Amidst the commercial plunder, hype and craze of music, music’s message often gets lost amongst the posters, merchandise, record units, boardrooms and MTV video.
But Darren Middleton hasn’t forgotten. In fact, he had to travel just under 1,800 kilometres, uproot his family and life in order to rediscover who he is and reclaim his identity.
An identity beyond the rockstar lifestyle for a return to his roots of singer, songwriter, guitar man. “I am establishing myself, for myself, with who I am these days,” Darren muses from his new home of Melbourne. “And I’m finding my way back into music again – finding that genuine spark and love for it. You never realise it at the time. It is that cliché, where you need to find the bottom of something before you can climb your way out of it.“
Former lead guitarist for that Brisbane rock phenomenon Powderfinger, Darren has always been a songwriter. For him, it’s been about marrying up the chords with the lyrics and producing tracks with meaning.
But after two decades of being one of six, it’s now all about being solo. “It’s really satisfying on a completely different level to the last 20 years of existence in a band. On a personal level, it’s great. I play really small gigs where I get to connect with people.”
It’s clearly been a few years of self-discovery where 2014 has been The Year Of Darren Doing Different Things. “I discovered I can do it,” Darren declares. “It’s a slightly different role and persona. Everything you project about yourself, now you’re a one-man show, you’re living this troubadour life. You don’t have a band behind you, a wall of noise, fancy lights and videos. You’ve got to find that value in yourself that people can relate in their lives to.”
While it’s been a massive shakeup to the system, it’s also been a time for great development and growth, something which Darren firmly acknowledges. “I hadn’t really realised I was going to get something good out of this. You’re in the moment of whatever it is. I’m glad for everything that’s happened though. It’s all just stepping stones.”
Stepping stones of going from epic stadiums to handling intimate, small stages has been the result – one that Darren is finding quite pleasing. Releasing his solo LP in November 2013, ‘Translations’ features a who’s who of Australian musicians, from Jet’s Nic Cester, Pete Murray, Something For Kate’s Paul Dempsey, Clare Bowditch, Stonefield’s Amy Findlay and former colleague Bernard Fanning.
And while the transition to the small stage has been quite the change, it is the audience reaction that has also been surprising. “People come up and express how they felt about it, their gratitude or what they get from it. It’s been really nice. And that’s what I like about this whole thing. It’s a lot more personal.”
While 2014 has been a year of rediscovery, 2015 will no doubt be a year of advance. The early year sees Darren sharing the stage touring with silver-screen heavy weight Guy Pearce. “It happened naturally,” Darren recollects of the unlikely pair up. “I discovered he was about to put a record out and I had a listen to it and I really liked it. And we were talking with our agency about the idea of doing something together and how we could do this.
“We thought we’d perform as a band together and just get on stage in a theatre style and play each other’s songs – just try to give people something different. The man can sing and play. And we get on like a house on fire. It’s going to be fun.”
But whatever can be expected from this twosome remains to be seen. “It’s a new thing for both of us where we’re both up the front. We’re both the lead singers and we’re going to talk and sing our way through our own material. It remains to be seen how it’s going to pan out.”
And while the month-long tour sees Guy and Darren touring from Victoria to Adelaide, up to Queensland and back to Sydney, it is seeing in the new year that’s uppermost on Darren’s mind. With an upcoming set at Woodford Folk Festival, this will be a return with Darren not having played there since 1997. “Woodford is where people want to play at because its reputation precedes it,” Darren explains.
“It’s in a beautiful part of the world, it’s a big festival but it doesn’t feel sprawling in the sense like you’re lost. It goes beyond that folky vibe and is more like a community feeling. And we’re going to be in the duo format.
“The big thing for me I’ve discovered this year of small gigs and no backing is that I’m really trying to connect with people and have people connect with me – not just where people see it and hear it, to get involved on some level. I’ve played big and small stages – the size of the stage doesn’t matter for me. I’m really hoping people connect.”
And this is the crux of Darren’s rediscovery, what it comes back to: the underlying message of his music and how to receive it. “People can connect to me through the music. I’m quite chatty at these kind of gigs – something which I could never be before, because there’s thousands of people in front of you where you could never have a conversation with anyone.
“It’s really nice to get back to the heart of music and what it is – a form of communication.”
Darren Middleton plays the Woodford Folk Festival, which takes place 27 December until 1 Jan, 2015.
Guy Pearce and Darren Middleton Tour Dates
Sat 31 Jan - The Capital (Bendigo)Sat 7 Feb - Thornbury Theatre (Melbourne)
Sun 8 Feb - Caravan Music Club (Melbourne)
Thu 12 Feb - QPAC (Brisbane)
Fri 13 Feb - Nambour Civic Centre (Sunshine Coast)
Tue 17 Feb - The Garden Of Unearthly Delights (Adelaide)
Thu 19 Feb - Lizotte's (Newcastle)
Fri 20 Feb - Factory Theatre (Sydney)
Sat 28 Feb - GPAC (Geelong)
