Darren Foley
Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada | Established. Jan 01, 2017 | SELF
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“I think I recorded my first album in 1988 when my friend brought over a 4-track,” says musician Darren Foley.
Since then, he has amassed over nine albums through his musical career with the various bands he’s performed with. He began work on his debut solo album, Hymns of the Sun, in January 2020 and released it on February 13 of this year.
The album features 11 tracks written and recorded by Foley in his studio attached to his home, called Albert’s Workshop Records. Although the production process was two years, Foley says he was delayed by six months due to technical issues, and that “everything that could have gone wrong, went wrong,” so he “recorded sporadically.” His commitment to overcoming each hurdle leaves a sense of catharsis in his music. The sun plays an integral part in Foley’s imagery, which is heavily influenced by nature. His interest in cymatics— the study of the vibrational phenomena based on the idea that the sounds and vibrations around us also create and mold the shapes around us—led him to the album’s title, along with the tracks “My Setting Sun” and “So That I Radiate Sunshine”.
“You know the sun is the anthem of our lives, and these soundwaves are the connection between us and nature,” says Foley.
A mixture of dream pop and singer-songwriter, the acoustic album evokes images of an endless summer night and a neversetting sun, and features lyrics that float through the music with a groove that very much reminds the listener of something off a Beatles album. Categorized by different emotions, each song follows an emotional state, whether it be love and loss, isolation and fear, the future, or the process of sobriety. Foley says the album works “hand in hand with nature” and is meant to be listened to while on a walk or sitting around a campfire.
Like many artists during the pandemic, Foley took the time alone to internalize and translate his ideas into the album, and he also wanted to produce a project from start to finish on his own. Inspired by artists like Rick White who boast self-sufficiency, Foley even designed the album’s cover art, painting a wintry sunset as he looks onto the horizon using gouache paints. He also filmed the music video for the track “Cloudy Day,” available on YouTube.
Foley hopes to perform live this summer and is currently working on creating vinyl versions of his album to add to his growing collection. You can find Hymns of the Sun on Spotify, Bandcamp, and YouTube.
Find Foley on Instagram @darren_foley_music. - The Walleye Magazine1 Apr 2022 By Sara Sadeghi Aval
Discography
Darren Foley - Hymns of the Sun - Feb 2022
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Bio
Darren Foley is a Canadian singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist born in Thunder Bay, Ontario. Darren has been writing and performing since the age of 15 when he first picked up the guitar. Moving to Toronto in 1990 to pursue his music career saw him form the roots rock band The Bloodhounds (2 albums) and Phobos (1 EP). The Bloodhounds played at many venues in Toronto and also ended up on a CD compilation along side Randy Bachman and Crash Vegas. Moving back to Thunder Bay in 1997 Darren performed solo shows and was selected by CTV to record and create 2 music videos that went into rotation across Canada for a year. After this he formed the 3 piece ambient rock group Sueisfine that eventually became a 6 piece musical juggernaut. Sueisfine remained a musical force for 10 years and saw the band tour across Canada, record 3 albums and were selected out of hundred's of bands to perform in downtown Toronto for the popular music conference North By Northeast. Recently, Sueisfine reunited for a special one off performance at Tumblestone Music Festival. Along his musical journey Darren has performed with many amazing touring bands in Canada. A highlight was performing with The Sheepdogs in his hometown of Thunder Bay for the Superior Youth Festival. This all brings us to current events. In the Winter of 2020 Darren began working on a new album in his home studio "Albert's Workshop", which was completed in Feb 2022. The new album has 11 tracks and is entitled "Hymns of the Sun". It will be released on Feb 13th 2022 along with a video for the 1st single "Cloudy Day". Written, performed, recorded, produced, mixed and mastered by Darren, he combines elements of acoustic and electric guitars embellished with ambient effects, vocals and various instruments to create original music that spans different genres. Folk, psych rock, pop, drone ambient and roots country elements are all part of his musical landscape.
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