When an artist leaves the group that has brought them fame and fortune, they might flirt again with fame. But it's often fleeting, at best.
For every George Michael, there'll always be an Andrew Ridgeley, hoping the spotlight might shine on them again. Not so Darren Emerson. As part of electronic music collective Underworld, he helped put together Born Slippy, which - thanks to its role in Danny Boyle's Trainspotting - became an anthem for a wasted generation.
After the song embedded itself in the collective memory, Emerson cut and ran. But instead of fading into obscurity - or sitting back in a country home and watching the royalty cheques roll in - Emerson became a star in his own right. His record label, Underwater, has strung together a series of club hits, and Emerson continues to perform as a DJ to packed houses around the world.
Emerson is matter of fact about his success. 'I haven't really looked back, to be honest,' he told musicOMH.com recently. 'That was a good 10 years of my life, but after leaving I went back to my DJ-ing, got Underwater rocking and had a daughter. So I've been enjoying that as well, so it's all been good.'
Emerson first got behind the decks as a teenager. Although he started building a reputation as one of Britain's finest DJ talents, his talent didn't blossom until he was introduced to Rich Smith and Karl Hyde in the early 1990s.
Underworld's series of hits - Born Slippy came alongside Cowgirl and Everything, Everything - helped forge the template for a generation of DJs. Emerson says he has no regrets about moving on.
'If I carried on doing the same thing all the time, I would get so f***ing bored and I want to try different things.' So, he formed Underwater. The likes of Arthur Baker and Deepgroove have found audiences thanks to Emerson's work behind the scenes.
