Darius World

New shade of pop

By JASON CHEAH The Star Online, Malaysia 29 May 2003

A sense of insecurity did not stop Scottish singer-songwriter Darius from realising his dream, writes JASON CHEAH.

GLASGOW-born Darius Danesh is not only an English Literature student from Edinburgh University, one of the top universities in Scotland, he is also an eloquent speaker with a lot to say about his recent undertakings in the British music industry.

His new-found fans are certainly that eloquence, and old insecurities have been replaced by confidence lately.

A huge selling debut single, Colourblind, scaled the top of the British singles charts in August last year, holding at bay the likes of Britney Spears and Coldplay.

Darius: "All my songs are about experiences, relationships and, of course, girls." Nine months later, with three British Top 10 singles and a debut Top 10 album titled Dive In which has so far sold around 600,000 copies in Britain, it is time for Europe and Asia to dive into the music of this 22-year-old of Persian and Scottish descent.

But before even signing on to a record deal, Darius (named after an ancient Persian King) had already proven himself the moral victor of two successive small-screen celebrity parades, Popstars in 2000 and Pop Idols a year later.

Nonetheless, his recent success is probably what he is most satisfied with and memories of that first chart topper and debut album are still fresh in his mind.

“I was lost for words after getting the news at Christmas that the album went platinum (300,000 copies sold),” he reminisced. “I really couldn’t believe that within a month of its release (in Britain) it shipped half a million copies. I was pretty blown away.

“What do you say to that? That’s the best Christmas present you could have, ever. It was like my dream come true, when I was 13 years old when I first started writing songs. (Back then) I’d imagined what a platinum disc on the wall would be like,” he said in a telephone interview from London recently.

Of course, before the album release last November, he already had a successful three months, with two singles (the debut Colourblind and its follow-up Rushes) hitting the Top10 in the British singles charts. A third single, Incredible, also scaled the Top 10 in March this year.

With Colourblind, Darius claimed to be in a state of disbelief when that reached No.1.

“There was also euphoria. I had released it in the same week as a Britney Spears’s single, and I didn’t believe it would even get in the Top 10, although that was my ambition. But No.1 was like ‘wow’.

“Normally in Britain, the No.1 is at the top for (only) one week, then it goes down. The following week, Coldplay was releasing its new single from the new album.

“I went and bought it because Coldplay is one of my favourite bands. I listened to it and loved it and knew that I was going to meet them because I was going to be on Top of the Pops with them.”

Before that legendary British weekly chart show went on air that week, Darius received news that Colourblind had scored a second week at No.1 and that Coldplay was No.2.

“I couldn’t believe it and when I met them, it was like ‘I’m meeting my heroes, and I’m embarrassed, because I’m thinking I’m not worthy, I’m not worthy.’ I wanted to get down on my knees,” he laughed.

“Chris Martin (Coldplay’s lead singer) was such a gentleman and two weeks later he dedicated my favourite Coldplay song Trouble to me.”

Darius elaborated that Colourblind reflected a new beginning for him. “In terms of songwriting, I was happy with Colourblind. It was one of the first songs that I thought was good enough for people to listen to.

“Before, I was being very self-critical and didn’t think I was a good enough songwriter. Then from Colourblind I thought I want to make all the songs on this album really fresh.

“And the way I did that was by writing new songs and not going through a back catalogue of songs I wrote as a kid. It was a big challenge, to write an album in like six months because I wanted to release it before the end of the year.”

The album features not just all-new material but songs penned by Darius himself, co-produced by Hedges, Steve Lillywhite, The Misfits and The Matrix.

In addition to Colourblind, Rushes and Incredible, there are tracks such as Girl in the Moon, Got to Know Tonight, Sliding Doors, Mercury Rising and the title-track that delves into the mind of this budding songwriter.

“All my songs are about experiences, relationships and (of course) girls,” he laughed.

And just a week before this interview, Darius had a chance to sing to a live audience in France.

“A lot of the earlier promotions were only about going to perform Colourblind (and later Rushes and Incredible),” he said.

“For me it was like being teased, like being hungry and only getting starters and not getting to the main course or dessert. I get very excited to do one song and I want to do more, but not being allowed to just because of the way the promotions work in Britain.”

During that landmark week, Darius supported Colombian pop star Shakira in front of 18,000 people and performed his first full set.

“It was incredible and I’d just done my introductions to France, Sweden, Germany, Switzerland, Norway, Portugal and Holland. We’re looking to South-East Asia and Asia and Australia for post May.”

Not that Darius had never performed in front of a large audience before, when you consider his introduction to the pop scene in Britain had been via TV-music reality shows Popstars and Pop Idols.

On that experience, Darius had this to say: “I’ve never grown up so much ever in my life. We all make mistakes and I made mine on national television. So your mistakes are magnified and there for everyone to see.”

For Popstars in 2000, which yielded pop groups Hear’say (now disbanded) and Liberty X (still going strong), he didn’t make it past the audition stage, but his presence, complete with pony tail and goatee, was “magnified” to such an extent that he almost became a joke to the fickle minded British music media.

“Pop Idols fared better because it was a live programme so it wasn’t edited. Also it was a solo performance audition and I was a solo performer. I would never fit in a pop group. I’m too tall. I’m like 1.93m so all the other contestants came up to like my nipples,” he joked.

The results were evident with that competition. Off went the ponytail and goatee, and the only contestants who finished ahead of him were the finalists, Gareth Gates and winner Will Young, both of whom have also released debut albums.

“I learned not to try and be something you’re not, but to just try and be yourself and not try too hard,” he continued.

“Trying too hard is actually a big downfall, it makes you fall flat on your face. But if you are not too worried and let things happen naturally, they will happen.

“I also grew out of being insecure and very sensitive as a person and as a performer. I was like hiding behind a cocky front to protect myself really, but I became more confident now.

“I suppose I learned that I had to be more careful and aware of people who would want to try and use you for commercial ends.

“I've learnt to put more of a creative hat on my music as opposed to selling out to the material aspect of it.”