To listen to Billy Gillies is to capture true joy, because every song he produces and DJ set he performs radiates pure passion and vibrant spirit.

 

The Northern Irishman’s blend of quirky Eurodance synths, uplifting trance grandeur and hard-hitting bass rhythms goes beyond catchy melodies and expert timing, as breakout hits “Lagoon” and “Youth” tap into the very essence of what makes a night spent on the dancefloor with your best mates such a special experience.

 

That’s why he’s earned more than 145 million views on TikTok, filled a Creamfields tent with thousands of ravers at 1 p.m. on a Sunday, and why he’s managed to get an official remix of Madison Avenue’s 1999 hit “Don’t Call Me Baby” after ripping the iconic vocal off the internet.

 

Crowds chant his name from Taiwan to Texas because Billy Gillies dares to do something different; something unique to himself. Now, Billy Gillies is the next superstar-DJ-in-the-making, poised to take over the world.

 

Billy’s musical obsession started in the 2000s when his older sister started buying Clubland compilation CDs and dating a local DJ. One night, the boyfriend came over and brought his decks, but when the couple left to go dancing, 11-year-old Billy snuck into his sister’s room and started playing with the turntables.

 

“I was like, ‘what is this music? I love this,’” he laughs. “On the Christmas list for that year was a set of decks.”

 

His mom delivered with his first set of Kam belt drives, and Billy’s been mad for mixing ever since. Each Saturday, he’d head out of the house with a five Pound note and spend it on a new record (Tiesto’s Traffic being particularly influential). In turn, he’d spend the next week learning to mix that record in and out of his steadily growing collection.

 

When he was 17, he got his first taste of true Clubland. A year underaged, he caught an hour-long bus from Belfast to Banbridge and talked his way into a club called Coach. Japanese DJ Yoji Biomehanika and the UK’s own Lisa Lashes dropped heavy hard-house records all night, and Billy started dreaming of his own chance to rock a crowd, proper.

 

He knew that if he wanted to be an in-demand DJ, he’d have to come up with some original songs. In 2011, he locked himself in his bedroom with a copy of Ableton Live and didn’t come out until he’d mastered the basic trance sound.

 

He fell in love with music production and started sending his tracks to BBC Radio 1 DJ Judge Jules, who played them on his show every Friday night. For 19-year-old Billy, there was nothing better.

 

After spending much of his 20s as a self-described “party animal,” 28-year-old Billy once again locked himself inside his bedroom and churned out a ton of original tunes. The result? A spot on the lineup of Luminosity 2019 alongside major trance legends Paul Van Dyk, Ferry Corsten, Gareth Emery and more. He played a set of all-original material, and when a recording was posted to Soundcloud, it earned more plays than any of the headliners.

 

“I’d brung a fresh sound into the trance scene,” Gillies says. “Everyone was making the same type of thing, where I just look back at my influences growing up and crammed it into the main trance style.”

 

International booking requests flooded in, sending him to Argentina to Australia—and then COVID struck. Many of his peers saw no point releasing music to a locked-down crowd, but Billy saw a chance to experiment.

 

“People need music in hard times, not just for clubs,” he says. “The music I was making around that time was proper emotional melodies, and it was resonating with everyone.”

 

He’d share each tune in a rough clip to Facebook or TikTok, and every post brought shares in the thousands. His fan base wasn’t just growing, it was ballooning, due in part not only to his masterful skills in the studio but also his effervescent personality that spills into each tune.

GRAMMY nominated DJ/Producer/Trail Runner/Taco Eater/Living in Virtual Reality and 3D. 

Follow me for live streams on Twitch https://www.twitch.tv/historyofhappyhardcore

Oi Oi I’m Ryan (HDSN). Welcome to my page. 

Here’s a little bio. 

I bought my first set of turntables at the age of 14 when I was already collecting Happy Hardcore records. DJing was one of those things that just come naturally to me. My friends were always over at my house for mixing sessions. At 16 I started playing alongside my brother and friends every fortnight at a local bar for an under 18’s night playing Happy Hardcore. Two years later, out of a thousand entrants my mix tape came top five in the ‘Ministry Of Sound DJ Of The Year’. I played a live vinyl set in Topshop situated in London’s Oxford Street, on a busy Saturday afternoon. I continued entering DJ competitions and talent nights along with a mid-week slot at a local bar. At 20, I was given full weekend residency at my local nightclub Steam, playing Old-Skool, House and Trance. In the next two years I reached the final of the ‘Young DJ Of The Year’ competitions, which were run by the Staffordshire & Cheshire’s number one radio station, Signal 1. I came out as overall winner of the competition in 2002. My prize was my first ever pair of Technics 1210’s (which I still use), mixer, flight cases and the opportunity to play a live set at Café Mambo in Ibiza. The win also landed me a set at the opening night of the Stoke club, Lomax, for the ‘Youth Upfront Awards’. I then tried to further my career by signing onto the internet DJ agencies, 'Topjox' and 'Club Dreams', sending out demos to gain recognition. In the early summer of 2004 I decide to try my luck by booking a one way ticket to Ibiza for the season. It was tough at first, but by the end of July I had a residency at the brilliant Plastik Lounge in San Antonio. After a few weeks playing with some of San An’s finest house DJ’s, I was given the chance to warm up the decks in Es Paradis funky lounge. But best of all, after weeks of trying, Alex Ellenger, who with Judge Jules ran the funky room in Eden, give me the finest two hours of my DJ career by asking me to play a set. The next year I returned to Ibiza and became one of the residents in the swanky new Hush bar in San Antonio's west end. When I came back to England I started my own night in a local bar. I then became one of the Tech-House/Hard House residents for my brother's local club night ‘Euphonic Fuzion’. 

Even though I enjoy playing many styles of dance music, I've never lost my passion for Happy Hardcore. It will forever be the biggest part of me musically and that's why I created this page. To share the love for this incredible music. 

I seriously didn’t expect quite the following on here but you guys have been absolutely amazing and I genuinely appreciate all your support, whether it be messages, comments, likes & shares. Thank you so much! 

I play Happy Hardcore, Jungle/Drum & Bass, Trance, Hard House, House, Electro & Techno and have since 1994. Expect lots of vinyl classic mixes, live sets on Twitch, mix compilations and upfront sets from these genres. Enjoy!!! 

All my mixes and ones which I have permission are available for download.

For future bookings please inbox me for details or via Facebook messenger.

Missblackpool is following