Daren Todd’s story starts in a sleepy Central California military town called Lompoc. In 1991, he was born Rena Todd, the oldest of two children in a Black conservative Christian household. Daren wasn’t exposed to a lot of television or pop culture growing up, but he was exposed to a lot of music. His father ran the sound booth at their church and his mother led the praise and worship team. Making music came naturally to Daren. In middle school he dedicated himself to the violin, practicing sometimes three hours a day, and yet still always ending up second chair in the orchestra. This initial shortcoming motivated Daren to always evolve and push himself when it came to his music, a trait that is still evident in his work today. Daren is always driven. Driven to create, to push the work, to always keep evolving. In the midst of his conservative upbringing, a truth he had always known became self evident: Daren is a transgender man. In his early twenties, he began his transformation from being Rena, to becoming Daren. Around this same time, Daren met and married the love of his life. His wife supported his budding music career as he struck out on his own, playing local shows and putting out music daily. That’s when fate struck one night in 2016, Daren was playing a show with It’s Future Time co-owner, AED. The two musicians hit it off and promised to keep in touch. One year and a handful of sold-out shows later, Daren’s debut album is about to drop, changing the landscape of music in Portland forever. RE:NA is Daren Todd’s debut album born from an immersive residency with It’s Future Time (IFT) for the past year. This album is a freshly squeezed revelation, defiantly and effortlessly breaking down genre roles. It’s an intimate glimpse into Daren’s life, a time capsule of emotions and carefully crafted images. Daren’s relentless positivity and earnestness is a tender hug at the end of a long night for everyone in 2018 who’s tired of the status quo. RE:NA is a love note to the self, a reminder to treat yourself gently and honestly, and to always pursue your dreams. Daren moved to Portland just one year ago after meeting IFT co-owner Anthony DeMarco in Santa Barbara. For the past year Daren has literally been living in the It’s Future Time studio, quietly crafting an album that no one saw coming. What was originally going to be a couple weeks in Portland to record some tracks, turned into the three months, and then a year. As their friendships and creative relationships continued to deepen, they realized that their personal connections were at the heart of the music.This kind of songwriting and engineering couldn’t happen simply from exchanging verses through email, or even a couple weeks of studio time. It took living together. Sharing a kitchen, going to shows, late night brainstorming and reminding each other to take their clothes out of the dryer. It proves that taking a chance and connecting can pay off. And in this case, it pays off with a debut album that marks the beginning of a new era of music in Portland.