“Friends texted me saying, ‘I wish Taylor Swift would dance to my music.’ I’m like, ‘Put a good song out and she actually might!’” Justin Hawkins on the Darkness going viral, the return of virtuosic playing – and why he finally switched from Les Pauls

Justin Hawkins of The Darkness performs at The Roundhouse on December 09, 2023 in London, England.

If you picture Justin Hawkins from The Darkness in your mind’s eye, you most probably see him holding a Les Paul Custom of some sort – Alpine White, Ebony, or maybe even one of the limited-run Sparkleburst signatures in blue, silver, red, gold and pink from the band’s early years.

That’s changed in recent years with Hawkins opting for a Charvel Super Stock SC1 at points in their live set. But what’s really turned heads over the last 18 months is his Mindhorn offset, made by boutique English manufacturers Atkin Guitars.