Mount Temple DJ to play at famous festival
James Clavin from Mount Temple will be DJing at the famous Tomorrowland Winter festival in the French Alps this weekend.
James (21) is set to play on three stages across three days of the event which showcases the best electronic artists. He will be playing mainly tech house music at the festival which is his main genre of choice.
Speaking about how he made the lineup for the popular festival, James said he got talking to the organisers of the event last year. “Then this year, around January, they got in contact again looking for me to send over some of my work. I sent one over (mix of work) and they got back to me a few weeks later with the three dates that they'd like me to play."
James is currently based in Val Thorens, France, and DJs at Klub Summit night club. He first started DJing around Christmas 2020. “I had no idea what I wanted for Christmas and I was looking on the internet at stuff to get. I've always been into music and then just stumbled across a really small DJ controller. I just fell in love (with DJing) and then just kept going.”
The young DJ's first gig was playing at a friend's 18th birthday party on New Year's Eve 2020.
The former Moate Community School student said it took about six months of teaching himself through YouTube videos before he was able to start releasing his own mixes on SoundCloud and started looking for gigs.
James said: “I took the chance to move to France and do it (DJ) in the Alps. The opportunities out here are a lot more vast than in Ireland.” He added that he is inspired a lot by English DJ James Hype when he first started. “Once I got (the controller) I came across James Hype on YouTube. He definitely inspired me to keep going and learn because of what he can do.”
James has had the opportunity to meet some of the big names in the industry: “I played at the Martin Garrix after party (JBL Snow Party) and got to meet Martin after that. I was playing at the Abode On the Snow Festival as well.” James has also had the opportunity to play support for acts such as George Mensah and Redlight.
In terms of future goals, James said he would like to grow his music and be able to earn a living. “I definitely want to knuckle down on my own music and get more music out there.”
James will be playing at Tomorrowland Festival on the L’ Aventure stage on Sunday, March 19, on the VUSE stage on Tuesday, March 21 and on the BRASA stage on Friday, March 24. He can be found on YouTube, SoundCloud and Spotify @James Clav.
James is the son of Mags and Hugh Clavin from Mount Temple and Ballymore.