Last month, blk performed his biggest show to date: the coveted St Patrick’s Day shift at 3Arena, Dublin’s 13,000-capacity indoor amphitheatre. BICEP made history there in 2023, when they became the first Irish DJs to headline the Dublin Docklands venue. Now blk has made his mark as the first solo Irish DJ to take that spot. After a year of many milestones, including a headline slot at Creamfields and a debut residency in Ibiza, this moment feels particularly sweet: ‘one that will live with me forever,’ he admits. 

It’s been a big jump for blk who, before he was packing out supersized arenas, grew up in Tipperary Town, the sleepy Irish settlement whose population could fit into the 3Arena twice over. ‘There weren’t really any clubs, any record stores, anything to get some inspiration from,’ he says. ‘The closest club would have been in Limerick, where I’m living now. Still, we only have two clubs that play dance music.’

Blk had to make his early musical discoveries by unearthing techno tracks on YouTube and SoundCloud and swapping them at mates’ houses. When it came to his first clubbing experience, he wasn’t even sure he would like it. ‘I suffer with social anxiety, which is weird because my job entails playing for crowds,’ he says. A trip to Limerick with his brother to see Boots & Kats changed his mind. ‘That whole experience locked me in it. I loved the whole community there in the club and the loud, loud music.’ But the transition from smalltown clubs to massive stages proved more difficult. ‘Pre going on the stage, it was sheer anxiety and nerves, sick to my stomach; but it’s made my social anxiety a lot less, being able to conquer these things and play shows in front of thousands of people.’

One artist who has shared a similar trajectory is Ben Hemsley, the British darling of trance music. ‘When I was blowing up, he was blowing up in the UK,’ says blk, which led to a natural kinship between the two DJs. ‘Ben has always liked the harder stuff, as well as the trance he makes. He messaged me saying he really liked my stuff.’ Their bond has even extended to making music, though nothing has reached the studio yet. ‘It’s nice to get into someone else’s head and see how they work,’ says blk, who has enjoyed several collaborations of late, not least ‘Parasomnia’, the eerie techno banger he released with Circo earlier this year. ‘They have their sound down to a tee. It’s really emotional, a lot of melodic-style hard techno. It’s inspired me to be more broad with my music.’

That musical journey continues with blk’s new label, luvs.u, which launches this month with a debut of his alias, DJ Too Quick To Groove. He’s also jumping back into the DJ booth, after taking time out to recuperate. ‘Once I played my first show, I remember saying to myself that I felt like I needed it. I needed that release of energy in that place with my favourite people.’ Up next is a return to Australia and his first ever American dates, but the main event for blk is a digital native’s dream. ‘At the end of the year we have Boiler Room. That’s the last one on the bucket list to tick off. I can die happy once that’s done.’
Blk plays various nights across the UK, Friday 5 April–Saturday 24 August.