Sound Advice: D.O.D

Join DJ/producer D.O.D on Sound Advice, the weekly interview series covering artists’ journeys and their creative process. In this episode, we discuss production, DJing, tour life, growing creative confidence, collaborations, teasing tracks on SoundCloud and more.

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Welcome to Sound Advice, the series spotlighting artists’ creative process and their SoundCloud journey. We’ll get the inside knowledge straight from the source on how musicians, producers and creatives are leaning into everything SoundCloud offers to elevate their sound, get heard and catapult their careers. Sound Advice is now available in audio format on the SoundCloud Stories profile.

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In this episode of Sound Advice, we sit down with Dan O’Donnell, better known as house music DJ and producer D.O.D. Dan started getting into house music at the age of 12 through his parents record collection. He later got his first big break in 2010 when he won a Mixmag DJ competition that landed him an Ibiza residency.

He’s been touring around the world for the last 15 years, but during the pandemic, he swapped his harder-edged EDM sound for melodic, hands-in-the-air UK house vibes, which harken back to his early days of clubbing in Manchester. He’s since created big club hits like “Still Sleepeless,” “So Much In Love” and “Somedays,” a collaboration with Sonny Fodera and Jazzy that netted him a BRIT Award nomination. 

We talk to D.O.D about the arc of his career, and he shares candid insights into the realities of the DJ/producer lifestyle, including how he maintains balance and creativity. Dan also gives advice on learning your craft, trusting your instincts and navigating the industry, and shares his strategies for teasing tracks and building anticipation on SoundCloud. Whether you’re an aspiring DJ or a fan of the music, this episode offers a behind the scenes look at the work ethic, passion and resilience required to thrive in the fast-paced world of dance music.

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LISTEN TO THE AUDIO EPISODE OF SOUND ADVICE FEATURING D.O.D

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LISTEN TO “SO MUCH IN LOVE” BY D.O.D

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Things We Talked About In This Episode of Sound Advice

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How D.O.D’s Manchester Rave Roots and the Pandemic Inspired His EDM to House Music Shift

• We begin our conversation by taking it back to D.O.D’s roots in Manchester. Growing up in the rave scene, D.O.D could feel the historical impact of his home city on dance music; from legendary clubs like the Haçienda, which brought acid house onto the world’s stage, to Sankey Soap’s, where D.O.D spent many-a-night dancing. As well as seeing legendary house acts like François K and Todd Terry perform there, D.O.D was particularly inspired by the club’s resident DJs, who honed their craft week by week. From there, he explains how he was inspired to become a DJ and producer.
• Since the very beginning of his music production journey, D.O.D has been on SoundCloud. Originally, he gravitated towards a harder dance style, releasing tracks on Laidback Luke’s Mixmash Records and touring the world performing at EDM events. Hear Laidback Luke reflect on running Mixmash Records, evolving as an artist throughout different eras of dance music and more in his installment of Sound Advice.
• For D.O.D., COVID marked a turning point in his career. When the gig circuit shut down and he had time away from his busy schedule to reflect on his sound, he came to the realization that he wasn’t making tracks that were true to him. Here, he shares how he arrived at the creative decision to start experimenting with the melodic vocal house sounds he’s known for today. Looking back, it proved to be the right move: one of the first tracks he made during this chapter, “Sleepless,” is one of his best known hits to date. 

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How to Build Your Audience on SoundCloud: D.O.D. Offers Tips for Teasing Tracks URL and IRL 

• As someone who consistently produced club-focused hits, D.O.D often tests out new and unreleased tracks on the dancefloor. For example, his unreleased track “Confession” recently debuted at Ibiza’s Pacha, becoming a highly requested ID in his sets since.
• Rinsing unreleased tracks live can be a nerve-wracking experience, though, so here, D.O.D offers advice to his fellow producers. Speaking honestly, he says that you have to really trust your gut and your own tastes — especially if the initial reception to your new track doesn’t go the way you’d hoped. 
• Some of his biggest tracks yet have debuted to “zero reaction,” he confesses, and it’s only when a track’s released online in full that the feedback becomes more full and sincere. To build your confidence, he says, tease your favorite clip of a new track online first, get feedback from your close fans and peers — then play it out. For D.O.D, it’s all about building confidence step-by-step. 
• Over the last 15 or so years, D.O.D has chosen to interact with his fanbase, drop new music and get creative feedback through SoundCloud. His use of the platform has changed over the years, he says, from sending demos and stems to collaborators, peers and fans to discovering new music through his own digging and the algorithm. 
• Today, music discovery marks his favorite use of SoundCloud. He explains how he uses the platform to discover both tracks for his DJ sets and new beats by producers that he could potentially work with. So how can a producer get D.O.D’s attention on SoundCloud? 
• Giving specific advice on this subject, D.O.D says that the best thing an up-and-coming producer can do is encourage their followers, however few or many of them there are, to use the platform’s features to amplify a track. By reposting, commenting on and downloading a track, it all pushes the track further, gains new listeners and makes your fanbase grow through organic engagement.

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Navigating the Dance Music Industry, From Healthy Tour Life to Trial and Error Studio Techniques

• Throughout his career in music, D.O.D has found that the best way to learn a craft is by doing it. Although he studied music at college, looking back, he admits that his greatest lessons have come from being active in the scene, and going through trial and error to get to his best work. Here, he shares advice on DJing, producing and building a sustainable career in dance music. 
• A blend of a strong work ethic, a thick skin to outside criticism and being able to accept rejection as a long term lesson, among others, have proved to be vital for D.O.D. Has your track been knocked back from a record label? Don’t sweat it too much, he says, speaking from his vast experiences. 
• When that happened to him, it felt personal, but looking back, he knows that it was because his tracks just weren’t good enough — yet. You get better “by doing,” he says, and that comes with time and effort spent in the studio. Here, D.O.D also gives a shout out to British house duo Disclosure. During the pandemic lockdowns, in search of inspiration, he would watch their online production tutorial videos for inspiration. 
• When it comes to maintaining a career as a touring DJ, D.O.D has learned from doing, too. Here, he speaks honestly about the ups and downs that come with touring — from going through late nights, jet lags and hangovers, to how best to keep yourself healthy, focused and in good mental health. 
• His biggest tip? Take it easy with the after parties, he says. In the long run, there’s nothing more important than your wellbeing. If you take looking after yourself seriously, you can take your craft more seriously.

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Building Momentum by Trusting Your Instincts and Finding Your Signature Production Style

• As a producer, D.O.D has released tracks with SoundCloud plays in the millions, gone platinum and charted in the UK. So how does he keep up momentum from one hit to the next? Here, he shares the story of how he was inspired to create 30 tracks in 30 days. 
• Committing to finishing a track in a single day was a challenge, he admits, but it proved to be a worthwhile exercise. By going by his gut instinct, not over-tweaking every element of the track and accepting a degree of technical imperfection as the cost of capturing the right mood, he made some of his favorite tracks and generated some fresh buzz with his fanbase. One of his biggest tracks to date, “So Much In Love,” came from this 30-day period. 
• To set himself up for production success, D.O.D shares how he likes to work on a familiar template of sounds — using samplers loaded with his favorite claps, hi-hats, kick drums and more — and freestyles the track’s structure from there. This allows him to develop a signature sound while also testing his ability to come up with new rhythms and structures. More than anything, he says, working quickly and by instinct feels best.

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Behind D.O.D’s Hit Collaborative Tracks and What’s Next In 2025

• One track that highlights this workflow is “Somedays,” his collaboration with British house act Sonny Fodera and Irish vocalist Jazzy, which went multi-platinum and was nominated for a BRIT Award. Here, D.O.D talks about how the track came together and what that experience was like to see the track take on a life of its own after its release. 
• Reflecting on other tracks that are meaningful to him, D.O.D highlights “Sleepless.” As he tells it, it’s the track that brought him out of his comfort zone, and saw him reach out to vocalists to punch up the track in instrumental form, inspired by tracks like Becky Hill’s “Gecko (Overdrive),” among others. After taking over 30 demo submissions from vocalists for “Sleepless,” he trusted his gut and chose the vocal you hear today. 
• Looking to the future, D.O.D shares his dream collaborators — Calvin Harris and Fatboy Slim — who are big inspirations for him. Now, in a deal with Armada Music, where he feels a new sense of artistic freedom, he’s looking forward to the new music he’s due to release in 2025. To hear D.O.D in action this year, you can check out his upcoming tour dates here.

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Links and Extras

Follow D.O.D’s journey on SoundCloud.
Press play on D.O.D’s breakthrough 2021 single, “Sleepless.”
Hit play on D.O.D’s 2023 hit track, “So Much In Love.”
Go back to where it all began with D.O.D’s first-ever track, “The Struggle.”
Check out D.O.D’s upcoming gig schedule and tickets here.
Explore some of D.O.D’s wide-ranging influences, including Calvin Harris, Todd Terry, Fatboy Slim, Becky Hill and François K, to name a few. 
Listen to the Ibiza Summer Anthems playlist on SoundCloud.
Never miss an episode and follow the official Sound Advice playlist on SoundCloud.

Getting The Most Out of SoundCloud

Learn more about using DMs to connect with fellow artists and potential collaborators.
Learn more about how to make a custom playlist on SoundCloud.
Learn more about unlimited uploads, available with an Artist Pro subscription.
Learn more unlocking access to unlimited distribution, available with Artist Pro.
Learn more about getting heard with SoundCloud’s updated algorithm, available to Artist and Artist Pro subscribers.

To discover additional features a SoundCloud Artist or Artist Pro subscription offers, visit here. To catch up on past installments of Sound Advice and make sure you don’t miss out on future episodes, visit here.

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_{CREDITS Host: Vivian Host, Executive Producer: Mike Spinella, Producer: KC Orcutt, Audio Engineer: David “DibS” Shackney, Coordinator: Trevor McGee, Editorial Associate: Lauren Martin}

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