A Conversation With Dan McKie

Dan McKie is an eccentric, approachable and talented producer who manages to share his passion for electronica on the dance floor and in the ears of the iPhone generation with his unique/energetic blend of DJ sets. Dan is also an Ibiza, London, Barcelona & Andorra Resident that DJ’s and produces house and techno music across all of the 4×4 genres. Be it laid back beach vibes to club dance floors, Dan McKie can keep the floor busy and entertained. We at Dance Rebels also had the chance to talk music, including his recently released We Are Ibiza compilation, sacrifices, and the importance of mental health in the music industry! Check it out below:

Hey Dan, welcome to Dance Rebels, how are you? Please introduce yourself too; where are you from, and at what age did you realise music was the career you wanted? Hey Dance Rebels, Thanks for having me. Currently I am very hot and bothered in my studio, let me turn the AC on. Ahhhhh… that’s better. I am originally from Newcastle Upon Tyne, a little town called Hebburn. I have always loved music; I was a rocker from the age of 12/13 with a lot of influence from my brothers. I collected CDs, vinyls etc since I started earning money on my paper round. I sort of fell into DJing in 1997 as I would clean up after finishing my glass collecting shift in my local pub, then the Sunday night DJ, Mick O’Neill, would wander down to the next pub so I would finish the last 30 minutes for him. Then this evolved to me getting the Friday night in the pub, then the Friday, Saturday and Sunday etc as I had CDs, I could choose some good music and eventually I got more confident on the microphone. Then I DJed around Newcastle & Sunderland, all kinds of cheesey music. I wouldn’t have it any other way though as it tought me to have a good ear and how to read a dance floor. I left the cheesy DJing behind me in 2007 when I moved to London and continued to DJ with electro and house which I had gotten into since 2001 properly.

What sacrifices have you had to make en-route to pursuing a career in music full-time? How many hours a day do you have to put into music too? I still make sacrifices, it doesn’t stop. I have been so skint before living in London that I had to sell my 1210’s, Pioneer DJM 600, Pioneer CMX3000’s to pay my rent for a couple of months. That’s when I started a Label and then my own Music PR agency. I am sure I have lost girlfriends because of my obsession with my music career. My current girlfriend probably gets grief from me because of me still being on the music career path!

From the studio, what do you think your biggest hit to date is? And what releases, if any, do you have for the remainder of 2020? I still don’t feel I have had a ‘hit’. I’ve had tracks that have done well like ‘Arabic Robot (Dan McKie Fish Don’t Dance Remix’, which was on Mixmag cover CD, selected and mixed by Fatboy Slim in 2010 I believe. I have had several tracks do well since then, Beatport, Traxsource, Apple Music charting as big streams on Spotify, including a track I released with Rui Da Silva which has had well over 1.5 million streams. But even though I get the big DJ support, the streams and chart positions I still don’t feel I have had the hit that has brought me over to the ‘name’ be on people’s lips for a DJ booking, it’s a strange place to be the middle region. I am not an amateur but I am not up there too… let’s see what happens.

You recently had one of your tunes supported by Carl Cox, what advice do you have for young artists wanting to go a step further in their career and get the big names supporting their tunes? I see a lot of things online that PR agencies aren’t worth using but it’s because of having my own that Carl got this track. I know his promo person so I sent it and Carl loved it. My advice is make connections, build relationships, work with nice people, work together rather than competing against each other. The more you work regularly with people the easier it is for them to see your name and go; oh, I’ll check that out over these 1000 promos I have. And the biggest advice is… Just be nice. You can check my ‘Just the Tip’ series out on my FB, IG & YT which I give inside knowledge. 

COVID-19 is currently affecting the world unfortunately, and this has had further impact on the music industry, i.e. live events, how have you adjusted to this phase during your career? What challenges have you encountered? It’s awful. I do believe there is a virus and we need to be cautious but I also feel it’s not as deadly as it is being made out to be by all these governments. Hopefully once the vaccine is here then we can get back to some normality rather than this ‘new norm’ bullshit. As you say about life etc I’ve not had a paid gig since Feb 2020. And obviously with having lockdowns and no child care available it’s been a challenge to get things in line, finish music, schedule music, push my projects I have on going etc. 

Recently you have been highlighting the importance of maintaining good mental health as a DJ etc, do you have any regimes which help support your well-being, especially during these challenging times? I am very good at telling people to be careful and do this and do that but my regime probably isn’t for everyone. I like to have a few beers, disconnect from the music industry with my mates and talk absolute drivvle. That’s how I stay sane. I have started calling my mum & friends a lot more which also helps to have a chat, it helps the people you call and yourself. It’s the age-old slogan but ‘it’s good to talk’. I have started listening to more music and podcasts to help keep you mind distracted. Different things work for different people. I have friends who have started meditating, I have a little but not religiously, I should do it more as it is calming.

As a DJ, have you experienced any mental health episodes, and if so, what did you do to overcome them? How important is it to recognise you need support, and to embrace it too? I am very head strong so I haven’t had any mental health issues but I have had people close to me have issues and I have helped them and seen it first-hand. I know the signs and I always mention it could be depression, it could be this, that etc before the people close to me spiral out of control. I myself suffer a lot for anxiety from the constant rejection you receive in this industry they call music. I can sometimes wake up in the middle of the night doubting everything!

Do you feel artists down-play the importance of mental health, and a lot of artists who need someone to talk to, or have support from, don’t get it when needed? What do you think could be done to overcome this? I don’t think they downplay it, some cover things up with an addiction but I do believe the support is there, especially more now than say 5 years ago, but you can’t make people get the support, they have to want to get help themselves you can only suggest things and plant the seed. 

You’ve also recently released ‘We are Ibiza 2020’ recently which features multiple genres, and ample tunes, what’s a couple of your go-to tracks from this compilation? For me: Noisewall – Euforia, MJM – Trash The Disco & Alex Lucas – Feel It.But if I am honest I love all the tracks, even the ones we licensed from Nhoah, Biscits, Fanatic Funk, Jospeh Ashworth etc & the album only tracks from Dazza (which is released on it’s own in October).

Finally, once all this COVID-19 stuff is resolved, and the gigs start flowing, if you could spin ANYWHERE in the world, alongside ANY 2 other DJ’s, who would it be, and why that venue too? Hmmmm, great question. My choice would always be Space Ibiza, but that isn’t here anymore (RIP), it would be… DC10 or Berghain/Panorama Bar alongside Oscar L & KINK.

Pre-Order Dan McKie’s remix of ‘Words’ which is available October 2nd via Beatport HERE