Arguably among the most pivotal figures shaping contemporary British dance music, Darren Styles played a key role in bringing hardcore sounds to wider audiences. Born Darren Mew in Colchester during 1975, he received early encouragement from his father, a dedicated blues enthusiast, to explore music. His initial encounter with the underground rave circuit at Essex’s Oscars Night Club in 1992 sparked a deep passion for dance sounds, leading him to join forces with Paul Hobbs a year later and sign to the storied Kniteforce Records imprint as Force & Evolution. By 1996, now performing as Force & Styles, the duo had begun extensive U.K. tours, spun records internationally in places including Australia and the United States, and secured regular slots at Slammin Vinyl, Helter Skelter, and United Dance. Surging demand for their output prompted Styles and Hobbs to launch their own imprint, U.K. Dance, and they became the first hardcore selectors to deliver a guest mix for Pete Tong’s Essential Mix on Radio 1.
Following several trance collaborations with Mark Breeze on the Nukleuz label under the Styles & Breeze alias, Styles moved to the premier hardcore outlet RaverBaby. He also contributed to All Around the World Records, the leading commercial dance company in Britain, where he co-authored the number two Ultrabeat single “Pretty Green Eyes” and supplied material for Dannii Minogue and Kelly Llorenna. In 2005 he helped assemble the Clubland X-Treme Hardcore collection, which became the highest-selling hardcore album in history, and the following year he dominated the Hardcore Awards by claiming Best DJ, Best Producer, and Best Single. In 2008 Styles joined the Clubland Live! Arena Tour alongside Cascada and Scooter while issuing his debut double-disc album, Skydivin'. The set, buoyed by the singles “Save Me,” “Right by Your Side,” and “Sure Feels Good,” climbed to number four on the U.K. album charts. His second studio album, Feel The Pressure, arrived in 2010.
