As a youngster, the boy was big into electronic music, growing up listening to bands like The Fine Young Cannibals, Prince, D:Ream, Pink Floyd and Talking Heads. “Eventually, I moved onto more underground stuff when I was about 14 or so,” he explains. “So I bought some fake ID and was a regular clubber at Lush! In Ireland!”
There, he saw acts like Sasha, Nick Warren and Deep Dish on a weekly basis. “The music became an addiction to me! I can remember going to the club even on the nights when my friends didn’t want to come and having some of the best nights of my life engrossed in this amazing music.”
Genre wise, it’s hard to define him too. “My sound has always been of a progressive theme and by progressive I do not mean the tripe that Beatport call progressive,” chimes the lad. “What I’m trying to say is that I always aim to play and make music that is very futuristic and constantly push new ideas and sounds. All types of music have hugely influenced me.”
He goes on to outline that lately too, he has been listening to lots of classical, folk, jazz and ‘80s themed synth-music. “Going through my iPod shuffle to check what I am listening to right now, there is Bob Dylan, Eddie Vedder, Polpette, Joash, Portishead, The XX, Bon Iver, Mitch Murder, Of Monsters And Men and Chemical Brothers.” There is more too, but this paints the picture.
As for the studio, Dougherty suggests that he has a bunch of new tracks nearly finished up with a real desire to test them out for the first time. “I’m working on a new bootleg too which I hope to have finished in time for the gig. Apart from that, I don’t have a clue what style I’m going for when I play in Australia. Basically, just good futuristic, forward-thinking electronic music that stands out a bit. There are a lot of fantastic tracks out there right now from peeps like PHM, Lanny May, Of Norway, Smak, Moodwax, Spada and Ian O’Donovan to name a few.
“My studio projects have also been going great lately. David Young and I have a large bag of tracks ready for release. With Ciara and I backpacking all year, I have been on some long bus and train journeys, which has given me plenty of time and inspiration to write new tracks and ideas! I am still working regularly with David on all new stuff right now. We have a very bromantic relationship and talk nearly every day and share ideas regularly. We have a bunch of EP’s due in the next month on Paradigma, Manual, Flow and we are also working on a remix for Dave Seaman which is coming along really well and we have just signed a track for the official Kazantip album which is very exciting too.”
Describing his happiest moments on the stage, Dougherty is also about taking the punters on bit of a journey – and he is equally excited about others who play his tunes. “It’s a fantastic feeling to have your favorite DJs playing your music, I mean it really is. It’s hard for anything to compare to that feeling, especially if you are in the club when it happens. I have always had set goals, many of which I have achieved, but I think it’s the same story for most DJs – you always wish for more.
“I want my productions to be better than what they are, I want to have a bigger and better studio, I want to DJ at Space, I want to travel more, I want to have a pet German Shepherd called Jack, I want to drive a nice car, I want to do a Lost tour in Hawaii. All of these things may come; they may not, but I’ll keep trying to tick them off the almighty list!”
And you can’t hold that against a man now, can you?
BY RK
