Irish born, Berlin based DJ/producer Gavin Herlihy has risen through the ranks faster than a Hardcore bass line. Since 2006 his profile has grown to include releases on legendary underground labels such as Cadenza, Cocoon, Buzzin Fly, Get Physical... the list goes on... He has remixed the likes of UNKLE and Dakar as well as extenively touring the worlds coolest clubs and thrilling crowds with his skill and near perfect choice of tracks. With a massively respected name in the industry as well as gaining a dedicated and musically educated fanbase that never failed to be impressed by his seemingly endless skill and passion for the scene.

Ahead of his appearance at Manchester's coolest new underground club, Area 51, that has only recently hosted the likes of Jesse Rose, M.A.N.D.Y and James Lavelle, and is pending the arrival of Steve Lawler and Felix Da Housecat next month, we caught up with Gavin to get the latest...

Hi Gavin, you’ve been DJing professionally for over 5 years now in places like Ibiza, Barcelona, Brazil, Portugal, Ireland, Miami, The Ukraine and Poland as well all around the UK. You also have an impressive number of realises under labels like Buzzin Fly and get Physical under your belt and currently hold a much sort after residency at leading Bristol underground party ‘Bump’. What was it that inspired you and how was it that you first got into DJing?

I started off my musical life as a nipper jumping around my sitting room with a tennis racket for a guitar to U2 and Thin Lizzy. Spotting a knack for music my mum sent me to a nun to be taught piano lessons who subsequently denounced me as the devil. After that it seemed a descent into dance music was only natural. But it took awhile. I played in various bands as a teenager but a visit to a festival in the UK opened my eyes to rave music at the tender age of fourteen. Small town Ireland in the early 1990s wasn’t a healthy breeding ground for dance music by any means. There were no clubs to speak of or dance music radio or magazines but I got by on a meagre diet of free party raves until moving to the UK to study at 17 just as the whole country was going superclub crazy. DJing didn’t come til much later. After the various bands I’d been in hadn’t really gone anywhere, I finished Uni determined to be a news journalist (I even interned at CNN in the States). That didn’t last long. I was asked to do some work experience at Mixmag (covering for the office manager while she went to Glastonbuyr) and that was that. I learned my trade on the office decks and started at the bottom of ladder grabbing what gigs I could in the house rooms of hard house clubs and here I am today thankfully NOT still playing the house rooms of hard house clubs.

Who were your main influences when you started out?

The Prodigy helped ease the gap between me playing in rock bands and going to raves. The first 12” I bought was a Laurent Garnier record. Ireland in the mid 1990s was quite an open minded place for quality techno so people like Garnier and Carl Cox quickly embedded in my head.

What have you been up to recently?

Working on lots of new music. Look out for new releases on Cadenza, Kindisch, Cocoon and remixes on Moodmusic, Paradigma, Fade, Bauns Music and Meerestief.

How would you describe your style?

My north pole is techno and my south pole is house! (or is that the other way round?)

What are your thoughts on the current state of the UK dance music scene?

It’s quite healthy. There’s a wave of new clubs, promoters and DJs pushing underground house and techno. Its almost like a clearing of the dead wood from the ‘superclub’ days of the 1990s. What amazes me though is that many of these same superclubs are still punting their “brands” around the world to unsuspecting countries even though they’re anything but popular back in the UK. The majors have also decided that synth pop should rule the charts which is great as it means more people tinkering with machines and that the country has gotten over this daft notion that talentless heroin addicts in skinny jeans are somehow cool.

What can the people of Manchester expect from your set you play Area 51 on April 4th?

Lots of my new productions, something old something new something borrowed something blue.

Which producers on the scene are currently doing it for you?

I’m a fan of the Frankfurt house scene and it’s constellation of satellite outposts for this sound. But I’m not one to play just loop tech house all night. So current producers doing it for me include people who sit between the two worlds, Seuil, Damian Schwartz, Julien Chaptal, Masonmenos or Livio and Roby as well as old favourites like Sneak and Garnier who’ve resurfaced to show us who the bosses really are! What makes me laugh also are people who use the word “house” to describe everything, where a year ago it was “techno” this and “techno” that. There has always been great house and always been great techno and the best DJs and producers for me are the ones who’ve always had an open ear to all styles and avoided being pigeon holed in a trend.

You’ve recently been included on Cocoon’s 10inch series which is a new series of releases composed solely of 10-inch records. The sub label is reportedly dedicated to "presenting young and promising talents within the electronic dance music scene to a wider public." How did you feel when you found out your material was going be part of this?

Moist.

How are you finding living in Berlin?

Great apart from the unending amount of dog shit that piles up on my street every day. Apart from that Berlin is a great place to be an artist or musician (in other words, skint) as you’re not constantly being choked by rent so its been the perfect place for me for the past two years to work on my production and that move is paying off now.

You been playing much over there?

Playing the Panorama Bar on Sunday afternoon was easily one of the most fulfilling sets I’ve ever played. I discovered it on my first visit to Berlin in 2004 and always wondered what it would be like to play there. I’m back at Watergate in a few weeks time and really looking forward to that as well, it’s probably my favourite club in Berlin to hang out. The smaller afterhours like Wilde Renate and Bar 25 are also fun to play.

FIND OUT MORE ABOUT GAVIN AT: myspace.com

BUY TICKETS FOR THIS EVENT AT: area51club.co.uk