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Meet the team: Darren

Fellowship founder, Darren Hickey, has had a lively career following a range of creative pursuits.

Aged 13 he got heavily into the hip hop scene – music, graffiti and breakdancing. In his early years he did graffiti commissions ranging from friends’ bedrooms to youth clubs. This led to digital graffiti commissions for many record labels in later years.

In 1990 he became a freelance graphic designer, adding web design five years later. For ten years he combined design work with being a record producer, building a recording studio and producing dance music – primarily soulful drum & bass under the artist name ‘Fellowship’. In 2000 he launched the ‘Defunked’ record label and his own music publishing company.

Among the high points of his music career:

  • Topping the dance charts in 1996 with ‘Homeland’, under the guise ‘Wayward Mind’.
  • Being interviewed on Radio 1 and Kiss FM.
  • Getting a song placed on the film ‘187’, starring Samuel Jackson.
  • Producing a track with Marshall Jefferson – the Godfather of House.
  • Dinner with the legendary Masters at Work.
  • A breakdancing battle with Robert Owens, singer of the seminal house anthem ‘Tears’.

Landing Thomas Cook as a client in 2002 led him to focus on his design studio. The next ten years saw projects for Cancer Research UK, Merlin Entertainments, Sony, Panasonic, P&O Maritime, easyJet and DP World.

In 2012 he set up an in-house team of developers offering a full range of website services. Today Fellowship is an 18-strong agency specialising in websites and brand development.

Outside work Darren remains a huge music and film fan. His standout concert was Michael Jackson at Wembley on the 1988 ‘Bad’ tour. His favourite movies are ‘Alien’ and ‘Betty Blue’ and he’s also a self-confessed AFOL (Adult Fan of Lego).

When he can find the time, Darren enjoys a game of tennis, drawing, architecture and visiting National Trust properties with his wife and two children.

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