out three times in ninety days! The new lineup is happy and easy, and we did some incredible shows like Binic Fest, Relache Fest, Sjock Fest and Gonerfest, a tour with Dion Lunadon, Hawaii, and so much more. We also went back into the studio in Los Angeles and recorded the next record, Halloween Love Songs, which comes out March 3 with another massive tour.

The band has changed quite a few musicians. Why is there so much instability? Are you hyperactive and the others can't keep up? ;)

Nicole: I’m not sure hyperactive is the right word, but definitely very focused and driven; I never stop writing songs and I worked very hard to get to live this life now, so I don’t take one minute of it for granted. I don’t think the issues the old lineups faced can be called instability, but normal life-work balance issues as the band grew. We toured so much in 2024 that I had to hire three different guitarists to sub in and out to make it work, as everyone had jobs and family demands. It was getting very hard on them, and by the end of the Boomerang tour none of us was happy with the way things were going. The band grew up, and I needed musicians who could grow with it, with lots of new time and schedule demands, and bigger stages and networks that really demanded a professional touring-musician mindset to make it comfortable for everyone involved. The new team is a great example of how a bunch of road warriors who have made this their lifestyle can really elevate things immediately. Side note: Rikki does have some new life obligations and commitments that she really has to address this year, so Nashville drummer Heather Thomas will be on board again for a lot of the tours and recordings in 2026. Heather has toured with us before and is also a long-time professional touring drummer who brings a ton of energy and experience to the stage.

Photo by Michael Passman

A new single has just been released. Tell us about how it came about and why you chose this one rather than other tracks from the upcoming album.

Nicole: One of the great things about the new lineup is the introduction of Lindsay on bass - not just because she is a killer bassist, consummate professional and kind person, but because she is also an incredible songwriter. I started writing an album in 2024 that was Halloween-themed, but I didn’t tell anyone. Magically, she brought me a song concept called “phantom creep” and I reworked it into what is now the new single, “Midnight Creep.” Lindsay and I actually first met in person while go-go dancing at a Seattle dance event - crazy but true. We thought it was time for the world to go back to having a dance everyone could learn and do together, so while I reworked the song, Lindsay made up a dance that is easy enough for anyone to do. We started testing the song and dance out while on tour in 2025 and it quickly became a crowd favorite. People were doing the Midnight Creep all over the world by the time the tour was over. The song also perfectly encapsulates Side A of Halloween Love Songs - spooky fun Halloween kitsch with sing-along lyrics, surf beats, and fuzzy garage riffs.

What surprises does this new album have in store for us?

As I wrote songs with Halloween in mind, I realized that there are really two sides to the Halloween experience. The fun, slightly silly, white-sheet-ghost, trick-or-treat side, and the more serious, scarier, heavier, devil-be-damned bonfire side. “Midnight Creep” is a great way to introduce Side A, but the next single, “Apocalypse” comes out February 3, and that song perfectly announces Side B - the darker side of Halloween. The insert features a great photo by Jessica Calvo taken of the band playing live at Relache Fest in Bordeaux, France in 2025. And the album art is by Travis Knight, who we met when his band opened for us in Chattanooga, Tennessee, this past year but has since blown up, becoming a favorite of author Stephen King and actor George Takei, with his work on Netflix and lots of other things.

We haven't talked about the album Boomerang. SHAME ON US! Can we make up for it and can you tell us how much you like it?

Nicole: We did the album Snake Oil with Jello Biafra co-producing it, and that of course was a life-altering experience. His ideas and opinions are big and intense, and rich with advice and production issues. We were thrilled with how huge and epic the album sounded. But while we waited for that album to come out (there were vinyl delays worldwide), I was of course still writing as always. There were two other songs Jello wanted us to slide onto Snake Oil but we didn’t have time in the studio. So we quickly spun around returned to the studio - one of the reasons for the album title - and this time went to producer Mark Rains in Los Angeles. I had wanted to record with him forever and finally got the chance. After the intensity of making Snake Oil, we wanted Boomerang to be fast, raw, and unedited as much as possible. Mark was great, standing back and letting us do what I had in my mind on the original demos, basically, just sprinkling on a little magic here and there. So Boomerang was very special because it was like a return to how we did the very first EPs.. not overthinking it, not over-editing it. I love how it came out.

Finally, the good news. You're coming back to France. How will this tour differ from your last one here?

Nicole: This tour will find lot of new songs from the new album, Halloween Love Songs ! The new songs are so much fun to play live, since this team is the same musicians who recorded them. Everyone has helped mold these songs, with their own nuances, into what they are. And with Rikki back on board it has also been fun to bring back some of the very early songs like, “You Got Me,” “Slay Me” and “The Cat’s Meow” which are some of the best ones on the new Nightmare Queens compilation too in my opinion. We will have the new LP, cds and new t-shirt designs on hand. And…of course I have already written the next new album with Lindsay’s collaboration on a lot of it, so as the tour goes on this year you can expect even more new, unreleased surprises in the set!