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John O'Callaghan Biography (DOWNLOAD AS .PDF)
Voted #24 in the 2009 DJ Mag Top 100 Poll
Overview: It took John O'Callaghan just a few short years to outrun the 'next big thing' tag and switch over onto the A-list fast track. A masterful spinner, his high-octane trance mix coupled with a highly-refined precision mixing style has seen him surge up through the DJ ranks. Spinning his first Radio 1 Essential Mix in the summer of 2008, the gifted 27 year old was one of only 4 trance DJs to do so during the year. Immediately following that he made his debut in DJ Magazine's Top 100 DJs rundown, arriving at No.60. In the 2009 chart he became one of the year's highest climbers, leaping 36 places into the world's top 25 and cementing his place as Ireland's foremost DJ & producer. In his home country he has picked up the Best Producer and Best DJ trophies at the Irish Dance Music Awards for 2 consecutive years; decisively conquered the notoriously competitive testing ground of Ibiza and was the first Irishman to play Trance Energy. In 2010 he has entered the inner circle of electronic dance superstardom.
Production: Since making his first moves into music production 6 years ago, O'Callaghan's notched-up over 35 productions and released them on some of the most respected labels in the industry. Early club-thrillers like 'The Chamber', 'Exactly' & 'Space & Time' became mainstays of DJs sets and along the way prompted Paul van Dyk to comment that he is "one of the most exciting producers in the world today".. Soon after, John produced 'Big Sky'... Off the back of an extended 4-month-long club & radio hammering from the big 5, it was voted the No.1 trance tune of 2007 on Armin's ASOT show. From there 'Big Sky' took on a life of its own and has now reached the status of a modern trance classic. John also produces through a number of pseudonyms, including Joint Operations Centre and J.O.C. Under the latter he displays his affinity of techno-fringed productions, supported by a who's who of techno and progressive jocks.
'Never Fade Away' & 'Subculture': In the latter half of 2009 John again reached into the heartland of electronic dance with both his second artist album and the first edition of his new compilation series. Containing the hit singles 'Find Yourself', 'Never Fade Away' (which respectively featured Sarah Howells & Lo-Fi Sugar on vocals), his Giuseppe Ottaviani collaboration 'Our Dimension' and the increasingly popular, 'Out of Nowhere' broadened John's appeal yet further still. Conquering the hearts & minds of both fans and press, it scaled the highest reaches of global dance charts, and burned through high rotation radio playlists worldwide. 'Subculture' quickly followed - an innovative hybrid artist/mix album that premiered freshly produced material including 'Cramped', 'Backup' & 'Striker'. Tracks that went on to be wholeheartedly hammered by deeper-minded DJs including Sander van Doorn & Marco V.
DJ: John caught his first DJing break playing on national Irish radio station 2FM's 'Sessions Tour'. From the DJ booth he has gone on to throw trance-fire onto the floors of some of the world's highest-profile clubs, arenas and festivals. Counted amongst them are Planet Love & Lush, WMC in Miami, Rain in Las Vegas and Creamfields. He is also a regular fixture in Ibiza, roadblocking Cream @ Amnesia throughout the course of summer 2009 (and already booked to the same in '10), as well as his yearly trip to Eden for Judgement Sundays. O'Callaghan has also expanded his fan-bases into Eastern Europe and North & South America (playing Sunrise Festival, San Francisco's LovEvolution, LA's Monster Massive, and his Brazil/Paraguay/Argentina tour inside the last year). In March of 2009 John played the main-stage at Trance Energy – now universally regarded as the pinnacle apex of the trance calendar and in 2010 he has also taken one of the much-prized residency positions on Godskitchen's 2010 Global Gathering World Tour.
The Subculture Radio Show: For the last three years John has presented his take on the trance scene via his Subculture show on the industry-leading station DI.FM. Subculture presents a crystal-clear monthly snapshot of John's in and out of club sound, exploring the outer reaches of electronic music. The show goes out at 5pm UK time on the 2nd Monday of the month, noon US EST and 6pm CET.
The Subculture Label: After the radio show and compilation, in February 2010John took the next evolutionary step and launched Subculture: the label. In cooperation with industry giant Armada, the imprint quickly started to showcase John and other likeminded musicians' tracks, kicking off with his own floor-pounding 'Striker'.
John O'Callaghan Remixes: Although his studio career carries more of an original production bias, John has lent his musical skill to many exceptional remixes. In 2005 his debut came in the form of the hugely-received rewiring of fellow countrymen Agnelli & Nelson's 'Shiver'. From there he went on to rework (amongst others) John Askew's 'How Can I Put This', Ronski Speed's 'The Space We Are' & Filo & Peri's 'Anthem'. So taken was Armin by John's 2008 remix of 'If You Should Go' that he took the rare step of asking O'Callaghan to rework a second track from his 'Imagine' album. John's remix of The Doppler Effect's 'Beauty Hides in the Deep' last year became a cult hit within the trance fraternity and 2009 has seen him go on to remix material from a number of A-list trance heavyweights, as well as a multitude of highly sought after reworks and bootlegs for JOC sets only. He is widely regarded as one of the most in-demand remixers in electronic dance music today.
Quotes:
"John is one of the most talented trance and tech trance producers/DJs out there at the moment. What makes him stand out is the consistent quality of his arrangements and his capability to make an easy transition from a trancy to a more techy sound." Sander Van Doorn
"John is a fantastic producer, one of the most consistent around and his tunes never fail to Fire Up the dance floor!" Eddie Halliwell
"He is a down to earth guy, he makes the trance sound what is not easy these days. And the vocals he uses in his productions are always good."
Marco V
"John is one of my favourite producers and he is a great performer as well. That's the key to become a big DJ like my Irish friend." Giuseppe Ottaviani
"We have long been supporters of John's underground productions. He is a talented producer and DJ."
Above & Beyond
"His productions skills are brilliant, it sis great that he can still please the hard and the softer DJs. He has proved himself all through the years." Scot Project
"The hugely talented John O'Callaghan is now deservedly being recognised for years of incredible hard work and dedication. He is a totally down to earth guy that hasn't let any of the stardom go to his head, which only adds to his charm and appeal."John Askew
"John has always been a natural talent when it comes to production and over the years I have played pretty much every track he has made. He is one of the hardest working artists I know and his passion for what he does has got him where he it today." Greg Downey
Prepared by:
Tim Stark - DJ Magazine |
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