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DJ Mag Top100 DJs
82
John O'Callaghan
| RE-ENTRY

It has been “an incredibly busy year for touring” for trance heavyweight John O’Callaghan. As the Irish DJ and producer points out, “there are so many events worldwide now for trance, and it’s growing rapidly”. For O’Callaghan, this has meant touring his Subculture shows (O’Callaghan’s radio show and compilation series, which grew into a label and events brand) to Australia, Argentina, the US and Europe.
One Subculture event also provided O’Callaghan with his most memorable moment of 2013. 


“Our recent Subculture event in Argentina, where we had over 8,000 passionate clubbers dancing until the sun came up, was a massive milestone. They are the moments you don’t forget.” 
But amongst a gruelling touring schedule, O’Callaghan — who describes his sound as “genuine trance, with melody and emotion, mixed with tech trance influences” — also found time to hit the studio. “

I had a bunch of remixes, and I’m saving the originals for a possible new album. I made a lot of exclusive versions of other tracks for my sets too, which helps to set yourself apart as a DJ.”
O’Callaghan has enjoyed 2013 for several reasons, the main one being the opportunity it gave him to keep playing for his legions of loyal fans around the globe. “Musically, it has been a pleasure to play to the people that come to my gigs, because there is such a high chance now that people could sway to the other styles of ‘music’ that is rammed down necks worldwide, so there is a huge feeling of appreciation in terms of seeing that dedication and love for real trance itself.

Also I have accumulated more air miles in 2013 than any other year, so I think it was a good one!” 
Being an integral part of the trance scene, it’s encouraging to note that O’Callaghan sees the genre as having been “very healthy” over the year, with more to come in 2014, he says. “Watch and see how many people come back to trance in 2014.”