Darrien Kelly

Hadn't Carl Cox been such a relaxed person Darrien Kelly probably did not make such a carreer and would be still selling newspapers in London.

Years ago, in 1993 Darrien hoped to visit a common friend in London but when that friend wasn't home he turned to Carl's home. Darrien was completely broke, Carl didn't even know the kid but decided to give him a chance and let him stay for a while at his place. Carl thought he deserved the chance seeing the fact that he came all the way from Australia to start a producing career. Darrien accepted the offer and lodged for over two years at Carls place. He worked for Carl's labels making himself useful.

Still Darrien did not like the music Carl Cox produced and played. It was not the type of music Darrien had in mind and so he started producing hardcore in several combinations; with Lenny Dee, DJ Paul, & Scott Brown. Tracks like "Raw", "Schoom!" and "Geleihoofd" turned out to be very good releases and highly appreciated by the crowds. At that time Paul Elstak had a huge succes with his label Rotterdam Records and he asked Darrien to come and work for his sublabel Forze Records. Carl Cox didn't have any problems to let him go; "He simply had the drive for hardcore music so it wasn't hard to let him go his own way", said Carl.

The first release on Forze he appeared on was "A New Beginning" on Forze 008, this he produced in at the end of 1995 together with Paul, Panic & Lars and took part once of the "Forze DJ Team". Half way 1996 he joint-ventured with the Stunned Guys and produced one hell of a release; the "Part I EP" released on the third Traxtorm Records featuring tracks like "Haunted House" and "Violet Skies".

Darrien was booked for many parties and played more than he produced. In 1998 he founded his own (Mid-town sub-) label "Hollow Point" and made some real crackers like "The People Want More" together with Marc Acardipane and "Fixation", a coop with Attic & Stylzz.