FortDax was a recording alias of Darren Richard Durham, a composer active in the early 2000s. He was inspired by artists such as Charles Ives and

ABBA ABBA ( , , formerly named Björn & Benny, Agnetha & Anni-Frid or Björn & Benny, Agnetha & Frida) are a Swedish supergroup formed in Stockholm in 1972 by Agnetha Fältskog, Björn Ulvaeus, Benny Andersson, and Anni-Frid Lyngstad. The grou ...

and he has described FortDax as 'Michael Nyman trapped upside down in a clockwork palace during a snowstorm'. He is most well known for his remix of You Are Here when it became the theme tune of

Newswipe with Charlie Brooker ''Newswipe with Charlie Brooker'' is a British news review comedy programme broadcast on BBC Four during 2009 and 2010 which was written and presented by Charlie Brooker. It is similar to Brooker's ''Screenwipe'' series which is also shown on BB ...

and

Charlie Brooker's Weekly Wipe ''Charlie Brooker's Weekly Wipe'' is a British television review programme created and presented by Charlie Brooker. It is the most recent addition to Brooker's ''Wipe'' series, and the first to be broadcast in HD. The programme is an amalgam o ...

. After five years of working under the pseudonym FortDax, Darren announced that he was feeling boxed in by what was expected from FortDax and that it was time to try something new. Darren has recently started creating some new music under the moniker of Diverse Industries.

Biography

Darren was active under the name FortDax from 2001 to 2006. A

John Peel John Robert Parker Ravenscroft (30 August 1939 – 25 October 2004), known professionally as John Peel, was an English disc jockey (DJ) and radio presenter. He was the longest-serving of the original BBC Radio 1 DJs, broadcasting regularly fr ...

session in 2004 introduced him to a larger audience. He has also active creating a number of

remixes A remix (or reorchestration) is a piece of media which has been altered or contorted from its original state by adding, removing, or changing pieces of the item. A song, piece of artwork, book, video, poem, or photograph can all be remixes. The o ...

. Darren also recorded a session for the BBC show

Mixing It ''Mixing It'' was a radio programme showcasing experimental music. Its original remit was to showcase "crossover" music that blurred the established boundaries between genres. It was originally broadcast as a weekly radio programme on BBC Radio 3 ...

which went out on the 24th March 2006. The session was recorded in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

and

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the Un ...

during February 2006.

Personal life

Darren was born in the town of

Beverley Beverley is a market and minster town and a civil parish in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England, of which it is the county town. The town centre is located south-east of York's centre and north-west of City of Hull. The town is known for ...

and studied at

Longcroft School Longcroft School and Sixth Form College is a community secondary school situated in Molescroft, East Riding of Yorkshire, England. Its catchment area covers the north of Beverley, Leconfield, Swinemoor and Molescroft and has a capacity of ...

Coventry University , mottoeng = By Art and Industry , established = , type = Public , endowment = £28 million (2015) , budget = £787.5 million , chancellor = Margaret Casely-Hayford , vice_chancellor = John Latham , students = () , underg ...

Sheffield Hallam University Sheffield Hallam University (SHU) is a public research university in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. The university is based on two sites; the City Campus is located in the city centre near Sheffield railway station, while the Collegiate ...

and

Kingston University , mottoeng = "Through Learning We Progress" , established = – gained University Status – Kingston Technical Institute , type = Public , endowment = £2.3 m (2015) , ...

Discography

Studio albums

The art work for ''At Bracken'' was supplied by the illustrato
David Hallangen
a.k.a. Montelimar, who was producing artwork for

Static Caravan Records Static Caravan Recordings is an independent record label based in the North West of England, whose artist releases include singles and albums by Darren Hayman Darren Hayman (born 1 December 1970) is an English singer-songwriter and guita ...

at the time. David was responsible for a slight renaming of the track ''Like cream inside your spine'' in to ''The cream inside your spine'' when he mistitled it in the track's artwork, a mistake that Darren was happy to keep

Extended plays and singles

Compilations

Remixes

References

{{Authority control British electronic musicians Year of birth missing (living people) Living people British musicians Musicians from Yorkshire People from Beverley