How do you move forward from being part of one of the most successful dance acts of all time? Darren Emerson is a man who knows - he's been there, done that, bought the shirt - in fact, more than that - he bought the whole bloody factory!

As a teenager, Darren's all consuming love of music manifested itself in obsessive record shopping and collecting, which coupled with his obvious talent on the decks, soon saw him making a name for himself on the burgeoning acid house scene, with residencies at seminal clubs including The Limelight, The Milk Bar and Venus. "My passion was always music and DJing", he says. "One day I thought, 'Sod it, I'm gonna go and DJ'. Gave up my job, started doing a lot more clubs and it paid off".

After establishing himself as a DJ in his mid-teens Darren then became a pivotal production artist before he'd even hit his twenties, joining fledging band Underworld, and galvanising fellow band members Rick Smith and Karl Hyde. Darren left Underworld in 2000 after ten years with the band, having released several iconic 90's albums including 'A Hundred Days Off', 'Second Toughest in the Infants', 'Dubnobasswithmyheadman' and 'Beaucoup Fish'.

His first release after leaving the band was 'Scorchio' - co-produced with Sasha - which instantly became an Ibiza classic. Mixes for Global Underground - 'Singapore' and 'Uruguay' - soon followed, and it was clear that Darren had no intention of disappearing despite vacating Underworld.

Alongside his own productions, Darren is also an in-demand remixer. Having produced his first remix for Gat Dacor's' 'Passion' in 1992, leaving the band left Darren free to work his magic on a hugely diverse array of artists including Fatboy Slim, P Diddy, Meeker, The Chemical Brothers and Bjork. Not bad for a boy who was initially going to be a city trader!

It also enabled him to concentrate on turning Underwater records into a full time project. Darren started the label in 1994, initially as a hobby. From 2000, he began building up the label with releases from close selection of artists and producers who were to become the Underwater family - from the wistful Icelandic beauty of Gus Gus to the driving house of Paul Woolford. Underwater celebrates a variety of genres of house music from the funkier to the tougher end - but every release is of consistently high quality. Darren is currently in the studio working on full length artist album - be sure to catch him at his only UK residency at The End!