Young Clare DJ duo are charting a route to the top

TWO Clare teenage DJs are scaling the heights in the dance music industry after working together as a warm up act for a major event in Glór recently.

Shayne Mulrooney and Dave Falconer got a fantastic reaction from their fans after working side-by-side in Glór as the opening act on Dec Pierce’s hugely popular Block Rockin Beats tour recently.

DJ, music producer and radio presenter, Shayne, who lives in Shannon, was over the moon when he reached No.1 for three days on the House Charts on Soundcloud online music streaming service platform last month.

Overall, this track attracted more than 40,000 online streams.

“It was about 15 minutes of music remixes I made into one mix, which really took off, Shayne told The Champion.

“This was the first time I got to No. 1. I had been in the House Charts before at No. 50 for a few hours but it didn’t really go anywhere and I was gone again.

“People can download music from Soundcloud or platforms like Spotify and also have the option of paying for Spotify Premium. All the House Charts are free on this music platform. I was over the moon when my music mix went to No. 1.

“I decided to throw it up and thought a few people might have a listen to it.

“I remember sitting at home and seeing the numbers getting bigger and bigger. I felt this wasn’t normal the way it was going. When I checked the charts I was in the top 20 and I was saying this is great.

“I couldn’t believe it, I got my friends to check as well to make sure I wasn’t seeing things.

“When I checked it later, I had reached the top ten. I was at No.3 for a while and then it finally went to No.1. When I opened the app, my photograph was the first thing that would pop up. It was at No.1 for three days, which was amazing.

“I got loads of congratulations messages. It was a great reward after so much work.

“Not every disc jockey or producer in the country can say they had a No.1,” he recalled.

This achievement had boosted his profile, which is helping him to secure more work in music circles.

BRAW, one of the biggest disco house labels from Scotland have signed up a new track with him called “I cant’ believe that”, which will be released in the near future.

Starting Fourth Year in St Caimin’s Community School next month after completing the Junior Certificate a few months ago, he continues to broadcast house and commercial dance music on Infinity Radio, Global Radio Cork, Midlands 103 and Club 103.

Every week he spends about four hours producing music and mixes music for up to 30 hours any time he has some spare time.

His long term goal is to make a full time career out of mixing and producing music and hopes to secure a place in music production in Limerick Institute of Technology after his Leaving Certificate.

Dave, meanwhile, 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 was released on Spotify and iTunes by DaCosta Records.

Last May, they secured a major music break after they were signed up to do the warm up gig for Dec Pierce in Glór.

On the day of this event, Shayne recalled they had 130 twitter notifications wishing them the best of luck from businesses, schools and individuals.

This was the first time Glór staged a live dance event with all the seats removed since the pandemic.

The duo worked back-to-back, Shayne would play one song and then Dave would mix in another one when this was finished.

Shayne recalled it was akin to a night club experience. “The two of us were working together at the same time. It was an unbelievable experience. Our parents would have been fans of Block
Rockin Beats, which has its own distinctive nineties dance classics.

“Getting the opportunity to play in front of a sold-out Glór was amazing.

How it started. How it’s going. pic.twitter.com/jH5zbmmZ0X

— Ian Falconer🦒 (@IKFalconer) May 29, 2022

Today FM presenter, Dec Pierce has been very supportive to myself and Dave. Trevor White from the Queens Hotel have also helped us a lot. He set us up and it took off from there,” he said.

Block Rockin Beats is a live venue and festival performance version of Pierce’s radio show of the same name on Today FM.

A raw, energetic live set, it included tracks from Underworld, Faithless, The Prodigy, Chemical Brothers and many more.

Block Rockin Beats is a described as a show where rave meets rock music. A show where both music styles unite for one unmissable performance. Revellers in Glór enjoyed songs such as No Good alongside Smells Like Teen Spirit and Beastie Boys’ Sabotage.

Dave recalled Dec Pierce contacted his father, Ian, after he had posted some of his DJ music during the Covid-19 lockdown.

This contact resulted in his selection with Shayne to do the warm up gig.

“It was an unbelievably good night. I really enjoyed mixing music with Shayne on the night.

“It was definitely a night to remember and I am very thankful to Dec Pierce and his team for this opportunity,” he said.

Having read a previous Clare Champion feature about this teenage duo, Trevor White from the Queen’ Hotel contacted them about doing a slot in the Sanctuary.

Another class night @QueensNightclub pic.twitter.com/tscZ9DLQo9

— SHAYNE (@shayneMulroone1) April 10, 2022

Their first gig in the Queens was the teenage disco on St Patrick’s Day and this has now become a regular venue for this duo.

In fact, next Friday they will complete their fifth gig in the Queen’s.

Dave is delighted to work alongside some of Ireland’s best night club disc jockeys, Evan O’Connor, Just G and Oisin McCarthy.

“It has been a pleasure to work with Trevor White and the Queens nightclub. We couldn’t thank them enough for the opportunities they’ve given us.

“Getting regular work is a big boost after the music scene was shut down during the Covid-19 pandemic.

“However, some venues up the country are still closed due to Covid-19,” he said.

Next Friday, Dave and Cillian Power will release a new single “You got me” on the European dance label Platin EDM.

Last February, Cillian and Dave first came in touch on social media and decided to produce a club dance single.

Over a two-week period, they did a lot of the production work online through Zoom and sent audio files back and forth.

“This is my first collaboration with Cillian. It is great to get produce a single together with him,” he said.

Following his Leaving Certificate, Dave hopes to study music production in a third-level college.

Shayne and Dave have almost finished producing two new songs, which they are planning to release over the coming months.

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

The Ennis Community College student finds it easier to mix music on his laptop when it suits rather 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.

He has also hosted a show on Ireland’s newest online radio station Infinity Radio as well as featuring on several virtual festivals.

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.