Maedbh OConnor
DJ | Producer
Maedbh OConnor is an Irish DJ and producer based in Limerick who has been active on the Irish electronic scene for many years now. Having played her way around the Ireland with residencies at Galway’s Basement Project, Limerick’s DIE party and the UK, Berlin and Ireland-based MOTZ collective, Maedbh is a real grafter who spends the majority of her time looking for tunes, mixing and producing.
Over the last couple of years, Maedbh has played an astonishing amount of support sets for artists across the board including Rebekah, Sunil Sharpe, Charlotte De Witte, Paula Temple, FJAAK, Jamie Behan, Jamaica Suk & more but also regularly plays out with local talent on the Irish circuit including Chaz Moloney, SHEE, Jon Hussey and Offtrack amongst many others. Maedbh’s sound can go anywhere and her mix for Four Four is a hat tip to her style at gigs with lots of electro and bass-heavy tracks woven between techno bangers.
Without a doubt, Maedbh’s talent comes from a well-tuned ear for music of all kinds, studying music production and heaps of experience playing out and warming up before internationally established names along with her attitude of practice, patience and a genuine love for discovering new sounds and artists.
The below image was taken last year a couple of days after Maedbh’s first festival outside of Ireland and she tells why it was a standout moment for her after a week of sunshine and little sleep…
Where was this photo taken and why did you pick it?
Croatia, Dimensions Festival 2019. What a special time! This was taken the night after the festival finished on the Tuesday evening on the beach, music was still going cos the festival was prepping for Outlook festival which was starting that week, but the only stage that was set up was the small beach stage and of course we had to soak up the last bit. We were all fairly goosed after what was a mad weekend, and the craic honestly couldn't have been better.
I picked this photo because summer is my favourite time, I'm in my happy place when I'm at any festival, and this photo really just sums up an incredible weekend with the best crew. That festival was a really sentimental one for us in particular because a few of us were playing at it for the first time, so the spirits were top, that paired with being surrounded by your best mates for the week - too much fun.
What are you listening to at the moment of if you’re still working out in the world do you have a soundtrack to accompany your journey?
Right now, like so many others, I’m completely out of all work, which has given me so much time to fire myself down a music rabbit hole - Ive honestly been listening to all sorts, and working on loads of my own projects too. Theres music being dropped from so many of my mates every day as well, the likes of Akia, 40Hurtz, Chaz Moloney, SHEE, PX Music, Offtrack, Karl Guest, Derek Carr the list goes on, have been dropping tracks super regularly and so many artists are doing live streams and posting mixes too, so it definitely keeps you in the loop. We’ve got loads of new releases coming up on our MOTZ label too, Tom Place just dropped the latest track ‘Surge’ and it’s whopper! Because we can’t run any DIE gigs for the foreseeable, we have just launched a podcast series which features weekly podcasts from different artists. It’s up and running now with the first mix from KEENAN, check it out here.
It’s definitely very weird not gigging at the moment, gigging was something that for me, was a huge anxiety reliever, so it’s hard not having gigs. On a video call the other night we actually spoke about how class it would be if somehow we could figure out how to do a virtual B2B set haha. But yeah, it’s super strange not having any upcoming gigs, or running any shows so I think giving myself projects to finish production-wise, recording mixes and running the podcast series are things that are keeping me sane.
If you're feeling overwhelmed or anxious, do you have a go to track or style of music that significantly lifts your spirits?
To be honest, if I'm feeling anxious any music will lift my spirits. If I'm feeling a bit down I love to listen old stuff from Armand Van Helden, Bicep, Floating points, Flying Lotus etc. It can go from listening to stuff like that to listening to the likes of Daniel Avery, The Prodigy, Jenson Intercepter, Carl Finlow, Anthony Rother, DYEN etc. and I absolutely love labels like 1985 and Exit Records. Listening to any of that music will always bring back memories of specific places, and that definitely grounds me.
How do you plan on celebrating once we’re out the other side?
Most definitely hugging all my family and friends! Not being able to see anyone physically throughout all this has been tough but reminding yourself that this is all temporary is key. I’m definitely going to head over to Berlin too, I was supposed to move there for a little while this summer, so would love to make that happen. Gigs, gigs, and more gigs, as much gigs as I can go to and play at, I can’t wait to be in a sweaty crowd dancing with all my mates again - tops arrrf.
Any tips on how to look after your mind and body during the slightly stressful time?
We wouldn't be human if we were positive all the time but try to keep as positive as you can and appreciate the little things every day, I think this has taught us all to do that, really. Laugh as much as you can - getting the craic is super important. I’ve recently started doing yoga every morning too and being outdoors as much I can. Use this time to try eat healthy and if you can't get outside, maybe start a project, work on a track, record a mix, listen to music, or cook some nice food. I think just keeping your mind active and establishing somewhat of a routine is important, and as I said keep reminding yourself that this is temporary.
Keep an eye out for Maedbh’s upcoming DIE podcast here and follow her below: