{"id":19038,"date":"2013-11-21T18:12:22","date_gmt":"2013-11-21T07:12:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/maytherockbewithyou.com\/mtrbwy\/?p=19038"},"modified":"2013-11-21T18:12:22","modified_gmt":"2013-11-21T07:12:22","slug":"darren-middleton","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/maytherockbewithyou.com\/mtrbwy\/2013\/11\/darren-middleton\/","title":{"rendered":"Darren Middleton"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/strong>\"\"
\n<\/a>\u201cI\u2019d left a twenty year relationship where my identity was I\u2019m Darren the guitarist in Powderfinger and that\u2019s finished so I needed to work out who I was and what I wanted to do again, essentially start again.\u201d<\/p>\n

From press release: Darren Middleton is best known from his previous life as guitarist and songwriter for Powderfinger.\u00a0 The much loved Powderfinger played their last ever show in late 2010 and unsurprisingly Darren spent a bit of the time in a creative and emotional wilderness.\u00a0 For the last 20 years, this band was as much who he was as what he did.<\/p>\n

As the dust settled Darren started working as a producer from his new home in the creative hub that is Melbourne town.\u00a0 This is where the first seeds were planted for his debut solo album \u201cTranslations\u201d.\u00a0 \u201cTranslations\u201d is classic alternative pop music that lives somewhere in the world between Beatles and Elliot Smith.<\/p>\n

We sat down for a beer with Darren Middleton to talk about his debut solo album \u2018Translations\u2019 and its creation as well as life after Powderfinger\u2026<\/p>\n

Your debut solo album is called \u2018Translations\u2019 so, what does the title represent to you?<\/strong>
\nIt came about as I was thinking about pretty much just music in general and what I think it is or what it is to me which is kind of a translation of thought, feeling, emotion, experience, observation into music, lyric, melody and that sort of thing. I kind of see it as music as the translation of our lives really, and it reflects my life in the last couple of years I suppose.<\/p>\n

So it\u2019s fair to say that\u2019s the inspiration behind the songs?<\/strong>
\nYeah, I didn\u2019t have a title before the songs, but it just made perfect sense to me but it was one of those wake up and thing \u2018oh, that\u2019s what it should be called, perfect, done\u2019.<\/p>\n

How did the \u2018break\u2019 after the end of Powderfinger allow you to create your end result?<\/strong>
\nIt\u2019s been almost three years, and there was a lot of ups and downs actually, there was an up straight after the band, I took my family overseas and travelled Europe for about six months just holidaying basically, had a great time. Then I was really keen to get back and just get back into producing and writing and what I\u2019ve always loved, but I found when I got back that I had kind of fallen out of love with music and I had to find my way back into it, because I started and there\u2019s a lot more to that than just those words, I\u2019d left a twenty year relationship where my identity was I\u2019m Darren the guitarist in Powderfinger and that\u2019s finished so I needed to work out who I was and what I wanted to do again, essentially start again. Also, I\u2019m at a place in my life where I\u2019m not too old so I can go to university I guess, or I can take a few years off and what to do when you\u2019re faced with that question, it can be a gaping chasm in front of you.\u00a0 Who am I and what do I want to do? I don\u2019t know\u2026 I think I want to do music, but I don\u2019t really feel it at the moment, and there was a lot of bouncing around in my own personal life that wasn\u2019t all good within my family as I was pretty unfocused and a bit lost and all that sort of thing, so that sort of bore the seeds of the songs, I was writing things and not finishing them but I got to a point when I did start looking back at ideas and things like that there was a reason for these songs to be here and now there\u2019s a reason for me to do music again and I sort of got back into it.<\/p>\n

How hard was it to say goodbye to that chapter of your life?<\/strong>
\nIt wasn\u2019t very hard at the time as it happened over quite a period of time, you know relationships that have been good don\u2019t necessarily end over night, they take years and we knew it was coming a couple of years before we actually finished, so we were all used to the idea but also aware of the fact that you\u2019re not going to get used to it straight away as it was such a big part of our lives from the age of twenty to forty almost\u2026<\/p>\n

I did get to catch the farewell tour which was great\u2026<\/strong>
\nYeah it was really good, it was a fantastic last tour actually, the fact that we were breaking up was forgotten at that point, we were aware of it but we were really enjoying that tour, we were happy on stage, in the perfect position as far as bands go we\u2019ve got people helping us out, we\u2019ve got all the gear we could want, video screens, PA\u2019s as we expected, it\u2019s perfect *laughs* it was really good. We did decide announcing the split of the band on a final tour or at our last show just say \u2018That\u2019s it, see you later\u2019 but that was selfish and silly and sounds like something they\u2019d write about and sounds stupid. When we did announce this was our last tour we thought let\u2019s make it really special and just put the effort and the money in or whatever was required to make it good.<\/p>\n

Is it a daunting task to step out on your own?<\/strong>
\nIt is, it\u2019s a lot of work, and I\u2019m stepping out from a major record label to be an independent released artist, so I\u2019ve done a bit of work with Indie bands and I was learning about the process and all the little steps you need to do to have a CD like that in front of you, as there\u2019s a lot of work involved. Also because I wasn\u2019t the lead singer in Powderfinger so no one really knew my voice as well, so I\u2019m really just the new guy on the block *laughs* my history kind of opens the door but only a little bit, I\u2019ve got to win people over and it\u2019s a bit daunting but it\u2019s exciting as well, it\u2019s like I made my first record.<\/p>\n

What has working as a producer allowed you to do on this record that you may not have been able to do previously?<\/strong>
\nBeing a producer and being a songwriter are completely different hats to wear, when I\u2019m working with someone else, it\u2019s their songs, their lyrics, their melody and I\u2019ve got a much more objective view, I\u2019m not inside the song and I haven\u2019t written them from that perspective. Then you learn things about song writing and the way songs work and their energy levels, songs have structures and chordal movements and some that are stronger than others that will lead you to a certain place. So being a producer I put all that on the people I\u2019m working with, then I go back to making my own record and I\u2019ve kind of had the experience with that and I can just step back a little bit further than I used to be able to step back. Also in the studio as a producer I\u2019ve also learned how to use all the gear and that, so in my project I can tweak it a little bit.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Did you set out to do anything differently as to not compare it to anything you\u2019ve done?<\/strong>
\nA lot of people ask that, and often singers or people in bands say I\u2019m not doing anything like I\u2019ve done on purpose, definitely going to step away\u2026 but I\u2019ve never approached it with that mindset, I really just wanted songs to be whatever they were going to be, so I didn\u2019t step aside, but I did bring a friend on to co-produce it who came from a more electronic style of music background, so I knew he was going to be things differently with his contributions and his thought of the songs and I welcomed the idea. So that\u2019s what really took it outside of my past\u2026 the melodies are what I always do, but instead of just making a song like that he\u2019s day \u2018well let\u2019s just hold that chord and we\u2019ll loop it for a while and just see what happens\u2019. It was interesting because it was me, I\u2019ve always got my sense of song and how things should move the way they move but his approach was a bit different so it skewed my train of thought just enough to I suppose make it sound a little different to my past.<\/p>\n

You had a few special guests come in and help out on the album, was this something you\u2019d always intended to do?<\/strong>
\nNo I did intend for them to be there but initially more because I went through quite a depressed period actually, my self-doubting levels were quite high, so at that point I was calling my friends saying \u2018do you think you could come in and help out because I\u2019m not really a lead singer, so can you help me out?\u2019 they were like \u2018Alright, we\u2019ll help out but\u2026\u2019 as soon as they got the studio, like Nic Cester sings one of the lead vocals and I was going its pretty good and he said its good but it\u2019s not right is it? *laughs* and that happens for a few of the singers that did lead vocals, but we all resigned to the fact that I can sing, I just need to do it, and they were all like \u2018good, I want to do backing vocals, you do the singing, I\u2019ll do the backing\u2019 so it kind of became what it became but initially it was born out of self-doubt, so I didn\u2019t enlist them for any kind of flag waving purposes or anything, it was more of a personal level. It reads really well actually, I tell my friends and they say \u2018wow you\u2019re lucky\u2019 and um, it\u2019s just my mates *laughs*.<\/p>\n

I wasn\u2019t sure if you and Bernard were still mates\u2026<\/strong>
\nHe was the one to come on board, we\u2019re still friends, but he was the one I was most hesitant in asking, he was busy and I thought\u2026 he jumped at it, he was keen and really liked the song, it was a really special moment on the record for me. My friend and my wife are all like that\u2019s so sweet, you backed him throughout your career and now he\u2019s backing you on vocals *laughs* it is that though\u2026<\/p>\n

Touring wise, you have a few shows coming up in November, what can fans expect to hear at these shows?<\/strong>
\nNo Powderfinger at the moment, that may come at some point; there\u2019s a few songs in Powderinger I wrote the lyrics for as well as the music that I could probably do. The other thing behind the title of Translations is live it allows itself to be re translated, when I\u2019ve got the band it\u2019s a bit more energetic and heavier and it\u2019s a lot more rockin\u2019 actually with the band, the other way is a lot more stripped back version. The idea of Translations works well in the live sense as well, how is this going to translate live, well it\u2019s going to be pretty heavy in this sense.<\/p>\n

Are you nervous to now be out the front?<\/strong>
\nI was before the Big Sound gig which was our very first gig, I was at the restaurant having dinner and I called home and said I think I\u2019ve eaten something a bit funny as I\u2019m feeling a little sick, and my wife said \u2018you\u2019re just nervous you idiot, just get over it and get on with it\u2019 *laughs* and she was right, the moment we started I loved it, loved every second of it, I was right in the moment and I really loved it. I\u2019ve done heaps in the past where I had a side project called \u2018Drag\u2019 and I\u2019ve done a few solo gigs throughout Powderfinger\u2019s career and I was always quit reserved and quite nervous, but this is like a whole new chapter for me and I\u2019m quite enjoying it. I don\u2019t hold any great expectations, I\u2019m not too concerned if it doesn\u2019t do too well as I\u2019m happy with what I\u2019ve got.<\/p>\n

I know it\u2019ll probably never happen, but will Powderfinger ever see the light of day again? What would it take?<\/strong>
\nI don\u2019t know\u2026 when we left that was it, never, never, never\u2026 Look, Cold Chisel split up over way worse circumstances than we did and they just finished a tour a year and a half ago. Who knows, in time, water under the bridge, maybe there\u2019ll be a charity event that we say let\u2019s get involved. It\u2019s not on the calendar at the moment. You never know. I can\u2019t see it happening in the next couple of years\u2026<\/p>\n

What does 2014 have in store for you?<\/strong>
\nHopefully a lot more touring, these album launch shows in November are about putting my toe in the water and seeing how I feel about it; see how it goes as well. If people want to see my play, I\u2019m pretty keen to, as I think I\u2019ll really enjoy it, so I\u2019ll try to get out there in 2014, maybe overseas as well, I love travelling, so it would be great to do that.<\/p>\n

\nEssential information<\/strong><\/h2>\n

From: <\/strong>Australia<\/p>\n

Latest Release:<\/strong> Translations (MGM distribution) out now!<\/p>\n

Website:<\/strong> \u00a0http:\/\/www.darrenmiddleton.com <\/a><\/p>\n

Catch Darren Middleton on tour at the following dates:<\/strong><\/p>\n

NOVEMBER 2013<\/strong>
\nFRI 22 \u2013 THE VANGAURD \u2013 SYDNEY<\/strong>
\nSAT 23 \u2013 THE TOFF \u2013 MELBOURNE<\/strong>
\nFRI 29 \u2013 OLD MUSEUM \u2013 BRISBANE<\/strong><\/p>\n\n

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