My Name is Darren. I live in, and was born in, Texas USA.

I own and operate my own graphic design co., Ice Planet. Ice Planet does work for all kinds of folks, but the majority of work is for bands, which I prefer. My favorite thing in the world to do design is album layouts. 4am + Photoshop + Caramel Frappuccino + iTunes = Me in my element.

www.iceplanet.com

www.popthunderdome.com

I am also in two bands:

Tendril - This band is as much family as my family. We have been together, in various configurations, for over 10 years. I play bass, sing a bit, and write a lot of stuff. We are a heavy rock band that most of our loved ones (probably) don’t like or understand, but are generally very supportive of. This band is my outlet for all kinds of good things and I’m proud to be a part of it.

Man Before Mars - This is a relatively new band. Our bio states that we began in August 2003, but the seeds had really been planted much much earlier. I had written many songs over the years that were simply not the right genre for Tendril, and had thought about creating a new entity for awhile. These songs are much more personal than Tendril (I do write personal stuff in Tendril, but I try to keep it to a minimum, or at least be cryptic about it, to be fair to the other guys). The style for this band is also drastically different, as it is more 80’s influence power pop songs aimed towards a more general audience.

Some personal stuff:

I have a physical disability that would generally fall under the umbrella of Muscular Dystrophy, though not entirely. Doctors have never been able to give me an exact diagnosis, because my case is aparrently unusual, which is good because I’m better off than the majority, but bad because I have no idea what to tell people I have. Whatever I have, I’ve had it since birth and basically it means that most of my muscles are much weaker than normal and I kinda walk like a goofball. Other than that, it’s honestly never affected my life too much, other than making it harder to get around, which I can deal with. Could be worse. I could be retarded, or 900lbs, or have cancer or limbs freshly blown off in Iraq.

I’ve always believed in God, God being a uniting force, purpose and intelligence throughout existence. There is simply too much ‘good design’ and wise engineering to believe otherwise. (For example, the human body, literally EVERYTHING serves a purpose, from design to function.) I’ve always leaned towards Christianity, but I do sometimes have issues with that, so I just try to keep an open mind and learn what I can through life and experience. Frankly, I believe that the one ‘true’ religion has never been created, and probably never will be. I believe that everything serves a purpose, positive and/or negative, and contributes to a much greater whole. I see humans, and our universe, as atoms feeding a larger existence. I do believe that there is life after death, whether it is in another place entirely or through rebirth or ‘reincarnation’. I don’t believe that matter, or even sentience, can simply ‘disappear’ or ‘be no more’. Everything goes somewhere. Rotting flesh feeds maggots, fertilizes growth, etc. Everything serves a purpose.

These are things I would like to do before the world explodes (AKA Goals in Life) :

1. See expanded successes and self-sufficiency for Tendril and Man Before Mars.
2. See expanded successes of Ice Planet, including someday building a small Ice Planet facility featuring tons of cool scifi art and mannequins painted in PMS299.
3. Have my own home recording studio and occasionally produce records (as a hobby, not a profession.)
4. Write a Number 1 song (for someone else.)
5. Visit New York and Japan.
6. Continue to improve my (admitedly limited) drawing skills and someday be a recognized pop pinup artist.
7. Write, voice and animate my own one-shot cartoon, in the vein of Home Movies.
8. Publish a book of collected song lyrics and poetry.
9. Play either a disabled person, or the living dead, in a film.
10. Try hosting a radio show or podcast.
11. Solve a murder, or save someone’s life.
12. Try writing a weekly comic strip. (Most likely I would get burned out on this quickly, but I would still like to try it.)

I continually strive for productivity in a world of easy distraction.