Darius Biography

His Story

" Things you probably already know about Darius...he doesn’t get beaten easily. He has a voice so good it almost became a national obsession. And he does a mean hip shake that would put Tom Jones to shame.

It’s been a long time coming though - and we’re not talking about the last eighteen months. Born in Glasgow and named after a Persian king (his dad’s from Persia), Darius’ parents spotted his star potential from an early age. 'When I was four we did Peter Pan, the musical, at kindergarten,' he says today, before chuckling. 'As a musical! That sounds so grandiose, and it really wasn’t! But apparently my little voice bellowed out - that’s how my mum describes it anyway. After that, I sang in choirs and musicals and stuff at school and learnt the saxaphone and the piano.'

Yet something was still missing. Brought up on the sounds of The Beatles, George Michael, Alanis Morisette and Seal, Darius was around 9 when he noticed the striking combination of a lone voice and acoustic guitar on ‘More Than Words’ by Extreme on the radio. He promised to do the chores round the house for the rest of the year if his mum would buy him a guitar. She succumbed. By Christmas that year, Darius could play ‘More Than Words’ himself. Soon after, he wrote his first song. 'It was a Valentines present to this girl,' he cringes. 'It wa s a silly love song and I never got the girl either. So my songwriting was obviously up to no good back then!'

He wasn’t deterred though (a character trait that would come in very handy later) and continued writing songs. Then while performing ‘Carmen’ in Covent Garden with the Scottish opera, Darius realised his future lay in front of an audience. 'It was breathtaking,' he reminisces. 'A real landmark. I remember being on stage thinking, ‘one day...’' His ambitions weren’t exactly met with enthusiasm however.'I’d always say I wanted to be a performer and a songwriter with a career in pop music,' Darius notes. 'But parents and teachers expectations are very deep rooted for any child. They would say 'no, but what do you really want to do? Or, well, what are you going to do when that doesn’t work out?'

Encouraged by his favourite videos of Madonna and Michael Jackson ('I was nuts for both of them. The video for ‘Bad’ in the car park with the steel grate and everything... I watched it in awe'), Darius chose to pursue his dream regardless. At 16 he started and fronted a band called Jade at school but it all came to nothing when university beckoned and Darius moved to Edinburgh to study English Literature.'The game plan was to have a good time in my first and second year,' Darius explains, knowing now things didn’t quite workout as planned, 'and in my third and fourth year, I was going to record the stuff I was writing in a little home studio.

I saved up for an old cherry-red Gibson semi-acoustic, then one of my best mates dragged me to this radio audition and I won it, playing my guitar, and what they did was put me in a car and say, right, you’ve won our bit, we think you’re the next upcoming star, we’re going to take you to the next stage of the audition. And I didn’t understand what that was.'

Of course, we all know what happened next. Sort of... Unbeknownst to Darius, he had been taken to the auditions for a new TV programme that would eventually be named ‘Popstars’. He turned up with his guitar, only to be told no instruments would be allowed. He believed it was a solo audition, but of course the judges were actually trying to find a band. Still, he went along with it, had fun during the process and was a touch disillusioned to be asked to leave in the final stages of the competition. Putting the whole thing down to experience, Darius went back to his course at Edinburgh and thought no more about it.

'Then six months later, Popstars hit the TV screens in January and I had no idea it would have such a big effect,' laughs Darius. 'And hands up to my complete naivety and over-enthusiasm, but you have to look back and laugh about it.'Suddenly on the front of every newspaper, Darius was offered various major label deals until his lecturers stepped in and told him in no uncertain terms that leaving his oversubscribed course abruptly would mean wrecking his university career. Everyone involved agreed he should finish his third year and then take time of to pursue his music career. By that time, the labels had lost interest and the deal was off. Darius learnt the hard way that four months is a long time in pop.

'Then I heard about ‘Pop Idol’ and I knew by this point I had grown up a lot and had a clearer idea of what kind of solo career I wanted, so I thought I’d have a crack at it. I wanted to work with the best people and the best producers in the business, and I wanted the experience of performing on a big stage and I knew ‘Pop Idol’ was going to be the next level.'

After the first audition, he wrote ‘Colourblind’ and, thanks to severe nagging from his six year old brother, got rid of his goatee and long hair. A friend passed ‘Colourblind’ onto legendary U2 producer and now one of the MD’s of Mercury Records, Steve Lillywhite, and the pair had dinner. 'Talk about pop idols, he was my producer idol! It was always my dream to have a producer that I hold in such high regard at the helm of my own album. He’s been an integral part of U2 and Travis’ career to name but two'.

Darius eventually signed on the dotted line at Mercury in early May and is currently spending many sleepless nights writing his debut album, due out later this year. It will be inspired by the great choruses and unforgettable melodies he was brought up on, driven by the passion, bewilderment, frustration and sheer unexpectedness of the last few months. 'With all the music I like, I want to believe the person that’s singing. It doesn’t affect me if I hear a pop song that’s sung by a prepubescent kid who doesn’t know what it’s really like to fall in love and have your heart broken. Hopefully I can say at the tender age of 21 that I’ve had my heart broken and maybe I’ve broken a heart along the way too'.

Understandably impatient now to let the world hear his music and finally have people judge him on the strength of his songs, Darius has learnt that fame might come easy, but creative fulfillment is worth holding out for. That’s what makes this year’s idol, tomorrow’s true star. 'Overnight success is deceptive and can be dangerous, for one, it’s not really earned in sweat and in blood; for two, it’s not ever fully appreciated and for three, it doesn’t point towards a long term career. Longevity is something important. I’ve got the fantastic privilege now of being able to release my own material, and express the words and melodies that have haunted me in my sleep. I’m over the moon!' "

Quoted from the official Darius website www.dariusmusic.com

Darius: Sink or Swim

Sink or Swim is Darius' official biography and tells of his rise to fame. It will be released in September so pre-order your copy in order to avoid disapointment.

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