Alek Darson

official website

Alek Darson x Jordan Rudess
From Jordan Rudess's solo album Wired for Madness
Featuring Alek Darson on guitar and bass

The Story

Alek Darson is a composer, recording artist, producer, and guitar virtuoso. At age 10, he picked up his mom’s old nylon string guitar in Belgrade, Serbia and never looked back. His artistic journey has taken him through Europe, Boston, and Los Angeles to his current base in Toronto. His formal education introduced him to modern classical music, but an urge towards aggressive yet melodic and emotional music brought him to Berklee College of Music. The juxtaposition of his eastern background and western environment has shaped his musical expression and offered a freshness to his craft.

"Alek has a unique approach and sound. His music and guitar playing are incredible."

- Jordan Rudess (Dream Theater)

His debut release Panopticon, composed, arranged, performed, recorded, mixed, mastered, and produced entirely by Darson, was hailed by Metal Injection as the work of ‘The Best Composer You Never Heard Of.’ He has shared his talents on recordings alongside artists such as John Petrucci, Vinnie Moore, and Guthrie Govan, and pushed the boundaries of instrumental music with drummers like Matt Garstka and Marco Minnemann. New music is in the works.

Alek Darson - Pantopticon
Alek Darson - Pantopticon

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Others about Alek Darson:

  • "Panopticon is a small collection of musical pieces that were written with structure and overall enjoyability in mind, and that intention shows."
    Greg Kennelty (Metal Injection)
  • "Alek has a unique approach and sound. His music and guitar playing are incredible."
    Jordan Rudess (Dream Theater, Dixie Dregs)
  • "This EP is quite impressive on a few levels, and if you love music that is not shy with the technicality but still manages to incorporate some dynamics and feeling, this is a must-have."
    Lynn Jordan (Ghost Cult Magazine)
  • "Everyone who has witnessed his unique sound and approach to shredding has mentioned how talented this young man is."
    Kevin Sweeny (Yeneews Records)
  • "I think this EP is so compelling, rich, and original, to the extent that there’s no space for comparison."
    Zoran Perin (Nocturne Magazine)
  • "The entire EP is a great piece of music, loaded with incredible guitar playing, and with hints of everybody you ever loved with a six string from Satch, to Jeff Beck to Vai."
    Riotous Mind (Blood Sweat Music)
  • "There is no question of Darson's brilliance on his instruments; he lays it all out for everyone to hear."
    Lady Obscure (LoneStar)
  • "Alek Darson is the real deal. Imaginative, original and entertaining. While others are trying to outdo each other, Alek is making music."
    Jon Finn (Berklee College Of Music, Boston Pops)
  • "Alek is a guitarist of highest rank."
    Nebojsa Lakic (Serbian Metal Portal)
  • "Darson is incredibly talented and has all the skills of his idols available in spades."
    Kyle Gaddo (Heavy Blog is Heavy)
  • "Alek is for me as John Petrucci is for Jordan Rudess. He's not only an amazing guitarist and composer, but also a great friend."
    Eren Başbuğ (Jordan Rudess, Dream Theater)

Panopticon EP

Six thought-provoking compositions in which Alek finds profound personal connections deep in the metal groove.

1. Sprockets
2. Flight Impressions
3. Waltz of Titans
4. Spiral of Sanity
5. The Rind [lyrics]
6. Fingers Painted Purple (Hidden Track)

All compositions by Alek Darson. All tracks arranged (except 6) and performed by Alek Darson. The Rind lyrics by Vladimir Lalić.

Recorded, edited, mixed, mastered and produced by Alek Darson at Stretch Recording Studios.

Featuring Guests:

Milan Jejina Yeqy (drums - 1, 5, 6)
Hadrien Pierson (drums - 2)
Mića Kovačević (drums - 3)
Milena Jančurić (flute - 3)
Vladimir Lalić (vocals - 5)
Eren Başbuğ (string arrangement & keyboards - 6)
String Section: Steve Chieh-Wei Chiu, Dominika Hwang, Alison Dooley, Sadie Currey, Tamer Tarhan, Eden Rayz

Alek Darson on Panopticon:

"During the last 10 years of my profession I went through many emotional states. Being in numerous projects and a wide variety of acts gave me insight into my own state of mind, ranging from the lowest disapproval and dissatisfaction to the highest bliss of love and acceptance. This EP’s finds a musical expression for those emotions and is a voice to tell their story. I look at it as a Panopticon, a perfect omniscient prison where a single guard sees all. I had hoped to answer the biggest question of all: 'Am I the guard, or the prisoner?' and I think this music gets me bit closer to the truth."

The Girls

Alek Darson exclusively plays and proudly endorses Wood Guerilla guitars and basses. These are his girls, and he embraces their diverse personalities.

  • Puffy - Alek Darson's guitar

    Puffy

    The oldest of the pack. First custom instrument Alek had WG build for him. Original design was adapted and expanded upon a Halo Guitars shape.

    Her 5-piece mahogany and wenge neck, with a zirikote fretobard, runs through a beautiful 4-piece body of (top to bottom) poplar, wenge, curly maple and mahogany in a wonderful neck-through-body style. Custom made Electrosonic SBS pickups in a H-S-H configuration give her that warm Gibson Les Paul feel, with a strong personality and massive sound.

    She also features an Ibanez Lo-pro Edge tremolo system, equipped with piezo saddles, giving her an ability to produce an acoustic guitar sound at will. She is featured on most of the songs from Panopticon like "Sprockets", "Spiral of Sanity" and "Flight Impressions".

  • LionFish - Alek Darson's guitar

    LionFish

    The younger sister. Built with a Strat sound in mind. An all-canadian-maple neck in bolted-on a light ash body with a walnut top to give it that nasty Saturday-night look.

    Another set of Electrosonic SBS custom made pickups in S-S-S configuration, outer two of which are designed in hot-rails style, give a great snappy Stratocaster character. For extra variety, she wears two EMG active EQ pots underneath her skirt, stolen from a great genius that David Gilmour is.

    As her older kin, she also has a piezo pickup on the top of her Hipshot Floating bridge, giving her that acoustic homemade zest. She holds the throne in "Waltz of Titans".

  • Dark Puff - Alek Darson's guitar

    Dark Puff

    She is a reincarnation of Alek's first "serious" guitar. At first, she was a Celebrity by Ovation, but then as time went by, she had many abusing facelifts and plastic surgeries. Different bridges, pickups, paint-jobs (she even looked like a B&W Petrucci Ibanez for a while).

    After all those, Alek decided to pull the frets out one morning, with nothing less than a flat screwdriver and a hammer, and fix the holes up with some wood putty. The poor thing lived like that until one day, WG came to the rescue and gave her this final Darth Vader look.

    The only thing that is left from the original guitar is the neck. She's enjoying (hopefully) her new body and black metallic color, as well as her reworked, glossy, glass-like fingerboard. WG also installed a Fernandes Sustainer pickup, so that she can sing forever (or until the battery dies). She really shines on "Finger Painted Purple".

  • Jag - Alek Darson's guitar

    Jag

    The oddball. She came in between the two sisters, as a helping hand until the LionFish came to the house. Apparently, Alek liked her so much that he decided to keep her.

    Her all-maple neck is dyed red as well as her body ash top. The zero fret gives her a perfectly equal sound all over the fretboard and the open strings. The two EMG humbuckers make her sound like an angry bull when she gets angry, but also lets her gentle side shine through when she's in the mood.

  • Bunta - Alek Darson's guitar

    Bunta – The Zerg Queen

    She's the foundation of all Alek's songs. This b(ad)ass rallies all the other girls and puts them to their purpose after she’s done laying down the base.

    The wood combination of the solid flame ash (body) and a 7-piece layered neck of maple, padouk, purple-heart and mahogany with a tigerwood fretboard and custom Electrosonic SBS dual coil pickups, along with a WG KN-1 three-way preamp makes her the most versatile bass out there.

    She gets rather well with her younger sibling Jag, as they share the same taste in color and style.

  • Ema - Alek Darson's guitar

    Ema

    She's the nice one. Young and well raised in a nice family. Her nylon strings make her a bit shy and quiet, but still quite emotional when she speaks. To give her voice, the only pickup she has is a built in Fishman piezo, since she doesn't have a resonant body as other nylon string guitars do.

    Neck is a bolt on, classical measurement design. Very light-weight, natural and beautiful. She is the only one of her kind, WG made her as a prototype, so she's a bit lonely. You can see her howling in a tandem with her own self in the playthrough video for "The Dream Sequence" by Organized Chaos.

Live

Alek is available for live performances, session work, and special events. For booking inquiries, please contact booking@alekdarson.com

Alek Darson Live
Alek Darson - Pantopticon

Contact Alek

"Staying in touch is the best thing we can do for each other in this alienated world. So if you have any questions, advice or just want to say 'hi,' don't hesitate to contact me directly." - Love, A.

E-mail Alek: alek@alekdarson.com

Hire Alek

Alek is available for session guitar, mixing, mastering, production, and a limited number of coaching dates. Please contact alek@alekdarson.com for rates and availability.

Stay in the Loop

New music, live dates, and the occasional behind-the-scenes update. No spam, no fluff.

Alek Darson - Pantopticon

Press Room

Press kit update in progress. For press inquiries, please contact alek@alekdarson.com.

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