Ahead of her AVA Festival appearance, we catch up with Caoimhe
Caoimhe took the DJ world by storm in 2019 when she won three major competitions in quick succession – a Breezeblock event to support Octo Octa, the AVA Festival ‘Emerging DJ’ contest, and a Mixmag x Coors Light DJ competition.
While the pandemic put things on ice for a couple of years, the Antrim native has resumed her meteoric rise since restrictions eased, with recent appearances at Shine and Jika Jika paving the way for her forthcoming appearance at AVA Festival and a busy summer ahead.
She’s also testing out her production skills at present; given her broad style that incorporates house, acid, electro and techno, we can’t wait to hear what she comes up with.
Ahead of her appearance on Friday 3 June at AVA in Belfast, 909originals caught up with her. Also check out our recent pre-festival interviews with Carlton Doom and Mark Blair.
Hi Caoimhe, thanks for talking to us. What are you working on at the moment?
At the moment I’m working my way through a crash course in Ableton, through the Elevator programme.
It’s three years since you won the AVA Emerging DJ competition and the Mixmag x Coors Light DJ Academy contest – I guess with the pandemic/lockdown your career to date has had ups and downs since?
More ups though, hopefully. It was a little bit strange for me, as before lockdown was when I was just really starting to get out there. I felt that I would have to start from the beginning when everything opened back up again but I was blown away by the support I’ve received.
I guess at times I look at lockdown as a blessing in disguise, as I kept DJing actively on online streams and spent the time honing my craft even further. I really feel I am starting to reap the rewards of my hard work.
Post-pandemic, do you think that the club scene in the North is in a good place? Is there anything different about the scene now, compared to the way it was before?
I feel like the North in general for clubbing is unlike any other place in the world. Everyone knows how friendly and open-minded people from here are. Any guest artist who comes here to play is welcomed with open arms. Where else would you get these sort of ‘yeoos?’
One thing that is different about the scene now, which I have seen a lot of people mentioning – not just within our local scene – is the slow ticket sales. A lot of people are waiting until the last minute to buy tickets to events. This could be due to the uncertainty of everything over the last two years and not knowing whether or not we will be actually able to attend these events.
Your DJ sets are a blend of jacking house, acid, electro… would it be fair to say that you like to keep things interesting with your sets?
For sure. I never like to play just one genre when I DJ, however I believe the music I play reflects my personality happy and full of character. I feel like when I’m DJing there needs to be a blend between an education in new music and playing what the crowd know to love.
You recently started getting into production – any releases on the horizon? What sort of style are you developing?
I have nothing planned for release just now. At the moment I am working on finding my own sound. Currently the music I have been making is completely different to the music I would play when I DJ.
I’m riding the experimental wave at the moment and have been creating music which is less DJ-friendly, however that could change, depending how I’m feeling when I sit down to be creative.
What can we expect from you at AVA, and what does the rest of the year have in store for you?
I will be playing quite early at the festival and although there is a little more leeway to play whatever you like at a festival than if you were to warm up for someone in a club, I will still respect whoever is coming on to play after me. So expect some uplifting house grooves to get the party started, with maybe a little curve ball thrown in for good measure. 🙂
Caoimhe plays Friday 3 June at AVA Festival. More information can be found here.
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