Harts is the nom de plume of Indian-born, Australian-based musician, singer/songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, composer, and music producer Darren Hart, whose singular blend of funk, jazz, blues, psychedelic rock, and indie electronic has drawn comparisons to Prince, Jimi Hendrix, and Lenny Kravitz, among others. ‘Wishfulness’, the latest track from Harts is released today.
To coincide with his upcoming releases Harts is touring Australia, as he takes his expanded live setup, Australia wide for the first time. His new shows will be a great opportunity to see him perform his new music, with a bigger, expanded live band. Its going to be an all new, intimate and experimental show.
Fri Nov 2 – The Fat Controller – Adelaide, SA
Sat Nov 3 – Jack Rabbit Slims – Perth, WA
Fri Nov 16 – Hotel Brunswick – Brunswick Heads, NSW
Sat Nov 17 – The Triffid – Brisbane, QLD
Thu Nov 22 – Anu Bar – Canberra, ACT
Fri Nov 23 – The Factory Theatre – Sydney, NSW
Sat Nov 24 – The Cambridge – Newcastle, NSW
Thu Nov 29 – The Corner Hotel – Melbourne, VIC
Fri Nov 30 – Torquay Hotel – Torquay, VIC
“Lyrically ‘Wishfulness’ is a song about being stuck in a rut, longing for something else. Something otherworldly. It’s a different kind of song to come from me. Like ’21&19′ the focus here is the groove, song & vocal, rather than the guitar. I love the way it all comes together in the second chorus when the bass line and new drum pattern kicks in.” – Harts
Harts went independent for his 2014 long-player, Daydreamer, a ten-track collection of guitar-heavy electro-funk jams that drew praise from Prince Rogers Nelson himself, who noted that Hart’s full-length debut reminded him “of how I was at that age”. It was later revealed that Harts had traveled to Prince’s Paisley Park compound earlier in the year for a meet-and-greet/jam session.
2015 saw Harts release his second EP titled Breakthrough, which featured two Triple J #1 played songs ‘When a Man’s A Fool’ and the title track ‘Breakthrough’. Harts was approached by Subaru for an experimental creative campaign in which the 2016 WRX model car was fitted with the guitarists Wah-Wah pedal as the accelerator. The campaign reached hundreds of thousands of people and helped cement Harts as Australia’s new guitar hero. 2015 also saw Harts play shows in both Hong Kong and Thailand.
Harts joined the ranks at Universal for his sophomore LP, 2016’s Smoke Fire Hope Desire, which was issued in the United States the following year via Razor & Tie. The album earned much praise and accolades including being awarded Breakthrough Artist of the Year at the GQ Australia Men Of The Year Awards, being invited to collaborate on a song with The Roots & Lenny Kravitz for the official 2016 Olympic Games Campaign and gaining major radio airplay including landing Triple J’s Album of the Week. 2016 saw Harts visit Europe and play shows in Amsterdam, Paris, London and Berlin as well as a festival slot at Pink Pop in the Netherlands.
Departing Australia to pursue career opportunities in the U.S for the majority of 2017, Harts reached a wider audience via American television when his song ‘Power’ featured in the DC Comics NBC sitcom Powerless, and also landed a video premiere for the single ‘Peculiar’ on Conan O’Brien’s digital channel Team Coco. Harts toured the U.S including shows in San Francisco, New York, and LA. He also performed at Chicago’s Wicker Park Festival and LouFest Music Festival in St Louis.
2018 has already seen Harts land huge features such as playing guitar with Joey Bada$$ for Triple J’s Like A Version and rocking 80,000 people at the MCG with Peking Duk for the NRL State of Origin pre-game entertainment. He also wrapped up two huge sets at Bluesfest and premiered a brand new expanded live band for a special sold-out show at Howler in Melbourne in July. Harts has recently released singles ‘Ain’t Nothin’ On Me’ and ’21&19′, both of which are set to feature on his upcoming album due later this year, along with ‘Wishfulness’.