Daren Strange Info

DAREN STRANGE
Information

Daren Strange was born in Santa Clara, California, 1976. When he was very young his mother forced him to play the piano for 6 years and he hated almost every minute of it. So he quit. But as the years of his childhood moved along he was plagued by an inner desire to do... something. Music was becoming an increasing presence in his life and he decided at the age of 13 that he was going to try out the guitar. His mom showed him a few basic chords and then off he went. Like most guitarists his age, the next three years were spent playing Metallica songs over and over... and over.

Then something happened that would change everything: Someone properly introduced him to the music of The Cure. It was then he made the drastic leap from influences like Guns N’ Roses and Motley Crue to the likes of The Cure, Depeche Mode, and U2. Driven by a passion to create music in the footsteps of his new influences, the dark plague he felt inside was finally beginning to heal.

At the ripe old age of 16, he fronted a band that played many shows around the Sacramento area and gained a small, but loyal following (Face). It was a great time and it opened the way for what was ahead. When the group disbanded in 1994 Daren put the guitar away in favour of synthesizers and computers.

Throughout the next few years he would find he was unable to make up his mind about what type of music he wanted to make. He was in 4 more bands, including a comedy project (Energy Meisers)! The first of these bands, From Ever, followed in the footsteps of synth duos such as Pet Shop Boys and Erasure. After picking up his guitar again, he joined up with some former bandmates to create a new band (Blue Surround) heavily influenced by R.E.M. and The Ocean Blue. Then it was back to the computers with a short-lived techno effort
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Between 1992 and 1999 Daren had been in 5 bands and released 1 single, 3 EPs, 6 full-length albums, and 2 double-albums. Songs to his credit totaled over 115. All this before he was 23 years old. (For details about band names, song titles, release dates, etc. please visit the Music section.)

It would be June of 2004 before his next album, lamentaVampira, would see the light of day. It was in this state of deep thought and outright depression that he began reflecting on his previous uncertainty for his writing style. From 2000 to 2004 he started writing music that blended goth rock with industrial, ambient, acoustic rock, and electronic sounds to bring out the dark side of pop music.

Daren is currently active with his band Blue Surround.