Featured Presenter: Daedelus

Our next installment in the 2014 Featured Presenter Q & A Series focuses on Daedelus, aka Alfred Darlington, a “mad scientist of music”, artist, producer, composer, and performer.

In this series, we ask all of our presenters the same questions, allowing their individuality and passions to shine through.

Daedelus’ answers are no exception. Enjoy!  

What drives you to do the work you do?

Every performance is an unfolding adventure that I get to take part in. That would be enough, but as bonus the nights in which we collectively float up into the rafters; up and out into the after-evening and remembered for years afterwards, well that is quite a cherry on top.

What is one personal experience or relevant anecdote that informs your TEDx talk?

Once in the Philippines, on the island of Boracay, I performed from a rickety bamboo stage to expats, locals, and wild animals alike. For the most part the tourists had arrived with a plan for the night, a rigid something that I wasn’t party to, and there was some dissonance and stormy weather blowing in. Sounds like a doomed night, but in fact once those clouds arrived and little flecks of rain forced us all to crowd in some profound harmony struck and it became a remarkable evening without barely any shared language between us. I’m very concerned with the why and how come.

How are you or your topic connected to Maui or Hawaiʻi?

I cannot think of a better place to speak on the synesthetic experience (of performance) then the islands. Fragrant and resonant, vivid and powerful.

What advice would you give to your younger self?

Be loud. Be bold. Say yes more and sorry less.

What advice would your younger self give to the older you?

There is plenty. Savor this time like we did simple melodies and a smaller world.

What do the TED Talks mean to you? Do you have a favorite talk that speaks to you?

Paul Stamets: 6 Ways Mushrooms Can Save The World was my first TED crush you could say. I told everyone who’d listen check this talk out, so inspiring is Paul’s passion for this life form I hadn’t much thought about beyond being delicious. Truly left me breath taken and future hopeful.

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Daedelus will be giving a presentation at TEDxMaui 2014, coming up on Sunday, September 28, 2014 at the Maui Arts & Cultural Center. Would you like to join us in the audience? Become a supporter? We welcome you to do it!