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It was after hearing ‘Beat It’ that he knew he wanted to be a guitarist and had two lessons at school. After learning three chords he got bored because he was having to progress at the pace of the slowest pupils. He got himself a book, learnt chords and chord progressions and his mum bought him a cheap guitar from one of the maths teachers at school. The guitar was later stolen so she bought him a much better one as a Christmas present. He still has that today and uses it for practice.
He has never learnt to read music; he listens to the song then plays by ear. He was quickly proficient and joined his first band with two school friends when he was 12, teaching them to play sufficiently well to get by. Darren played lead and his two friends played bass and rhythm. There was no drummer at that time. Having listened to lot of blues/rock as a young teenager, he was inspired by the playing style of people like Eric Clapton and Gary Moore and he played in their style rather than that of Eddie Van Halen. As a trio, they would regularly play in the school music room at lunch times and were invited to do a couple of songs at the end of the year show.  
He formed his first proper band, Watershed, when he was 14. Although still at school, Watershed was a five-piece gigging band playing mainly in pubs. The line-up was Sean (vocals), Darren (lead guitar), Terry (rhythm guitar), Andy (bass) and Mark (drums). They didn’t actually get much money in those days, playing mainly for drinks or as a favour for someone. Watershed were hoping to get recognition and ‘get our name out there’ leading to more gigs. Any money they did make paid for studio/rehearsal time.
Darren admits he wasn’t very academic at school, spending all his break and lunch times in the music room but even at that young age he wanted a career in music.
Watershed played rock music but Darren soon became a prolific songwriter so they always featured a lot of original material. Although they played a lot of covers from 60s/70s rock bands like Free, their real ambition was to play original material. Writing was as important to Darren as playing. 
After leaving school, Darren spent three years in college studying performing arts and achieved a diploma in the subject – a mixture of music, acting and dance. He was planning to go on to further education after college but this didn’t happen. A friend of the drummer in Watershed owned a local music shop and Darren got a job selling and demonstrating guitars. Although this wasn’t well paid Darren was around guitars and musicians all day. He stayed there for eight years and learnt a lot about guitars during that time. While in the music shop he learnt how to play other instruments including piano, organ and drums so that he could help teach the other band members the songs he had written. Darren later moved to a second music shop which was part of a chain and much more guitar orientated.
He gave up working in the music shop in 2001 when he was offered a good job selling cars so decided to change direction with music taking a back seat. Watershed disbanded but it didn’t mean, however, that he would stop playing. He went on to join other bands but all the time continued writing. His next band, in 2002, was Anderson Shelter, a five-piece rock band. He already knew the other band members and they had all been friends for a while. The line-up was Joe (lead vocals and guitar), Darren (lead guitar), Mark (bass), Tony – later replaced by Joe (rhythm guitar) and Paul (drums). They played a lot of gigs in the London area and supported The Killers at Camden’s Dublin Castle. The Killers were just starting out so this was long before they became big. Anderson Shelter privately released two CD albums for selling at gigs. They eventually amalgamated with another band called My Reconing (sic), with a similar line-up as Anderson Shelter but with a new lead singer, Laura. They did much the same material as Anderson Shelter but Darren wrote a lot of new material especially for Laura. My Reconing released one privately produced CD album. Darren was never a lead singer himself and in all his bands he was the lead guitarist and songwriter. He would add backing vocals and the occasional verse in a song but never a whole song. From day one all he wanted to do was be a guitar player.
While working in the shop and later working with the various bands, Darren never had the intention of becoming a professional musician. ‘When you are in an originals band you don’t get work every week and sometimes you are lucky to get a couple of gigs a month.’You are never going to get regular gigs unless you take off.’ Darren was earning money in the music shop so playing was his release. ‘I can come out of work, strap on a guitar and go and play for a handful of people. Sometimes there might be two or three people, other times it might be jam packed. You never knew what you were going to get but I enjoyed it – I loved playing’, he told me.
Darren sold cars for 10 years before moving to Australia with his wife in 2010.  They were only there for a year and would probably still be there today but family pressures forced them to return to the UK. Darren didn’t take any music gear to Australia, so for a whole year didn’t play. A while after returning to the UK, in April 2011, he decided he wanted to play again. He still had thousands of pounds worth of equipment sitting in a cupboard gathering dust. 
His wife told him about an old school friend (Danny) who was a bass player and he wanted to get back to playing as well. Danny had a drummer friend (Chay) and a vocalist so the four of them got together to discuss forming a band. The band was named Carbon Copy and they soon began working as a function band in Essex. When the singer didn’t work out, Chay brought in his sister Natalie Thurlow. Natalie joined primarily as a singer but when their keyboard player didn’t work out, Natalie took over keys as well. Natalie had previously been a member of Nikki Napier’s Country trio, Calico from 2002 which is where she got her love of Country music. She stayed with Calico until 2005.
Natalie brought a very professional approach to the band and as well as playing mainly functions, they did occasional charity and pub gigs with a mix of pop, rock and party songs. Carbon Copy never played enough gigs to make a living. With gigs dwindling, Darren felt it was time to move on and he got a job as a delivery driver. He was keen to work during the week but keep his weekends free to play. He didn’t leave Carbon Copy and they are still together to this day; Darren will still play if required.
In 2016, Natalie mentioned to Darren that Nikki Napier was looking for a new guitar player for Calico to replace Ian Walton. Apart from classic Country songs like Islands In The Stream, Darren had never sung Country before. When he joined the now duo in 2016 it was a fully pro outfit and this was his first time working as a full time musician. As before, he was just there to play lead guitar with some harmony vocals. With Nikki doing most of the singing this allowed him to concentrate on playing. Eventually he started to do a few lead vocals, especially on male led dances. He felt his singing was getting stronger and stronger as time went by. The combination of strong vocals from Nikki and good playing from Darren went down well and club awards quickly began coming their way. 
Covid put an end to touring in early 2020. There was some online streaming; it helped that Darren was in a covid bubble with Nikki so they were still able to work together online but of course it was just for tips; there was no real money to be made. Darren decided that he needed to get a full time job and leave Calico. The demands of touring were also taking their toll on family life. Darren was beginning to fall out of love with music and wanted a break from life on the road. Nikki decided to carry on solo rather than find another partner. Once covid was in decline and the clubs were starting to open again, Darren began looking at all the soloists making a living out of Country music and he thought, ‘If they can do it why can’t I?’. He didn’t know how strong his voice would be and whether he could sing for three 45 minute sets so his relaunch as a solo Country singer didn’t come overnight. It also meant he would have to cut back on the guitar playing which was his first love, it’s not easy to be the only singer and to concentrate on playing lead guitar at the same time.
Having never been a front man, this was a massive leap for Darren. As soon as Paul Weston heard that Darren was considering going out solo he was one of the first to get in touch. He offered him a first gig at Tequila Sunrise M&DC in Basildon, Essex in January 2023. Darren didn’t have the right amount of gear and sufficient tracks so the launch was put off. Paul offered him another gig at his Westonville’s M&DC club in Birmingham on the 11th June 2023 and this was the start of his new Country career. Darren hasn’t sung any of his own songs yet but has four new songs that can be found on Facebook. He would love to get one of his songs choreographed for line dancing. ‘It would be an immense privilege to see people dancing to one of my songs.’
As well as still being a member of Carbon Copy where gigs are few and far between, Darren is also still officially a member of Anderson Shelter whose Facebook page is still live. They have talked about reunion gigs but the last time they played together was in 2013.