Italian band members behind cult classic song 'Chase the Sun' became darts fans for life after sudden PDC approval

Everyone knows the chorus that is played during every break at almost all major darts tournaments. It's about the song "Chase the Sun" by "Planet Funk," an Italian group that originally had no idea what darts was.

With the band Planet Funk, they came in contact with darts by chance. "I think the PDC first asked us sometime in 2005. Whether they could use 'Chase the Sun' as a kind of theme song," lead singer Marco Baroni told The Nieuwsblad.

"We were working on our second album at the time and that song had done very well in the charts, including in Britain (up to No. 5 in the UK Singles Chart in 2001). There were a lot of requests at the time, for commercials for example, but this one caught our attention because of quite special. In Italy, darts did not represent much at that time, but we quickly gave our approval. We were like: who knows, it might become something cool, so why not? We didn't have to think about it that long."

But so after all these years, it is still the regular song during the breaks of major darts tournaments, including now at the World Darts Championship. "We had honestly kind of forgotten about it," Baroni says. "A few years later, however, we were in London promoting our album. After a not-so-positive meeting, I was fuming in my hotel room, then I turned on the TV and started watching darts. And suddenly I heard 'Chase the Sun' after a match, with the crowd completely out of their minds. I jumped right up and yelled, "F*ck yeah, that's our song! So that was my very first experience with darts. It made me feel so tremendously good. Ultimately, that's what we want to do with our music: entertain people. And turns out we accomplished quite a bit with one of our songs after all. It was fantastic to see. After that, we collectively started watching more darts, just to see how people were going wild to our song (laughs). We never expected it to become such a cult song."

"We wanted to make something special, something new, something unique," Baroni continued. "With guitars, bass, a club vibe, all in the mix. And then a nice melody to go with that. With the intention of saying to people: follow the light, follow the love, follow the positivity even when you're struggling with things in your life. Humanity also needed such a vibe and spiritual boost at that time, after the 9/11 attacks, for example. So we did accomplish something with "Chase the Sun," more than we could and would have ever dreamed of. Ditto for the music video, which still gives me goosebumps. It brought the strong message - by using people with mental disabilities - that everyone can enjoy life."

Seeing the audience go wild to the tones of their song is enjoyment for the members of the Italian band. "That all means so much to us," Baroni says. "Music is a fast-moving business, but so many years later our song is still being played. Blessed. It may not have today's sound, but 'Chase the Sun' is a song in itself. It has its own personality and a lot of power in it. And it clearly works in the dart world, the song continues to shine and therefore the song stays alive, even with young people. You couldn't ask for more as an artist, could you? We are so proud of this and grateful that we were asked that question at the time and answered 'yes' to it at random.

Darts is not particularly popular in Italy, but the members of Planet Funk are now darts fans for life. "Here you can't follow it tremendously," they sound. "Football is huge here, as is tennis and all kinds of motor sports. But when I get the chance, I watch. I'd love to visit a tournament one day so I can sing along with our own song live. How crazy would that be?"