For over a decade, the Red Bull Music Academy has nurtured and developed the very best talent that the world of dance music has to offer, providing workshops and showcases for those who believe they have what it takes to make an impact. One such DJ looking to step up to the next level is Irishman Declan Lennon, alias Krystal Klear, who should be taking his place in Madrid by the time you read this. For him, it’s the chance of a lifetime.

“I wanted to be in the Red Bull Music Academy from the minute I heard about it,” he says. “A few previous participants would be friends of mine and it just sounded like dream-come-true material, like going on The Apprentice and winning it. Some of the guys who have done it before have quoted it as being one of the best experiences of their lives. The timing couldn’t be better. You’re always learning, but I think I’m at a stage where, despite the fact that I am still learning, I’m also gaining a confidence in what I do and I think I’ll have as much to offer as other people will have to offer me.”
At just 23 years old, Lennon already has an enviable amount of experience under his belt, having grown up an acolyte of hardcore punk and metal and spending his formative years wielding a guitar, gigging around Ireland. Having flirted with more conventional fare, Lennon realised his real musical passion lay within the realms of boogie, funk and hip hop and thus, Krystal Klear was born. His sound draws, naturally enough, from his own roots. A rich assortment of old-school styles, it’s both an homage to a celebrated era and a clever embrace of classical themes in a contemporary fashion. Citing his father’s cassette collection as a tremendous early boon (“I’d always get a chance to mooch around his car and nick one”), Lennon appreciates the influence of those around him in his early days.
“A mate of mine, Olan O’Brien, runs a record shop called All City Records, and he took me theoretically under his wing and kind of put me in my place on a few things and taught me a lot about how to discover old music and the quality control about it. I fell in with a good crowd of people growing up and managed to learn a fair bit from them.”
As noted, Lennon’s style is unabashedly retro-fied. He plans to mix things up with his next release, though he remains tight-lipped for the moment. Is there a chance he might hop aboard the dubstep bandwagon? It seems unlikely, but there’s no doubting the emergence of the style. While the likes of Burial have garnered critical acclaim, there is another, arguably obnoxious aspect to the scene, currently being popularised by, among others, ex-From First To Last man Sonny Moore, better known these days as Skrillex. The 23 year-old producer has divided opinion, with some dubstep fans taking issue with his kinetic brand of sonic assault – a recent collaboration with nu-metal dinosaurs Korn hasn’t helped his cause – believing him to be effectively taking the piss out of their beloved genre. What does Declan think?
“Dubstep has been around for years,” he says. “It ain’t getting popular now, believe me. I live in Manchester and I’ve seen the rise of this sound for a long time. The problem that people have with Skrillex is that he’s created his idea of a sound and people don’t like it because it’s a derivative of something that was underground and now it’s incredibly popular. I was in America touring for about seven weeks, and jesus… if I didn’t hear enough about Skrillex, I didn’t need to hear any more, you know?
“I don’t think there’s anything wrong with what he’s doing, in a sense. I’ve met him, I’ve spoken to him, I know what he’s like as a guy just from meeting him a few times and there’s definitely no malice in him. He’s not a guy who’s trying to rinse underground subculture, he’s just a dude who is making music for whatever he feels is good or bad. Believe me, there are much worse characters in this game than him.”
So no fear of Krystal Klear becoming a slave to trends then.
“If you start concerning yourself with what’s cool now or what’s cool tomorrow, you’re really never going to be comfortable,” he stresses. “I wouldn’t be comfortable if I was waiting on the edge of the seat to find out what’s new. I know DJs that have turned to me before their sets, old-school DJs, guys who’ve been in the game for years and who know music inside and out, and they turn to me and they go, ‘You know what? Wait ‘til you see this’, and they go out there and they play records that are 25 years old and the crowd go bananas. They might be dub-influenced records or early house records, and people know the difference. Good music stands the test of time and it will always hit harder, so I wouldn’t be too concerned about what’s going to be the next hot thing.”
But what about his competition? At the Red Bull Music Academy, Lennon will work and play alongside some of the most talented DJs from around the world. While he’s relishing the prospect of getting stuck in, is there a degree of rivalry, a need to be best in show?
“I always try my best,” he says before taking a moment to consider the nature of his art. “I never find it a case where it’s particularly competitive, maybe that’s because I’m particularly confident. It’s never a case where I have to outdo the guy who played before or after me. You’ve got a crowd there, whether it’s 100 people or 2,000 people that are more important than whether or not you’re playing better tunes than the guy before or after you. As far as individuality goes, selection is key. That’s something that a lot of people in Ireland don’t take into consideration. Mixing is a huge thing too, obviously, and it’s something that I take great care with. I’m very meticulous about it, but if you can find the right balance between an amazing selection and a decent mix, you’ll always kill it.”
As he prepares to dazzle Madrid on Hallowe’en night, Lennon is quick to reiterate the importance of the audience. Having set pulses racing in both Europe and America, is there much of a difference between both sets of crowds?
“It’s phenomenally different,” he says. “Europe in general, musically, is miles ahead of America. Absolutely miles ahead. I really think that Europe is dictating things now. It’s kind of like Marty McFly with the almanac in Back To The Future. Dubstep is hitting home in America now. Guys like Skream, Benga and all those cats are making it huge out there, and they’ve been big in Europe for a long time. Hudson Mohawke too. European crowds are much more clued in to what’s occurring. That’s not to say that Americans aren’t, it’s just a lot of the music that comes out now takes a while to get over to the other side of the Atlantic.”
Despite his upbeat tone and genuine appreciation for what he has experienced so far, you get the sense that Krystal Klear is nowhere near satisfied, that there’s so much more to come from the Dublin native. He’s got the world at his fingertips. Time to make it count.

For more information on the Red Bull Music Academy, go to redbullmusicacademy.com. Keep an eye on hotpress.com for related documentaries and videos.