Darius World

The erstwhile star of Joseph and Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat is doing it his own way

By Cris O. Ramos Jr. The Manila Times, Philippines 17 May 2003

I’VE been watching this “talent” contest tacked onto one of those noontime music variety shows and I couldn’t help but feel nausea. I initially got the perception that the contest was about who’s the best singer but after the first few weeks, I realized that the contest was actually about who makes the most blatant imitations. Barring miracles I’m expecting the blatant Celine Dion imitator and the blatant Josh Groban imitator to duke it out come championship day.

The thought occurred to me after I interviewed Darius, who placed third in a UK talent show called Pop Idol. The show’s champion was Gareth Gates, himself gaining ground here in the country with his current hit “Anyone But Us.” But unlike your average contestant, Darius is a musician who does his own thing. His debut album Dive In contains 12 tracks that were proudly written by Darius himself with the assistance of producer Steve Lilywhite, whose credits include Dave Matthews Band and U2. His carrier single “Colourblind” is currently heating up the radio and music channel waves. Not bad for someone who used to study how to play the guitar to be able to sing “More Than Words” by Extreme.

His music is hardly innovative –guitar-inflected teenybopper pop music–but Dive In comes off as a polished, breezy album that is at places sincere and reflective of what Darius wants to do his own way. The folks at MCA Universal were kind enough to grant me this phone interview …

Cris: You have performed in musicals when you were young, do you have any inclination to do theater again?

Darius: Well, doing plays and operas was an integral part of my childhood, but I realized I wanted to sing after I did Joseph and The Technicolor Coat.

Cris: “Do you still perform “More Than Words” these days?”

Darius: I don’t do covers these days because I want to establish myself as a songwriter. There came a point in time that whenever I’d listen to my current musical heroes and say ‘wow!’ I want to write music.

Cris: The promotional copy of your album that I got had no songwriting and production_credits. For the record, how much of the songs here are yours?

Darius: Everything! Its really important for me to write lyrics because I really want to tell the world what my life is all about in a form that people would easily get. That’s why my songs are original and undeniably pop.

Cris: How many guitars do you own? Do you give them pet names?

Darius: I have one guitar. It’s a Gibson SJ200 and it’s actually my first one. I also understand that Elvis’ guitar was the same model. I call my guitar Tonto and I’m the Lone Ranger.

Cris: From what I read, your performance in Pop Idol sort of became the talk of the town, can you tell me why?

Darius: I actually performed Britney Spears’ “Hit Me Baby One More Time.” It was a pretty over-the-top rendition. I was rebelling because the contest people didn’t want me to perform my own songs. Heck, they didn’t allow me to use my guitar too! That performance was such a release.”

Cris: If there’s one song by another artist that best resembles your life to this day, what do you think would it be?

Darius: I think it’d still be “More Than Words.” Because I find it hard to put everything that has happened so far into words, it’s been euphoric. I mean, having a No. 1 single here in the UK the very same week that Puff Daddy and Britney Spears released new singles, I can’t help but feel real great about what I’m doing.

Cris: Are you conscious of where your career is going compared to Gareth Gates? His single is building up here …

Darius: I’m happy for him. I decided not to go into that. I’m not good at judging myself after going through all those contests and auditions. I want to do things my way. I respect Robbie Williams because he’s getting bigger and better with every record that he does in his own way. Before I clinched my current deal I was offered a huge deal that I turned down because they didn’t want me to do things my way. I realized that I didn’t want to be at the mercy of record executives, I wanted to write original songs that I wish will be at the forefront of pop music. Overnight success is deceptive and can be dangerous, for one, it’s not really earned in sweat and blood and for two, it doesn’t point to a long term career. Longevity is very important to me. Right now, I’m just a baby in the business. I can’t walk yet but I’m learning things step by step.