Belfast DJ Pearce Kelly: "I'm in disbelief at signing to Atlantic Records - someone pinch me!"

Culture
02 Jun 23

Pearce Kelly, a talented West Belfast DJ.

The 24-year-old rising star is set to release four singles for the major international label. Kelly is "just so just excited to see what happens," he tells Hot Press.

Pearce Kelly has always been surrounded by dance music. From an early age in Belfast, Pearce's father was showing his son the best that the Irish and UK techno and trance scenes had to offer.

"My dad used to go to the likes of the Thunderdome and other venues up in North Belfast, so the influence has always been there," Pearce enthuses. "Me and my two brothers, he used to bring us up in the car and put a hard trance CD just to get us to fall asleep!"

Pearce developed a love for all things techno by the age of 12, and got his hands on his first set of decks by the age of 14, following Belfast's developing talents and learning from them.

Now, Pearce can easily claim the title of rising star himself in the DJ scene. The 24-year-old West Belfast talent is used to impressing crowds in the city's clubs, having just signed a recording deal with Atlantic Records, arguably the biggest music label in the world. Pearce was finally able to reveal the news to fans yesterday (June 1), via Instagram.

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A post shared by Pearce Kelly (@pearce.140)

The DJ was discovered by Atlantic Records from his latest hit, 'Heart Ache'. Kelly had sent the song to his friend who had in turn posted it to his Soundcloud account promoting local Belfast artists, where the song garnered thousands streams and international label attention. "Someone pinch me!" Pearce exclaimed, unable to contain the excitement before divulging the story.

"It got 50 thousand streams on Soundcloud just like that. Randomly one day, I got a DM from a fellow from Atlantic Records who said he'd 'love to chat'," Kelly recalls. "I didn't believe it at first so I had to ask other DJs and it turned out to be real. So then we got to talking about a contract."

The label deal promises to change the life of the mild mannered classroom assistant and DJ. Pearce is accustomed to getting crowds moving at popular Belfast club Thompson's Garage, where the DJ has a residency and regularly entertains the sold-out events, but now joins the ranks of global A-listers including Ed Sheeran, Bruno Mars and Coldplay following the call from Atlantic Records.

"I knew Atlantic Records, but I didn't even realise at the time who was on the label. Then I did a deep dive, and seeing the likes of Tiesto and Skrillex. Like, all these people I grew up listening to was crazy. And now I'm sitting here thinking about how I'm sort of on their level, it's mad!"

The record label deal will change the life of the part time DJ.

The label-loved track 'Heart Ache' is not officially released yet, but Pearce expects it will be available for old and new fans by the end of June. The DJ has signed a four-single deal with Atlantic, and so three more singles will follow this summer.

Pearce is excited to produce for the label seems assured that his music production will "become better, because I have the motivation and the drive to put something out".

"I'm gonna just put everything I can into it. Whereas up until maybe two years ago, I was just sort of throwing a tune together relatively quickly. Now I'm really focusing in on specifics and the quality of it, rather than just saying, 'I'll make something that my mates will like,' it's very different."

The opinions of Pearce's friends is nothing to brush off however, as the DJ revealed that in many ways, his friends inspire him more than internationally success acts. Pearce admitted that Skrillex's work has always been iconic and inspirational for him, but the local Belfast acts have had serious impact on his work.

Pearce Kelly and Andrew Cairns, fellow Belfast DJ

"The likes of Daire McGuigan, Andrew Cairns, Ethan Press, all of them are close and all inspire me more than bigger acts. The more work I can do with my friends, the better. I always said that if I never made it but my friends did, I'd still be happy."

The DJ is lucky to have surrounded himself with a supportive base of friends and family and attributes a lot of his recent good fortunes to them. "I wouldn't be me, as I am now, without those people, I'll always be forever grateful".

As well as making lifelong friends in the scene, DJing has helped Pearce to deal with anxious and depressive spells, and he admitted that music "has got him through a lot of tough times". The anxiety has not stopped Pearce from taking part in stellar performances, as he says that "as soon as I hit play on the first tune, it just all goes away. It's a sort of immediate relief."

For now, the rising electronic star is still hard at work behind the decks, and was working on Thursday evening rather than out celebrating.

"I did get Friday off of work though, so we'll see how that goes! I'm just so just excited to see what happens".

Kelly will certainly be DJ to follow in the future for any fans of techno and trance. Listen to the producer's music here.