Isn’t it funny how our minds tend to make unexplained and instantaneous connections toward someone when you see a particular word or hear a particular sound? One such example of this practice in action is, of course, the connection I make to Darren Emerson as soon as I hear the word ‘under’. Words starting with ‘under’ are quite synonymous with Emerson and his various expeditions in sonic goodness.
First we had Underworld, a band that took the electronic scene by storm and kept well ahead of their time for the 10 years in which Emerson served them, before deciding time had come to move on and start his own chapter. Then he brought us Underwater records, a label which has excelled itself and won accolade after accolade for continuing to serve us up the very sharpest of fresh talent since its inception. Now, as Darren speaks to me on a bleary English morning, he provokes another use of the word. As he explains, he’s sitting a little ‘under the weather’, shaking off the affects of last night’s celebratory drinks following the Little Britain live show, in which his girlfriend made a guest appearance along with Kate Moss. “It was a great show, great comic relief,” he explains in a surprisingly joyous tone down the line. “Kate [Moss] was a nice girl too, we were havin’ a chat last night,” he concludes. “Now today I woke up and spent the last few hours on the blower to Australia and Japan, but it’s all fun,” he laughs merrily.
Over the years since Emerson decided to split from his Underworld family, one thing has been evident… this guy doesn’t get much sleep. He’s been splitting his time up since then, trotting the globe, at home holed up in the studio, or hard at work on some long-awaited material of the solo kind. He’s also been spending time with his daughter and kept the releases coming thick and fast from his prolific label, taking care of his amazing Underwater stable whilst also continuing with his infamous residency at London’s The End. “Juggling is the perfect word to some up my life,” he laughs. “No matter how I plan, juggling’s what I end up doing all the time. I have Pedro Winter [Busy P] coming to do an Underwater party in a few days and I was just thinking, we’re like the same person, both trying to juggle all of these hats as well as our own careers.”
Spending the best part of his life giving his all to the constantly changing and often fickle music scene, it can be difficult to imagine what’s kept Emerson’s head high above it all, hungering him enough to continue searching through all of the bullshit (now in a day and age where every neighbour and their dog claims to be a DJ/producer) to come up trumps with his own sets and tight Underwater family. “There’s just so much bullshit that you just have to enjoy what you do and remember how much passion you have for it, rather than letting yourself get pulled down by it. In the end, the good times always outshine the bad,” he adds with a contented smile.
Since setting up Underwater, Emerson’s love for our golden land has been evident. Not only does he regularly cameo in our clubs, but he’s also had a longstanding preoccupation with some of our very own artist/producers extraordinaire, which saw him pick up both Sam La More and Pnau to add to the first blossoming Underwater batch. “Nick [Littlemore] is a genius, I love Pnau, I’m looking forward to seeing how the new album goes, I loved the last one I put out, but it just didn’t pick up as well as I thought it would over here and I don’t know why, cause it was a great strong record.”
Apart from a strong 2007 planned in the way of Underwater releases, another thing that’s brought a twinkle to Emerson’s eye over the last few months has been his progress with new material for his solo record. “It’s finally in the works now and starting to take shape, so I’m excited and looking forward to getting that out next year along with John Dahlback, Deep Groove and some other surprises.” But first in his sights is, of course, his summer return to our fine land for a string of blistering DJ sets. “I’ll be returning older and wiser this time. Back for more good times, hangin’ out, catching up with old friends and makin’ new ones,” he adds excitedly.
Darren Emerson tours Australia this New Year:
Dec 31 – Pacha, Sydney
Jan 1 – Summadayze, Melbourne
Jan 6 – Summafieldayze, Gold Coast
Jan 7 – Summadayze, Perth
Burn2Shine says...
See you on NYE big fella.