Phil Kieran Interview: The Techno City

Belfast born and bred, Phil Kieran is testament to the city's long-established and consistently-thriving techno scene. With releases on Cocoon, Electric Deluxe and his own self-titled label, he's more than earned his stripes in the production department over the course of his career. 

He has worked with a big cluster of top musicians and DJs including Peter Hook, Gary Numan, Green Velvet, Speedy J and David Holmes, and was even hand picked by Martin Gore to remix Depeche Mode's 'Sweetest Perfection'.

Kieran's sets are as slick as his tracks, conscientiousness and well-structured, he works to the best of his abilities to bring crowds a selection of raw, funky techno tracks they could never possibly be disappointed with (take a listen to his set from Space Ibiza below).

We caught up with the prolific producer to find out more about Belfast and its homegrown talent, plus his own gigs and plans for the upcoming year.

Hi Phil. We're talking to you ahead of this year's AVA festival in Belfast. Are you looking forward to the event, and how good is it for conferences and clubbing to combine to help nurture the scene? 

Of course I’m looking forward to the event. I’m not sure I can give you a straight answer on how good it is to combine conferences and clubbing but I’m a creative person, I make music I love and DJ the music I love - they are my only real goals. Anything that's pro-active and motivates people to head in the direction they want to go can only be a good thing. 

Everything from being a sound engineer to sorting good visuals is important for a quality event so I guess something like this can bring like-minded people together.

You grew up in and still live in Belfast, and famously held a long standing residency at Shine. Jika Jika is doing well there today, and the lineage of the city's electronic history goes back to David Holmes and more in the nineties. What is it about the city that creates such a good environment for clubbing and dance music?

It's always primarily been a techno city, our history is punk rock and techno really. I know things change over the years and we've listened to house, drum n bass, dubstep or whatever but techno has always been the strongest genre. 

What three things would you tell anyone visiting the city for the first time for AVA Festival to do whilst they're there?

There's some good places to eat now. It's a friendly place as long as you find the right pubs and places to go, it's always good to get some advice from somebody that lives in Belfast with a decent taste when it comes to bars.

In regards to music and bar culture maybe take a trip to St George's market on a Friday morning, visit the city hall. You're best heading to the Cathedral Quarter - that's the best for bars and restaurants. 

Are there any younger artists that are emerging in Belfast at the moment that you particularly rate?

I’m working with a guy called Koichi who makes techno and I've also been working with a girl called Jess Brien in the studio, she has an amazing voice.

We've also noticed an Easter gig for 303 in Liverpool. you used to play for Bugged Out there right? What's your relationship been like with the city over the years?

Yeah, I used to love doing the Bugged Out gigs. That was quite a long time ago now but I have great memories of playing in Liverpool, really looking forward to the 303 gig. 

What other key gigs have you got on the horizon?

I've just been asked to support the Chemical Brothers in Belfast, and I will be heading to the U.S. in May for a small tour then Australia after that.

Moving onto productions, what can you let us in on that is forthcoming for you? And are we going to see new music on your PKR imprint this year?

My release on Turbo is coming out on 25th March then I have a track due out on ULTRAMAJIC at the end of April. There are some bigger things lined up but I can’t talk about it right now. I plan to get some more things out on my own label eventually, it's been a bit slow but there's just a lot of stuff in the pipeline with other labels and I don’t want to over do it. 

What are the main pros and cons of running your own label? 

The pros are releasing anything you want and having full creative control, and the cons are investing too much money in a release and not seeing any returns. 

If we could give you the power to create your ultimate Belfast-based party and nothing is out of the question, where would it take place and who would join you on the line up? 

I started a night called Anon and the plan was to use places never used for a gig before, but its just really tricky finding the right spot.

I guess I would just do an amplified version of this in some random amazing spot. It would be great to do a massive rave on the Giant's Causeway on a really sunny day watching the sun go down, the only problem is it's always so cold there so I'm not sure it would ever work. 

Catch Phil Kieran at AVA Festival on Saturday 4th June.

Or see him in Liverpool for 303 with Dave Clarke, Speedy J and Mr. C. Tickets available from the box below.

Tickets are no longer available for this event