Darren Middleton (born 4 October 1971) is an Australian musician, best known as lead guitarist and songwriter for alternative rock band Powderfinger.

He was influenced by Twisted Sister and AC/DC, and began playing in clubs around his hometown of Brisbane as part of his first band, Sonic Tapestry.

[4] Middleton formed a band named Sonic Tapestry with high school friends, and played around Brisbane's "biker-fest circuit".

[6] Middleton first encountered Powderfinger when it consisted of Bernard Fanning, Ian Haug, John Collins, and Jon Coghill.

[3][4] Middleton described Powderfinger's early days as highly influenced by other popular heavy metal bands at the time, especially Pantera.

[6][9] Powderfinger generally performed covers of The Rolling Stones, The Doors, Led Zeppelin, and Steppenwolf, as well as Neil Young in their early days, in similar clubs to those in which Middleton had first played.

[5] Powderfinger released two early EPs and a debut album, without success, and considered separating, with Middleton contemplating a return to University.

Middleton formed Drag with drummer and Powderfinger engineer Mark McElligott, Brisbane bass guitarist Sean Hartman, and long-time friend Matt Murphy.

[14] In recording the album, Drag spent three weeks at Byron Bay in March 2005, collaborating with each other and producer David Nicholas.

[13] The album earned Drag some positive reception; Rave magazine wrote that "Darren Middleton's creative genius absolutely beguiled me with some extremely mature compositions",[16] and David Nicholas won an ARIA Award for his role as producer.

The album was released in November 2013, featuring many guests such as Nic Cester (Jet), Bernard Fanning (Powderfinger), Pete Murray, Paul Dempsey (Something for Kate), Clare Bowditch and Amy Findlay (Stonefield).

Middleton rarely takes a singer or songwriter's role for Powderfinger, generally delegating those tasks to Bernard Fanning.

[20] Middleton has used a Les Paul guitar, and was praised by Alphonse Leong of Drop-D, described as playing it "as well as any of the seminal axe-noodlers of the hippie era".