Trance Sanctuary Fifth Birthday

Trance Sanctuary celebrates five years of glow sticks and uplifting chords this Saturday March 12th with a daytime takeover of Egg, starting at 3pm and finishing at 11.30pm, with an after party till 6am in the Apothecary. Irish legend John O'Callaghan headlines, making his Trance Sanctuary debut, with support coming from Standerwick and Sneijder, plus many more. Get full info and buy tickets for Trance Sanctuary here and the after party here.

Making his London debut is another Irish trance talent, Paul Denton, whose tracks have grace labels including Subculture, Kearnage, Outburst and Armada. Ahead of the party, Trance Sanctuary spoke to him about his earliest inspirations, his increasingly prolific studio output and the influence of O'Callaghan on their home scene and his own career...

How did you first get into trance music?

I first started listening to dance music in general around 1994, when I was around 10 years old. I used to listen to my older brother's vinyl like Crescendo's 'Are You Out There', Visions Of Shiva's 'Perfect Day' etc. Around the turn of the millennium I got my first set of belt drive turntables and really got into trance. I used to spend hours every Friday in my local vinyl store, Abbey Discs, searching for new tracks. It cost me a fortune and I’ve still got all my old vinyl in my house. I really do miss those days. I loved spending months trying to find a song you heard out or on the radio. You don’t get that anymore, the tracks are ID'd before they are even played these days.

Who were you early music inspirations?

My earliest dance music inspirations were the Sound Crowd, a dance duo from Dublin who my older brother used to listen to all the time, so I followed suit. My earliest trance inspiration was Paul Oakenfold. I must have listened to his Cream Resident CD every day for two years solid. I still listen to all his old Essential Mixes. The likes of Paul Van Dyk, Armin van Buuren were also massive influences on me, and more recently John O’Callaghan, Bryan Kearney, Mark Sherry and Will Atkinson. I also listen to a lot of different styles of music when I’m not listening to trance. Im a massive rock fan - the likes of U2, Oasis, Stone Roses, Beatles and The Smiths were all hugely influential to me growing up.

People might first know of you from your Flynn & Denton productions. John O'Callaghan said your 'Say My Name' track with Audrey Gallagher was his tune of the year in 2014. How big a track was that in your career?

Yes, 'Say My Name' was a massive hit for myself and Darren. It's still my most requested song when I play out, the reaction it gets every time is incredible. Audrey did a really amazing job on the vocals, as she always does. It was an absolute pleasure to work with a pure professional. If you had told me five years ago that I would have a hit track with her I would have laughed at you. That track has set the standard though, so now every song has to live up to that - that's the benchmark to aim for.

How much do you look up to someone like John O'Callaghan?

I’ve looked up to John since he first burst onto the trance scene about ten years ago to be honest. At that time there were no real major Irish trance DJs/producers out there, apart from Agnelli & Nelson, so seeing John really cement himself onto the scene was great to see. He set the standard for a lot of us Irish producers coming through – he's easily the biggest dance music export from Ireland in my opinion. Over the past three years or so John has been massively influential in my productions and career. Working with the Subculture label and Music First Agency has helped a lot - getting feedback on my tracks from someone like John has made me a better producer for sure.

We are loving your new track 'Searching The Sky', which was included in Aly & Fila's recent Essential Mix. Can you tell us the process of making that track?

Thanks. I’ve been getting great feedback from that track so far. It was my first play on BBC Radio 1, so I was really happy to see that box finally ticked. With every track I always start with chord progression and melody, as they are key to a standout track in my opinion. On 'Searching The Sky' I actually wrote a completely different melody to the one that's in it. The track was about 75% finished when I felt it needed more, so after about two weeks of looking for a vocal sample to add I found the right one and completely rewrote the main melody to suit. I'm really happy with this track, I feel it's personally my biggest (solo) one to date.

Can you tell us about some of your other recent and forthcoming productions?

I’ve got two reworks due for release, one of Armin van Buuren & Nadia Ali's 'Who Is Watching' and another of Des Mitchell's 'Welcome to the Dance' - both are due out soon. I’ve also got two huge remixes coming of my collab with Mark Sherry, 'Hostel', from Sneijder and 2nd Phase, on Mark's Outburst Records. I've just about finished two new originals too. I will be testing both out at the Trance Sanctuary gig. I'm also working on my first solo vocal track, so it's all go in the studio at the moment!

You have your own radio show, iDentify. Where can people hear this and what can we expect from your shows?

The show is broadcast on Afterhours.FM on the 3rd Monday of the month at 8pm UK time. iDentify first started with straight up 138-140bpm banging trance in one hour, but lately I’ve began to incorporate some slower styles. I’m a massive progressive house fan so like to play some stuff that I don’t really get to play at gigs. There are a massive amount of really great prog tracks out there at the minute. I’m really seeing a resurgence in proper progressive house at the minute and, along with trance, 2016 should be a massive year for both genres.

What has been some of your DJing highlights so far?

I played two gigs in Ibiza last year for Connect. I’ve been going to Ibiza every year since 2003, so to play there in Privilege Vista and on a sunset boat party was pretty awesome. Ive always wanted to play there since the minute I first stepped foot on the island. Another was playing the closing set at Spring Fest in Dublin in 2014, after John Askew, to my hometown crowd. That was pretty special. It was supposed to finish at 3am but by the time the music stopped it was pushing on 3.30. This year I’ve got lots of amazing gigs lined-up already, which I’m very exited about.

You will be making your Trance Sanctuary debut on the 12th March. What have you heard about Trance Sanctuary and what can the crowd expect from your set?

I’ve heard to many great things about Trance Sanctuary since I’ve announced this gig, people have been telling me that it’s an insane party. Any party that goes from 3pm to 6am has got to be special and I really can’t wait to play for you guys. My set will include some new exclusives. I like to try play a lot of different styles of trance so expect some uplifting, tech, psy, classic and anything else I can throw into the mix

What are your top 5 tunes at the moment?

1. Paul Denton - 'Searching The Sky' (My new one on Subculture.)

2. Will Atkinson - 'Subconscious' (A massive track from Will yet again.)

3. Amir Hussain - 'Time Lapse' (One of Amir’s best to date for me, uplifting done perfectly.)

4. Mauro Picotto & Ricardo Ferri - 'New Time, New Place (Paul Denton Rework)' (A rework I’ve made exclusively for my sets.)

5. Matt Fax - 'Warmrider' (A stunning progressive trance track.)

What are your hopes and aims for the rest of 2016?

Basically, I’ve gone full time DJing and producing so 2016 is going to be about really pushing myself in the studio and hopefully shaking off the up-and-coming tag and establishing myself as an artist. It's lots of hard work ahead but I love a challenge.