When Darin Schaffer first takes the stage, audiences may be puzzled by what they see: a solo musician clutching an unusual fretted instrument; next to him on the floor, a chaotic assortment of electronica. But when Darin starts to play, the world never quite looks _ or sounds _ the same again. Darin Schaffer is a virtuoso on a vision quest, a composer/musician with a style unlike any before him. For proof, look no further than his new self-titled Clickpop Records cd. Playing his prized four-string piccolo bass while weaving in electronic loops and other sonic effects, Darin elevates the art of the instrumental to a new level.

His hands puck, strum, bow and bang the bass. His feet press the pedals of the gear below. Bearing traces of jazz, classical East Indian, folk and ambient pop, the result leaves audiences in awe, clamoring for more. "Weaving in electronic loops and other sonic effects, Darin elevates the art of the instrumental to a new level."

 How does he do it? It's all about having a close personal relationship withhis equipment. "When it gets busy," he says, "I have the effects processordynamically intensifying the music." Thus, tapping the bass becomes the drum part. Controlling the digital recorder with foot pedals, Darin stacks multiple sounds and chord progressions. Over the course of his set, it becomes increasingly hard to believe just one player can make this much music. "People respond to the work I'm doing," he says. "I can play a teen center filled with angst-ridden punk rockers, and they totally dig it. Then I canplay a jazz club with 50-60 year olds and they dig it." Born and raised in Couer d'Alene, Idaho, Darin didn't discover music untilhis teens, when he got his first guitar. Initially, he leaned towards hard rock, and by the time he graduated high school, he was a veteran of several metal bands. "Basically," he recalls, "we were doing Stravinsky with distortion." He veered off into a radically different direction when he discovered themusic of artists like Ravi Shankar and the late guitarist Michael Hedges. From there, he sharpened his skills.

Under the tutelage of acoustic bass great Tom Rutley (Ray Charles and Santana), Darin studied music theory, composition, and jazz. For his new release, Darin took a slightly different approach. "On my first record," he says, "I wrote a bunch of tunes, went into studio to record them, then toured for a couple of years. With these new tunes, I decided, instead of first recording them, I would play them in concert for a year. I tried to let the songs write themselves." Based in the San Francisco Bay Area, Darin still considers himself a student, even if his peers see him as a master. To deepen his understanding of other musical traditions, he is currently studying sitar at the Ali Akbar Khan College of Music in Marin County. "I'm the worst player there," he says with a laugh. "Some students have been there 25 years, so when I play Indian music, it still sounds like a white kid from Idaho. Still, being there is like going to church." Not unlike the experience of seeing Darin Schaffer in concert.

While he hopes to broaden his reach and play for a national, even international, audiences in the months ahead, for now he's content to dazzle fans one audience at a time. Says Darin, "If music comes from the heart, it transcends genre." No one can doubt that the music of Darin Schaffer comes from the heart. In 1996, Darin formed the ensemble Moments of Clarity which over the subsequent five years released three independently distributed CDs. In 2001, he signed with the independent label Rebel Alliance Productions, releasing his first solo CD "Reflect." Darin continued to tour relentlessly, making a name for himself up and down the West Coast and selling thousands of CDs in the process.