Today we’d like to introduce you to Darren Ross.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
I started this journey all the way back in mid-2010. I broke my wrist skateboarding and was relegated to the indoors for the summer. During that time I undertook the challenge of teaching myself how to produce electronic music. What I didn’t realize is that it would take me on a multi-year journey, open tons of opportunity for me, and connect me with people all over the globe. It wasn’t until 2011 that I began releasing my music under the name Forekast, and only a year later my DJ journey would begin.
As for Heart Pieces, over the years, I lost interest in electronic (dance) music and began to drift over to a post-rock music project that took me the better part of 5 years to compose and record (2018-2023). After a really rough year in 2023 and a personal awakening, I found myself falling back in love with the EDM genre. That was when I decided to start a new project and thus the Heart Pieces project was born. I spent about a year working on my first EP, released it in 2024, and have since released an EP each year. With my next challenge being writing a full-length LP album to be released in late 2027. My name comes from the Legend of Zelda game series, and my hometown is in Pennsylvania so I have a lot of friends and followers there.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
For the Heart Pieces project, it has not always been a smooth journey. When I first started it, I was more used to writing house music and the structure behind that. I had to learn a lot of techniques and a totally different structure which relates to the genre (future bass and melodic bass). I spent a lot of time studying artists that inspire me that are part of the genre, and basically transformed my listening habits. I went from listening to primarily house music, to a ton of other genres. I also wanted to incorporate more of my own guitar playing into this project, so I had to spend a decent bit of time riffing on the guitar to come up with things that inspired me to write full songs.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
For Heart Pieces, I write future bass music that strays from the normal dance music conventions and veers more along the lines of experimentation. I also run a bi-annual mix series titled “Containers” that features many of my own productions as well as those that inspire me.
Outside of Heart Pieces, I’m mostly known for producing house music and lofi beats under the name Forekast, which I first started back in 2011 and built an entire career out of that for many years.
I’m proud of my ability to adapt to the ever changing industry and continue to challenge myself to release music consistently that I think paints an accurate picture of my mindset at the time.
What sets me apart from others is that I’m an open book. I share a lot about my personal life and struggles on my social media, and I think a lot of people appreciate that and can connect with me. I also always reply to messages and talk to fans, which I view more as friends.
So maybe we end on discussing what matters most to you and why?
The most important thing to me is that my music and art connect with my audience. I want them to feel something when they listen to my music, and form their own connections to experiences along the way. I basically want the music to become a soundtrack to an experience or memory in their own life. This is important to me because I connect a lot of memories to music that I listen to. I can hear a song I haven’t heard in 15 years and instantly be transported back to where I was or what state of mind I was in when I was listening to that track. Ultimately I want my music to paint a story where my audience fills in the blanks and relates back to their own life.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://heartpiec.es
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/4heartpieces
- Twitter: https://x.com/4heartpieces
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@heartpieces
- Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/heartpieces
- Other: https://forekast.net
