Nina's Darius World

Shot to fame after appearing on Pop Idol - the long hair is still long gone, as is the goatee and the youthful grin of the Darius of old. In its place is the more classically handsome face of a boy turned man who, in his 24 years, has already lived the life of two very different types of pop star. For the past year, his second, more fulfilling life has remained relatively low key, and yet, during this time, he’s experienced and learnt more about life than ever before.

Last summer, he performed a series of intimate gigs where he truly met his audience. “People were paying money to come and see me, me alone and listen to the songs I had written. It was something I’d fantasised about as a 16 year old school boy.” He was pleasantly surprised to find that ‘70% of them were women’, and the majority were over 20 years old. “Until then, I had no idea who listened to my music. When I write a song like ‘Colourblind’, the lyrics have a depth for me, but the fact they have depth for other adults who I’d respect was great for me to see.” While touring, he also wrote his book, ‘Darius: Sink or Swim.’ “I discovered a publisher was writing an unofficial biography about me because they thought I’d ‘triumphed in the face of adversity.’ I thought, ‘That’s flattering, but a bit naff because I’m so young to have that written about my whole life. So I decided to write, in my own words, how I’d got a foot into the music industry in the past couple of years and what really went on behind the scenes on TV.

Once the book was finished, he sat down to write his second album. But to his dismay, the cocky exuberance he’d enjoyed while writing the platinum selling ‘Dive In’ (the No 1 single ‘Colourblind’ was written on the back of a bus ticket because it was flowing out), was nowhere to be found; he was suffering from writer’s block. “I’d run out of juice. I didn’t know what to do. I would strum on my guitar and nothing would happen.” Two months later, the reason for his uneasy feeling became clear when he discovered his father was seriously ill. “It was the most awful news, but it was a relief because I knew that something was wrong and now I knew what demon I had to face. Something snapped inside of me. The songs came flooding out of me. It was a very emotional time. A rollercoaster. I am very close to my family.”

Within weeks he had completed his first track, ‘Live Twice’, also the name of the album. It is inspired by his father and also refers to Darius’s himself, who in his own way, has also been given a second lease of life.

Of course, no Darius album would be complete without a sprinkling of heart-ache. “I had split up with my girlfriend while I was writing. Even though it was an amicable split it was so painful. I felt I’d met the right girl too young,” he confesses.

After a difficult period, great things were finally about to happen to Darius. Legendary, Grammy nominated producer Stephen Lipson said he wanted to work on the album. “When I found out, it was a huge honour,” says Darius. The union cemented, the two headed out for LA work on the album. “I knew I must be doing OK when I got on the plane and for once, I turned left, not right, and the airhostess asked, ‘Sir, what time would you like your Indian head massage?’ But in true Darius style, he wouldn’t let it go to his head. “It did get me thinking,” he admits. “If you’d told me two years ago that in two years I would have a number one single, a Platinum album, a sell-out tour under my belt and that I would be able to afford my own house, I wouldn’t have believed you.”