About Darren Middleton
Darren Middleton (born 4 October 1971) is an Australian musician, best known as lead guitarist and songwriter for alternative rock band Powderfinger. He was also lead singer/songwriter for Drag. After Powderfinger's dissolution in 2010, Middleton released his first solo LP, Translations in November 2013, featuring guests such as Nic Cester (Jet), Bernard Fanning (Powderfinger), Pete Murray, Paul Dempsey (Something for Kate), Clare Bowditch and Amy Findlay (Stonefield). His following album, Splinters, was released in 2015. Middleton attended prestigious private school, Brisbane Boys' College, where he started guitar in high school. He was influenced by Twisted Sister and AC/DC, and began playing in clubs around his hometown of Brisbane as part of his first band, Sonic Tapestry. He went on to form another band, Pirate, with high school friends, and met Powderfinger at a Pirate show. After graduating from Brisbane Boys' College, Middleton was invited to join Powderfinger, and consequently took part in all of Powderfinger's recordings, at the same time writing and releasing an EP and studio album with Drag. Middleton was inspired to learn guitar by Twisted Sister and AC/DC, noting the first songs he wanted to learn could have been "I Wanna Rock" and "We're Not Gonna Take It", or any song by AC/DC. Middleton first encountered Powderfinger when it consisted of Bernard Fanning, Ian Haug, John Collins, and Jon Coghill.
Biography source: Wikipedia. The profile adds birthday-specific historical context from the Celebs Birthday Today editorial database.