Irish electronic producer and DJ SIAN started along his musical journey when he was a young man in Dublin.
"I started playing out in clubs in Dublin while studying art—there was this spot called The Kitchen that was kinda legendary at the time, owned by U2—and then later living in Barcelona and Berlin, my touring became more serious and constant," he says. "I launched Octopus Recordings in 2008, that was the turning point where I decided to fully commit and build something long-term."
SIAN says that his sound is rooted in the darker side of electronic music.
"I like to push into different spaces within that," he says. "There’s always this edgy, hypnotic energy to it— sometimes more melodic, sometimes more raw and stripped back. Lately, I’ve been leaning into stuff that blends electro, dark disco, and indie vocals."
His latest release is with Hiroko on Arcane.
"We really got to flex our techno muscles and make something wild," he says. "Recently I’ve also been focused on a couple of collabs, including a project with Sacha Robotti called Third Culture. We dropped a couple EPs on Solomun’s label Diynamic, then Maceo Plex label “Lone Romantic” and recently on Realm, the label from Gorgon City."
As for gear: "For DJing, I usually roll with Pioneer CDJs, pretty standard, but I know them inside out and they’re super reliable for live shows," he says. "In the studio, I use Ableton Live as my main DAW. I love messing with analog synths too, a few favorite synths like the Moog Sub 37 and the Juno 106 always stand out. Headphones, I use the Sennheiser HD 25s — classic for a reason. For Plugins I really like Native Instruments, Devious Machines, Baby Audio and Output VSTs, these companies are making insanely original products."
Looking ahead, SIAN has plenty planned for 2025.
"After the release on Arcane with Hiroko, we are planning some b2b shows for the fall, and couple more releases together," he says. "Will be really interesting to see how this tougher edged sound will play out. I’m really toked to be on Eli Brown’s label and make more of this heavier club music!"
