Darren Emerson

Darren Emerson
Darren Emerson in 2010
Background information
Born	30 April 1971 (1971-04-30) (age 40)
Origin	Hornchurch, England
Genres	Techno House Progressive House Progressive Trance
Occupations	Disc jockey Record producer
Years active	1987–present
Labels	Time Unlimited, Thrive, Underwater, K7, Boxed, Global Underground
Associated acts	Underworld
Website	http://www.darrenemerson.com/

Darren Emerson (born 30 April 1971, Hornchurch, England) is a dance music DJ, and former member of the UK electronic music outfit, Underworld.^[1]

Career

Emerson began mixing Hip-Hop records at the age of 14, and by 16 was DJing regularly at local venues. He began to explore House Music and quickly acquired a reputation as one of the top British DJs, and demand for his services saw him playing at top clubs such as The Milk Bar, Limelights, and Venus. Darren has garnered several accolades such as "DJ of the Month" in The Face magazine, and also i-D magazine.

In 1990, Martin Prudence, brother-in-law of Rick Smith, introduced him and Karl Hyde invited him to become the third member of techno band Underworld. 1993's dubnobasswithmyheadman was their commercial breakthrough onto the then burgeoning British electronica scene. While working on their second album, 1996's Second Toughest in the Infants, they released the single "Born Slippy .NUXX", which was an instant hit following its inclusion on the soundtrack to the movie, Trainspotting.

Emerson also emerged as a much sought-after remix talent, with remixes for such diverse acts as The Chemical Brothers, and Björk.

Darren parted ways with Underworld in 2000 and then concentrated more on his solo career as a DJ and remixer, and also a label owner. "Global Underground: Uruguay" (2000) and "Global Underground: Singapore" (2001) soon followed on the Global Underground label, with "Episode 1" on his new Underwater label following in 2002. He continued to release tracks by himself and new artists on the Underwater records label and eventually gained its own night at super club Pacha, Ibiza alongside fellow DJ Erick Morillo, to hold a joint Underwater/Subliminal Records night. During its second summer at Pacha, his Underwater Records night won 'House Event' of the summer at the DJ Magazine awards. After its success, Darren Emerson decided to host its own full night at Pacha, Ibiza which became an extremely popular night on the island.

Over the past few years, Emerson has been busy touring the world whilst preparing for his own solo debut album. He rarely plays in the UK apart from his previous bi-monthly resident slot at London club The End (a venue which closed down in January 2009). In 2007 he performed at Sensation White in the Amsterdam Arena.

Since 2004, Emerson had been dating British TV presenter, Kate Thornton, but on the 3rd of February 2011, Kate announced that they had split up. They have one son named Ben, born in May 2008.

In 2009 he released a third compilation for Global Underground - 'Bogota' and in 2010 he launched a new label, DETONE, on which he has so far released the club tracks Gracelands, Decisions, Hard For Slow and Au Go Go, featuring the vocals of the lead singer from Empire Of The Sun.^[2] Meanwhile, he continues his relentless globe trotting DJ schedule and in the past year, Darren has also begun hosting DETONE club nights at East Village in London.

Discography

Solo releases

• Psychotrance 2 (1994)
• Mixmag Live!, Vol. 13 (1996)
• Cream Separates (1997)
• Global Underground: Uruguay (2000)
• Global Underground: Singapore (2001)
• Summer Love 2001: DJ Emerson & D. Dreyer (2001)
• Underwater, Episode 1 (2002)
• H2O (12 inch) (2002)
• Underwater, Episode 2 (2003)
• Underwater, Episode 3 (2004)
• Underwater, Episode 4 (2005)
• Bouncer (2005)
• H2O EP (2005)
• Underwater, Episode 5 (2006)
• Crashjack (2008)
• Global Underground: Bogotá (2009)

Singles & EPs

• Gracelands (2010, Detone)
• Decisions (2010, Detone)
• Hard For Slow (2010, Detone)
• Au Go Go (2010, Detone)

with Underworld

• dubnobasswithmyheadman (1993)
• Second Toughest in the Infants (1996)
• Beaucoup Fish (1999)
• Everything, Everything (2000)

References

1. ^ Ankeny, Jason. "Biography: Darren Emerson". Allmusic. http://www.allmusic.com/artist/p74025. Retrieved 6 May 2010. 
2. ^ "Darren discog page". darren discog page. http://www.discogs.com/artist/Darren+Emerson. Retrieved 19 July 2011. 

External links

• Personal website
• Soundcloud
• Facebook Page
• Twitter
• Darren Emerson discography at MusicBrainz
• Darren Emerson discography at Discogs
• Darren Emerson interview about travelling, being a father and music

Persondata
Name	Emerson, Darren
Alternative names
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Date of birth	30 April 1971
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