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The artist known as FreQ Nasty has over the last few years become known as the man behind a unique sound, championed by producers and DJ's alike - the person most likely to pull dance music out of the occasional creative cul-de-sac it finds itself in once every few seasons.

Born in the pacific Island of Fiji but brought up even further round the world in New Zealand Darin's musical upbringing was by his own admission unique. Not so much because his parents were into anything drastically avant garde, but because being that far outside the UK he was afforded the opportunity of growing up without the snobbery that comes with this country's obsession with musical categorisation. You can see this 'across the board' influence throughout Darin's work.

These influences and ideas were finally cemented with the release of his debut album, an effective round-up of previous tracks 'FreQs, Geeks & Mutilations'.

FreQ Nasty's debut single was the much championed 'Boomin' Back Atcha'- A mid- tempo stomper of a track complete with bleeps and voice snippets straight out of trashy 50's sci-fi movies. It fast became the stand-out feature of the more daring deck-wrecker's set.

It was with the follow-up 'Underglass' however that Darin really started to make some waves. Truly a filthy fucker of a record it was near pornographic in its pursuit of the perfect low down and dirty kick. Acid sounds bent out of shape coupled with super-tight percussion and breaks pinned down by the fierce low-end responses that subsequently have become the FreQ Nasty trademark. 'Underglass' tweaked the music press enough for them to run articles in Muzik, NME, Update, and Jockey Slut. The ball was starting to roll...

Just as Darin was starting to be labelled as a leader of Nu-Skool Breaks he slipped that pigeon-hole with the release of 'FreQ-a- Zoid', a blinding piece of robotic disco that convinced even the techno purists that FreQ Nasty was utterly right in his pursuit of machine funk. Part Kraftwerk, part Daft Punk, with a little piece of Jaques Lu Cont's electro cheek dropped in for balance, the cut rocked techno, house and hip hop floors alike. This came as no suprise to anyone that knew that FreQ also released techno records under various guises.

Meanwhile and on the sly and at the same time Darin also released the superb 'Funky as...' with studio partner BLIM on Adam Freeland's much respected Marine Parade label. The style was different but the results remained similarly devastating.

This was about the time that FREQ Nasty started picking up more DJ dates around the country as clubs started looking for something new to rock their crowds. Darin's sound was perfect- A more varied and eclectic soundtrack that still blew speakers. An early residency at Bryan G's seminal Movement night at London's Bar Rhumba club had taught Darin early on that the key to his success as a DJ relied very much on bass, it was just a matter of time till this sensibility was relocated to new dancefloors.

Since those days things have rocketed. He's resident DJ at Bugged Out! meets The Boutique at London's Fabric. He's a constant fixture at Boutique dates around the world and keeps floors jumping in France, Poland, Zurich, Finland, Holland, Singapore, Slovenia, even New York's Twilo. He's toured Australia extensively (finding time to play back in native New Zealand now and again) and has another Antipodean tour lined up for July this year. You should be able to catch the FreQ out a Creamfields festival this summer as well as Drum Rhythm in Holland.

As a remixer of other people's material FreQ Nasty has proven no slouch. To a lot of clubbers it was his and BLIM's bomb drop mix of Sousounde's 'Metisse' - where what starts as a crisp bassline evolves into a monstrous slab of distorted acid. The track became a huge hit from DJs like Sasha right through to the more underground Bugged Out types. This was followed by a highly liberal reworking of avante-composer Steve Riech's 'Desert Music'. Since then FreQ has mixed Westbam, Asian Dub Foundation, KRS-One and hip hopper Mystikal.

2000 saw FreQ leave the consistantly supportive Botchit & Scarper for a new label- Brighton's Skint Records home to artists as diverse as X-Press 2 and Fatboy Slim. As if to show people changing labels wasn't going to change him Darin released his roughest release to date the agenda setting 'That's My Style!' which welded tough rap samples with crisp up-tempo breaks and an ascending bass-line that once again flirted with acid distortion. The record that almost broke Fabric nightclub. Further tracks such as 'Amped' and 'Transforma' confirm that consistency is another one of Darin's skills.