Ciaran McAuley

Introducing Ciaran McAuley: These days as a standalone Producer/DJ and formerly as one half of renowned trance duo Walsh & McAuley, Ciaran (pronounced Kier-ron) McAuley has been responsible for some of the most scene-seizing music to arrive in the last half decade. Now among the brightest emeralds in Ireland’s rich trance history, he’s one of his country’s much-vaunted new breed of trance producer. Alongside his own estimable discography, he’s worked on the music of established scene legends, handled the vocals of some of its most revered singer-songwriters and recorded/remixed for a near Who’s Who of its vanguard labels (Armada, Black Hole and VANDIT among them). Most recently he signed his debut solo single (‘It Doesn’t Rain Forever’) to Giuseppe Ottaviani’s GO On Air Recordings label. Behind the decks he’s transfixed audiences with his inimitable tune selection, fluid, pinpoint mixing and highly evident crowd connection. He’s thrilled fans, drawn substantial praise from fellow DJs, producers and the media alike and now, as a solo artist, is poised to warp through trance’s ranks once again. Production story: Following a raft of initial singles throughout ’07 and ’08, it was the arrival of ‘Sea of Lights’ the following year - released on Roger Shah’s Magic Island label - that firmly established Ciaran McAuley and then-partner Marc Walsh on trance’s lovers radar. The demo of ‘Beyond Belief’ brought them to the attention of Solarstone, who signed the EP to his Crashing Waves imprint. This, in turn, prompted a collaborative outing with Giuseppe Ottaviani and vocalist Emma Lock on ‘Ready’, which the quartet signed to Paul van Dyk’s VANDIT Records. With the sound evermore locked to the purer end of trance’s dial, W&M were signed to Solarstone’s Touchstone Recordings – part of the Black Hole Recordings group. The partnership with the label quickly bore fruit and in just two years delivered a clutch of Touchstone releases to club floors. Included among them have been ‘Someday’, ‘Ashgrove Throne’ and ‘In This Light’. Perhaps most notably it generated the club hit ‘Sail On The Waves’, which featured the distinctive vocals of American singer David Berkley. The track became a download chart hit and a 9.5/10 Tune of the Month in the UK’s DJ Mag. In their review, the publication said ‘Sail’ delivered on “lump-in-the-throat key changes”, had “folk-ish vocals & intelligent lyrics” and praised the track’s uplift, saying it went “airborne inside its first minute!” As a remixer, his and Marc’s list of remix credits includes many of trance music’s hierarchy. Among them have been reworks of releases by Chicane, Solarstone, Giuseppe Ottaviani, Filo & Peri, Andain, Josh Gabriel and Kyau & Albert. They’ve also worked with vocalists that include Grammy nominated singer Nadia Ali, fellow Ireland-er Audrey ‘Big Skies’ Gallagher, Sarah Lynn and, on ‘Sea of Lights’, Antonia Lucas. Most recently he’s reworked TaxiGirl (aka Jes ‘As The Rush Comes’ Brieden)’s ‘High Glow’ and ‘Eugina’ by preeminent trance outfit Salt Tank Behind the decks: Ciaran made his name as the proverbial local hero DJ, holding longstanding residencies with Irish clubbing bastion Lush, as well as the Transmission nights at Shine. These have seen him share deck duties with luminaries such as Above & Beyond, Markus Schulz and numerous others. Of late Ciaran’s deck-based activities have begun to take him further afield, and has seen him play support for recent tours by Gareth Emery (on the Drive Tour) and Dash Berlin. Future Perfect: Recently embarking on a solo career, Ciaran’s maintains the melodic, intuitive heartfelt melodies of his McAuley/Walsh years, but now brought to floors with a clubbier, more forceful drive. This has brought his music ever more closely into line with the output of labels like Solarstone’s Pure Trance, Aly & Fila’s Future Sound of Egypt and the GO On Air imprint. It’s with the latter that his first solo single ‘It Doesn’t Rain Forever’ was released in October of 2014.