Teenage Clare DJs go on the record

TWO Clare teenage DJs are hitting the high notes after securing a record label for a joint production in the highly competitive music industry.

Shayne Mulrooney, 16, is a DJ, music producer, radio presenter, who started releasing music at the start of 2020 and has gained support from a host of stations.

Among them are Juice 1038, Gorgeous Fm, Global Radio Cork, Midlands 103, Deep Dance Amsterdam, Ibiza Stardust, Broke Fm, Spin South West and Spin 1038, BBC sounds, Beat 102 103, Iradio and many more besides.

Dave Falconer, 16, who lives in Clarecastle, became a disc jockey at the age of 14 during the first Covid-19 lockdown in 2020.

The two DJs who are friends worked together on a music production “Do You Feel It”, which has just been released on Spotify and iTunes by DaCosta Records.

Their goal is to secure regular work as DJs in night clubs and pubs.

This was Dave’s first record label deal, having grown his fan base through social media and school.

Shayne, who lives in Shannon, has secured five record deals including three with Da Costa and two with P1ay Media in Dublin and DaCosta Records in Derry.

The third year St Caimin’s Community School student played guitar and the banjo, which helped him to develop a musical ear for mixing.

Shayne also presents a radio show on Infinity Radio Ireland and features on many stations and shows with his upbeat and groovy guest mixes.

He features on Infinity Radio Ireland every Saturday lunchtime from 1-3pm, playing the biggest and best dance anthems from around the world.

Last November, he released Real Love and P1ay and Dance With Me on December 15.

On May 28, Shayne released his first single of 2021 with Dublin DJ/producer Louis O’Loughlin called ‘We Got No’, which was signed to DaCosta Records

This helped secure support from Marty Guilfoyle, Dylan McKee, Mark T, Mark McCabe, Louise DaCosta, Tony Krisp, D.O.R, Foggy, The cheeky Seal and DJ Aaron Kennedy.

Shayne has always loved music, and has been producing on and off over the last few yearsand took up DJing in early 2020.

Shayne soundtracked the biggest and best beats over the past few decades over on his Instagram every Saturday night during lockdown.

He participated in a live stream music session with more than 20 other DJs with the help of Limerick producer, Gearoid O’Regan, which raised almost €1,000 for the Irish Cancer Society and Pieta House.

With only about 90 out of 585 night clubs open at the moment due to the devastating impact of Covid-19, Shayne explained there is huge competition for DJs to secure work in clubs.

“On the production side, there are so many good producers that are not getting the opportunity with record deals because they are not being recognised and the promoters can’t get funds from the government to run events. So new producers are being pushed aside by bigger artists who are getting all the publicity from the music media.”

While Dave used to play the guitar, he gave it up after leaving primary school due to the onset of arthritis.

He has a very dry skin condition, which requires moisturising five times a day as well as two baths for between 45 minutes to an hour.

The Ennis Community College student finds it easier to mix music on his laptop when it suits rather than having to commit to attending music lessons at a particular time.

As the first lockdown came to an end, he stopped the weekly livestreams to work on bigger projects such as the Irish Cancer Society stream with Deep Nation Records.

During the start of the second lockdown, Dave learned how to produce and also gained thousands of views and plays on his remix, while his productions were featured on both OrganVibesUK and Session FM. He began producing his own music, which included both remixes and original.

He has also previously hosted shows on Global Radio Cork where he hosted DJs such as Dotsperinch, Callum Knight, James Hype and Tita Lau.

Recently, he started hosting a new show on Ireland’s newest online radio station Infinity Radio.

He has also featured on many virtual festivals and more recently gained support from Midlands 103.

Acknowledging stiff competition, he said there are a number of very good night club DJ’s from Ennis and Limerick such as Greg Lynch, Paul Finnin, Oisín McCarthy and Evan O’Connor, who are taking the music scene by storm.

Dave pointed out the payment for streaming has dramatically reduced.

It takes about one million hits on Spotify to earn a producer about €5,500, which will be cut if they are signed up with a record label.

“There is no real guide for mixing music. It changes from song to song. It is not done by the book. We hope to get more opportunities as more venues re-open after Covid-19 restrictions.”

“Radio stations, club promoters and venue owners have got very cut throat since Covid-19 because they are on tight budgets.”

“Networking is very important to get work even if you are a very good DJ or producer.”

By Dan Danaher