Interviews

Delivering DARREN

by Matt Bell

WE’LL PUT IT QUITE BLUNTLY—Darren is the new recording artist you should all have on your homo radars right now. He’s got a remarkable CD titled, Anything is Possible, which is up for Best Debut Male Recording at the 2006 Outmusic Awards, and he has an international tour taking him from Boston to Cologne this summer. The buzz is growing on this relatively unknown British bloke who now calls New York City his home, so don’t be surprised if you see him popping up in a lot more places pretty soon.

BRIT POP

by Robbie Daw

He’s got all the charm you’d expect from a handsome English gentleman. And the good news is that Darren’s debut album of emotional pop tunes, Anything Is Possible, scores high on the blue-eyed soul category.

“I was trying to purge my soul of all my experiences and my relationships,” explains the openly gay singer. “It was also a mixture of some experiences of other people – relating that back through song just as an observer.”

Darren says New York has been a huge influence [in the writing of his album], noting he “just came over and stayed. I just fell in love with the place.” But the city’s influence isn’t quite as evident on Darren’s album, which seems directly influenced by that great British techno-pop music, only his lyrics are much more insightful and personal. “The production schedule was about a year for [Anything is Possible],” he says, noting that’s about eight months longer than normal. I wasn’t surprised when he called himself a perfectionist.

DIY Sounds Like Pro
By C. Jones

A lot of independent music carries negative or complicated messages. Is optimism the essence of pop?
I actually wrote the majority of the album whilst I was going through a very dark period of my life and during the breakdown of a long-term relationship so there are hints of darkness in the songs – but as a whole I tried to look on the brighter side of life and what can be learnt from going through the tough times.

How do you translate your music live?

Interviewed by Gregory T. Angelo

Meet Darren. He’s not from around here. The eclectic preppie was born in Lincoln, a small city just outside of London, and only came to the States following his university education in the British capital. New York is his home now, and has been for the last five years. “I was hooked,” Darren says of his initial exposure to Gotham and its artistic community. “I just fell in love with the city—the atmosphere, the people.”