Darren J. Cunningham is a British electronic musician, best known under the pseudonym Actress.
After a career-ending injury halted his football career, Actress put down the ball and picked up the turntables. He taught himself how to DJ, built up a small record collection, and began to DJ at house parties in Wolverhampton. As one of the most preeminent and singular voices in UK electronic music, Actress’s work has continued to innovate across an already illustrious career. Most notably, in 2018 he built an artificial intelligence program called Young Paint, which he used as a creative collaborator, to challenge his perceptions of the meaning behind creative process.
2020 brought us Actress’s most melodic album to date, ‘Karma and Desire’, featuring guest collaborations from Sampha, Robert Ames, Zsela, Aura T-09 and more. Previous collaborators include London Contemporary Orchestra, world-renowned photographers Mehdi Lacoste & Wolfgang Tillmans, and leading British artist Eddie Peake. He has performed sold out shows at The Barbican Centre, Tate Modern (London), Sonar (Tokyo) and Berghain (Berlin). In addition, Actress has previously fronted campaigns for Acne, Mehdi Lacoste, and Cav Empt, while composing for brands such as Louis Vuitton and Nike.
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