Dance music helps Lurgan DJ Darran fight depression

Lurgan DJ Darran Heaney has discovered his passion for dance music has a ad a huge impact on his mental health and has helped him through some of the most difficult times in his life.

Darran, AKA Di-tech, recently joined a global internet radio station, Too Hot Radio, with his own show ‘Random Dance Sessions’ and is keen to get DJs and artists involved to do guest mixes for the show.

Darran has always had a love of music and was determined to make a career out of his life long passion. “From a very young age I always had quite a passion for music,” explained Darran. “I was always buying records and CDs of every genre, and using cassette tapes to tape the tracks of radio shows.

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“Growing up I would get the train down weekly to Mixmaster Records and spend a huge portion of my wages on records to take home and mix.

“As soon as I started listening to Radio One’s Essential Mixes and the big names started popping out like Judge Jules, Pete Tong, Paul Van Dyk, and Carl Cox, I was instantly hooked. I started going to the clubs to see such DJs and witness there true art for myself.

“From my school days I knew I wanted to be a DJ, then I ended up buying a set of turntables and doing it all for myself. I guess I seen the art behind the whole thing from my early days.”

Darran’s years of dedication and hard work have certainly paid off and he is thoroughly enjoying having his own show. “I got involved with the Too Hot Radio by being persistent and putting new mixes up in Mixcloud every other week,” explained Darran. “I had my own radio station which was called Lurgan Dance Radio, which was streamed from the Spreaker app. One of the owners of Too Hot Radio, Lizzy Jones, followed my shows and mixes and contacted me saying how she liked my shows and that they where looking for DJs at too hot radio,

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“Being excited I jumped at the chance. Their tech got me sorted with the streaming encoders and off I went. They are a great bunch of people to work with.”

Music has been a real lifeline for Darran over the years and has helped him through some very difficult times. “Music has really helped me with mental health issues over the years,” Darran admittted.

“I saw myself getting depressed over reoccurring tragedies in my life over the years, and especially losing my mum at such a young age, a lot has happened from then.

“I find when I’m standing behind the decks and listening to music I get lost in it. The bad memories are still there but I have learned to put them aside and focus on what I am doing. Don’t get me wrong it is hard at times, but the music always pulls me through, whether is be DJing, listening to music, or production.”

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Darran is keen to share his love of dance music and encourages young people to include music in their lives. “As always I will encourage any young people or anyone wanting to get into music to try and achieve their potential,” he said.

“There is always space on my show for anyone who wants to send over a mix. I will happily air it. It’s things like this that makes the whole thing worthwhile.

“We all have different ways of expressing ourselves through music so never let anyone tell you that you are not good enough.”

To tune into Darran’s show visit toohotradio.net or download the Too Hot Radio app.