“Take no shit!” vocalist Darran Charles yells at us through his webcam, pointing a finger. “That’s my one piece of advice,” he explains when we ask what he’s learned throughout his 14-year tenure as a member of Godsticks. “I actually never wanted to be in a band,” he says. The group’s formation was nothing more than a college project that Charles was forced into as part of the curriculum at the London Guitar Institute. As a module, he was expected to put together a performance with other members. “I didn’t like it at first because it was just nerve-racking,” he recalls, “I had to spend eight hours a day studying and practising and that.”
Prior to this, Charles had had dreams of composing music for other artists and remaining behind the curtain, but after a few live shows he decided that he could see himself on the stage instead. He dropped the “fantasy” of composing for others, gritted his teeth, and placed an advertisement for other musicians to join him.
“The setlist I put together had music from Zappa, George Benson, Steve Vai…
