JOHN O'CALLAGHAN The Man That Paul Van Dyk Recently Described Him As "The Future Of Trance, And One Of The Most Exciting Producers In The World Today"
1) You are one of the leading artists to emerge from the Irish scene. What is the club scene like back home?
The scene in the south of Ireland is not how it was 5 years ago. The biggest trance clubs have been shut down or changed to house/electro music. But there is still a huge following for trance and anytime there is a good club night – the atmosphere is amazing. I think things will change soon for the better. At the moment there is a resurgence of really good smaller nights around the country. Also there have been a couple of bigger clubs opened which seem to be packed every weekend. I think the future is solid for Irish clubbing.
2) Over the past few years you've gained a reputation as one of the most innovative breakthrough trance producers and exciting new DJ's. What inspired you to start out?
It was a slow process. First it started with some tracks like Faithless – Insomnia, and then after some holidays in Spain where I went to dance nightclubs every night – that is how I got hooked. The Temple Theatre in Dublin was the club I went to every week, to see DJs like Mauro Picotto and Timo Maas. That was the deciding factor! Also going to the festivals in 1999/2000 – Homelands, Creamfields… this was an amazing experience and really made me see what is possible with dance music.
3) Which came first for you, the DJ'ing or the production side?
I got my first set of decks at the age of 16. I was heavily into DJing and tunes before I decided to attempt production. At the time I was really into the whole concept of mixing itself and it was a massive learning curve finding out all the techniques and how it works. I still have lots of my old mix tapes at home and I have great memories of hours spent perfecting the mixes. From then I became more interest in the makeup of the tracks themselves, that’s how I got into producing. I first started experimenting with production when I was 18, and got really into it. But I don’t think I would have ended up as a producer had I not got my decks at that younger age. Getting decks really made me love dance music, as opposed to it just being an interest.
4) Nowadays sites like myspace.com mean that it is much easier for producers and DJ's to become known by the public. How did you get your name out there?
I sent my music to a big name radio DJ in Ireland, John Power – who started playing my music on Saturday nights on the radio. This got a bit of awareness going and then I progressed to sending my music to DJs like Agnelli & Nelson, Matt Hardwick & John Askew. The feedback was really good and it just grew from there. The only way to get noticed as a producer is to have the big DJs playing your music. And if your music is good enough… they will play it. Nowadays with massive Internet accessibility – it is quite hard for real talent to go unnoticed.
5) Your DJ'ing style is quite diverse, incorporating trance, progressive and techier tracks. What key elements does a record need to make it into your sets?
Basically I like techno, trance and good progressive. But when I DJ I like the play driving trance with good melodies, and then with bits of techno and tech trance thrown in simple because that’s the music I love. I’m also partial to the 99 trance so anything like that is going to feature in my sets. Predominantly it has to have a good beat with lots of groove. Music to dance to!
6) Your debut album "Something to live for" has just been released. What was involved in the recording process and how long did it take?
I started recording around last summer. The idea was initially prompted by Chris Agnelli who wondered why I didn’t have an album out considering I had so much material available. I already had 3 of 4 of my better-known tracks ready for the album but I had to get a lot of new stuff done. It was really fun to try so many different styles so hopefully it goes down well. So overall it took about a year.
7) Is the album straight trance?
There are about 4 or 5 different styles on the album… maybe more. Techno, trance, tech-trance, ambient, and some experimental tunes which I wouldn’t even know what style to label them as. I will always be making different styles. Making the same thing over and over really doesn’t appeal to me. The appeal of dance music for me is the ability to experiment and make music you haven’t tried before.
8) The album features two CD's. How do they differ?
I wanted to have a CD that you can put on in a car, or in your iPod and just listen to it from start to finish and enjoy the music. Dance music works better in a flowing format so that’s why I wanted the first CD to be like that. CD2 is all new and exclusive tracks that up to now haven’t been released. Some new remixes, some new originals by me and then a couple of rare bits including my collaboration with John Askew which we weren’t going to release but decided to stick it on the bonus CD.
9) How do you feel about it now that it is finished? What are your favourite tracks on it?
I’m delighted with it. I spent a long time working on each track, and then just as long sequencing and crafting the album itself. I think it’s an interesting listen if you’re into dance music in any way. I’m really happy about its different styles; I love how it changes from trance to techno and back again. It is a true reflection of my ideas and views on dance music today. I like all the tracks for their own reasons but the ones that have proved most popular so far are ‘Vendetta’, ‘A Life Elsewhere’ and ‘Assembler’. They all show a different side of my productions and this is important to me as I don’t want to be labelled into one genre. The bigger tracks like ‘Exactly’ and ‘The Chamber’ are still staunch favourites on the dance floor!
10) Whilst in your DJ'ing sets you obviously get to showcase your own material have you ever thought about doing a straight John O'Callaghan producers set? Do you think this will replace DJ'ing?
I don’t think it will replace DJing. No way. It’s certainly nice to play a few of your own tunes in your sets – but I wouldn’t like to listen to 1 person’s music all night, no matter how much I liked it or not. Part of the appeal of dance music for me is the variance of a DJ mix. That’s where it all started after all.
11) The trance scene as a whole has increasingly seen genre barriers blurring. Are the days of "purist" DJs numbered?
I don’t think so. I think nowadays the current style is shifting so much that it’s hard to put a tag on any DJ. But there is certainly always going to be a demand for DJs playing a certain style of music. There will always be purists.
12) Who's exciting you at the moment? Which producers are grabbing your attention in 2007?
Thomas Bronzwaer, Bryan Kearney, Greg Downey, Neal Scarborough, Simon Patterson, Giuseppe Ottaviani, Axel Karakasis… and many more. There are a lot of great producers right now and the music is fresher than ever. I think there are a lot of positive times ahead for dance music! But my big tip for a star is Thomas Bronzwaer.
