After touring Ireland and getting a track signed to Universal, DJ and producer RobbieG was forced to reset and rediscover his sound.
The Irish artist, who is one half of chart sensations Belters Only, spoke to That DJ Podcast about his career to date.
“At the time I was getting a bit of fame, not fame, but I was getting coverage from my remixes and official remixes and I kind of got known as a remixer and I didn’t really like that,” he said.
“I was like, it’s time to start releasing singles and showing people that I can do my own stuff too.
“So two years went by and I kind of went through a block. From 2018 back to 2016 were probably the three biggest years so far in my career, because I played the likes of Electric Picnic over in Ireland, which is one of the national festivals.
“I played that three years in a row, I played Longitude and I actually played Creamfields in 2018.
“I played Electric Picnic in September that year and after that things started to die off a little bit, not in terms of gigs but I started to think to myself, right, I don’t want to just live off this one track for the rest of my life.
“I need to kind of take a break from gigging and try and find my sound again. And only maybe in December last year (2020) I kind of started to find my comfort again in music.
“Because what happened was the scene kind of matured over in Ireland, like most people that listened to my stuff when they were 16 and 17 started listening to techno and tech house and they kind of matured with their sound.
“They say Ireland are the best fans in the world, but they’re the most judgmental fans in the world as well.
“Like they’re very bitter. If they don’t like something they let it be known. I tried to adapt to certain styles of music in Dublin.
“Because of the journey I went through of making a big track, everyone knew me as that. I had to try. I felt like I needed to kind of stay relevant in a way.
“So I kind of ran off with the music I was making, I wasn’t making music for me anymore. I was making music to, like I say, stay relevant.
“So I went through a phase like that for a while and I kind of got down in the dumps a bit because I was I wasn’t expressing myself like I was before with music and naturally just making what I wanted to make and making it for myself.
“So I kind of broke out of that, like I said, last December (2020). Since last December (2020) and through this pandemic and stuff, a lot of things happened.
“Like the pandemic is probably the best thing that ever happened to me in a way because it’s given me a chance to shut off and reset and make things for myself. At the moment I’m making more music than I’ve ever made, and I’m not second-guessing the music that I’m making now.
“There’s a lot of singles on the way, so yeah, like. The things that have happened in the past have put me where I am now.
“Very grateful and ready to kick on now.”
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