The Goo 1
Feature SARAH O’SULLIVAN JOHN GIBBONS The sixteen
-time platinum-selling artist made his breakthrough in 2015 with his single ‘Your Love’ which he followed up with his 2016 smash hit ‘Would I Lie To You’. 2017 saw the release of ‘P.Y.T (Pretty Young Thing)’ which featured Michael Jackson’s iconic vocal line. The track catapulted into the charts and earned John his first official Gold certification in Australia and the UK while achieving Triple-Platinum status in Ireland. I caught up with John ahead of his headline gig in the 3Olympia to chat about his recent track ‘All I Need’, working with LYRA, his humble beginnings as a commercial DJ and his recent signing with Sony. John grew up surrounded by a multitude of genres and “the radio was always on at home”. His parents engulfed him in music from all the greats from Queen to Fleetwood Mac to Tracey Chapman to Bowie. It was “as far away from dance music as you could possibly imagine”. When dance music moved into the mainstream tracks like “Rhythm is a Dancer” and “Sash!” by Encore Une Fois d grabbed John’s attention. He knew then that he “wanted to be around that music all the time.” John laughs “In school, I was always in bands but a couple of my mates got decks and I was fascinated by how badly they put the music together.” John was a representative on his school’s council. They were tasked with organising everything from quizzes to discos. His first gig came about by accident when the DJ for a dance let them down before a gig. “I had a big music collection as I used to work in a music shop in Carlow on the weekends. I said feck it and I pretended I was able to DJ.” This was a pivotal moment in John’s life as it showed him how people react to music and the important role of the DJ. “I will never forget looking down at the school in front of me and the buzz I got from interacting through music with them, and straight away PAGE 28 Carlow man, John Gibbons has solidified himself as a heavyweight DJ and producer in the dance music scene worldwide... I started doing parties and graduated to 21st and weddings and then started getting paid for gigs” John began playing commercial gigs and weddings when he was really young. John reminisces “I was still being driven to gigs by my Dad, god love him!” John has come a long way since then and recently signed a contract with Sony. He says the contract “feels like a new beginning. I have a new lease of life in terms of what I feel can be released. It all makes logical, musical sense. There was a certain direction that I always wanted to go and I feel now that I have the team on board it will hopefully lead to further success.” With a packed calendar of events, John has enjoyed a summer consisting of festivals and sold-out gigs including recent festivals Indiependence and Longitude. He pens his success in being able to understand what DJing is as opposed to just playing tracks. “For me, DJing is not necessarily about mixing tracks. The technical skill is great and can elevate a DJ to a certain level. For me, it’s about getting a feel for the audience. It’s about getting on the same wavelength and moving with them.” With all those sold-out shows around the world, John is clearly doing something right. When building his sets he “will never go into a set pre-planned ever, ever, ever. I will know there will be certain tracks I am going to play but you never know what will happen within a crowd. You don’t know who’s going to be there or what they’re into. Adaptability is key for me. I always play my own tracks and a few big ones, but it is really about understanding a crowd. It becomes second nature.” From John’s background in commercial gigs, he learned how to work crowds of any age and believes “If you can rock a crowd like that you can certainly rock a crowd that come to specifically hear your music.”