While many of us were baking banana bread and enjoying Zoom quizzes, DJ Hix was building his own studio at home in an attempt to fulfill his lifelong dream of creating his own music.
The familiar voice on Cool FM and the man who has been providing the tunes in clubs up and down the country for years, is now being heard in a new way, with the release of his debut single.
Speaking to Belfast Live, Hix admits that he always wanted to produce his own music but with his busy day job, DJ sets at weekends not to mention family life, he never had the time, that was until the pandemic hit.
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"When lockdown hit and all my DJ gigs were cancelled, I suddenly had lots of free time. I was determined not to let it go to waste, and told my family that I didn’t want to come out of lockdown with nothing to show for it.
"I dabbled in production a little over the past five years, but I didn’t really have the time to give it my all, that was until lockdown arrived.
"So I created a small studio space with the sole purpose of doing something I’ve always wanted to do, treat music production like a job.
"I got up every weekday at 6am, made a coffee, and got stuck in," said Hix.
After working to perfect his tracks for a while, Hix let a 'few select people' in the industry hear his demos and he was delighted with the feedback.
It wasn't long before the A&R had Warner Records was also left highly impressed with his work that the next he knew, a contract was in front of him to sign.
"My mind is still blown about that to be honest! To release my music in any capacity is amazing, but for a major label to sign me as a new artist is truly a dream come true."
Born in London, Hix moved to Northern Ireland as a child where he grew up in the North West before moving to Belfast for University where he first started DJing and met his wife Olivia, and he hasn't looked back since.
Explaining how his single, Hold You featuring Jessica Hammond came to be, Hix said he wanted to take the Kevin Lyttle classic 'Turn Me On' and give it a brand new sound.
He said: "I had an idea to do something with the Kevin Lyttle classic “Turn Me On”. It’s a summer anthem, and sounds as good in the sunshine today as it did when it was first released. However, I didn’t want to just do a straight cover. I wanted to create a totally new song, turn it into a piano-driven dance track with fresh verses, flip it to a female vocal, but still have that iconic chorus. I created the track, and then used a rough vocal from Splice just to flesh out the demo.
"What I needed was original verses and a killer female voice, so I called Jessica [Hammond]. I’ve been a fan of hers for a long time, and I’ve played lots of her music on my radio shows, so I knew the quality she would deliver. Jessica and her writing partner Matty loved the track, rapidly turned around those amazing new verses, and Jessica absolutely nailed the vocal - she sounds amazing."
The track has gone from strength to strength since its release earning plays on the biggest stations across the country and beyond, something Hix says he still can't believe.
"It’s been mind-blowing. Getting continuous national radio plays around the UK on Captial FM and KISS is insane, and it was added straight to the Capital Dance playlist on release day.
"Locally the radio support has been huge, with Cool FM and Q Radio both adding it to their playlist. Meanwhile, in Ireland, we’ve had big support from 2FM, Spin and iRadio, who made it Track of the Month.
"Then there’s the amazing reaction it’s getting in clubs. It’s such a good feeling for me to drop my own track in my sets and see people react to it on the dancefloor. Plus I’ve been seeing videos of so many other DJs playing too, which is really cool."
"The reaction on social media has been also amazing. Seeing so many videos and stories of people listening to it at home, streaming it, singing along to it in the car it's awesome," he added.
When the dad-of-two isn't working or spending time with the family he likes to go to the gym and if you spot him out shopping he is likely adding to his ever-growing, very specific trainer collection.
"I collect Nike Air Jordan sneakers, Jordan 1s, 3s and 4s to be exact!" adds Hix.
Whilst his focus is firmly on his first single for now, Hix says there is a lot more to come from him in the future.
"There will definitely be more music. I’ve so much more to release and I can’t wait to get it out there. I tend to get laser-focused on things I’m passionate about, so there’s definitely more on the way! All in good time though, rght now it’s all about 'Hold You'.
Hold You is out now and available to stream here, you can also follow Hix on Instagram and TikTok just search 'djhix'.
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