2020 was a huge year for Irish producer Fallon. Having signed a major deal with Atlantic Records for his breakout hit ’Yup’, he gained worldwide support, various chart positions, and streaming numbers close to the tune of 6 million which solidified him as an exciting emerging talent of the house scene. His follow-up single ‘Whistle,’ released in late 2020, also gained masses of support and cemented Fallon’s signature sound of sample flips to club-focused hits. This unique and raw sound not only caught the ears of fans worldwide but also heavyweight DJ’s alike. These include Fisher, Chris lake & Roger Sanchez to name a few.
Fallon is also no stranger to radio support, having received spins from the likes of Mista Jam, Jax Jones, Dave Treacy, Ben Malone, and DJ SKT. These include radio stations such as BBC Radio 1, Beats 1, Kiss FM, and RTE 2FM. A testament to the wide appeal of his “club” records.
After a heavy stint in the studio during the pandemic, Fallon is now armed and set for 2021. This begins with his fourth single ‘Lose Control’ on London-based label Another Rhythm. This tune looks set to be another classic, bass-driven tune from Fallon to mark the bright summer ahead and start 2021 off, with a big statement of intent for the rest of the year.
We caught up with Fallon about his current musical projects.
Electronic Groove: Hi, Fallon, we’re excited to have you down with us for a chat. How have you been holding up? What’s the situation with the pandemic like in Ireland at the moment?
Fallon: Thank you very much for having me! I can’t complain. Obviously, the pandemic has been rough on everyone, so, overall, I think I’m doing alright! I actually live in the UK currently, so I have no idea how it’s going really but, from what friends and family say back home, it seems to be easing up a bit and vaccinations seem to be picking up, which are good news. Hopefully, I can get back for a break and to see them all this summer.
EG: So, we’d like to know more about your origins… What were your first contacts with Electronic music like? Is there a ‘go-to’ record that changed everything for you? How did you get started in the music industry?
Fallon: I guess my first contact with electronic music probably would’ve been trance and drum and bass… Tiesto, Faithless, Pendulum, among others. I wasn’t massively into trance, but I liked a few tunes and used to listen to liquid drum and bass all the time when gaming (still kind of do).
I’d say I got more deep into electronic music, specifically house, around 2013-2014, when it started to have a bit of a resurgence with that ‘deep house’ sound. The tunes that stand out to me from then are probably MK’s dub of ‘Look Right’ through… Actually, pretty much anything this artist touched was being listened to back then, to be honest. Toyboy and Robin’s ‘Jaded’ was also a huge record for me. And then, one of my favorite tunes ever, that absolutely floored me when I first heard it was ‘Starblazer’ by Deetron, that’s probably up there in my top 5 house tunes ever.
I guess I started by making really really bad beats on my laptop. I never put them anywhere; it was just a ‘for fun’ thing for me. I struggled with my mental health quite a lot for a number of years when I was younger, so a large portion of my time was spent inside my house. Producing helped with keeping me occupied and having fun/being productive. Then, gradually from there, I kept improving, always watching YouTube tutorials, reading articles, etc., until I eventually got to a stage where I was happy to release my music publicly.
I worked on some other alias that had minor success on YouTube channels, which made me feel this could be a potential career choice for me if I worked hard enough at it, and, to be honest, I didn’t want to do anything else. I think struggling with my mental health pushed me to want to do something I loved for a living. So, when I finished University, I decided to give music a proper go. I started producing under Fallon, moved to London, and just went for it, and here we are!
EG: You’ve had quite a big 2020 despite the current situation and almost no gigs. Were you expecting the success of ‘Yup’ and all that came after it? Did you have to ‘restructure’ your vision and goals?
Fallon: Yeah, the team and I have done alright all things considering! Think no gigs was a big blow cause things were really starting to ramp up in that department right before the pandemic, but sure look we’re almost back to it now! If I’m being completely honest regarding Yup’s success, no, I had no idea it would do well. I know everyone says that, but it genuinely started as a bootleg to send to DJ mates to play out in their shows and maybe do a free download on it/hope it picked up some steam in the DJ circuit.
However, I had a meeting with Billy Webber about an EP we were doing on Another Rhythm called Porro Bonito, and he asked if I had any new tunes on the go, so I played him ‘Yup’ in an East London coffee shop and he loved it. A month or two later, it was released and it just grew and grew! Before I knew it, we had some offers on the table and eventually signed with Atlantic/Asylum, who was great to work with.
Regarding my goals and vision, I believe the success of ‘Yup’ fast-tracked some of my goals/visions that I had laid out! I’m a big advocate of goals, the law of attraction, visualizing, manifesting, positive thinking, now. Might not be for everyone, but I believe 100% it works and has helped me out so much! Shoutout to Conor McGregor for getting me into the law of attraction stuff, actually! So, yeah, I’ve had big goals mapped out even before the success of ‘Yup’, so I’ve just kept working away on them since then.
COVID-19 is another story. It definitely threw an air of uncertainty around some goals of mine and life in general to be fair. I’m sure it was the same for a lot of people, but thankfully it looks like we’re coming towards the end of the pandemic, so hopefully, we can all get back to it.
EG: And now you have ‘Lose Control’ out on Another Rhythm. What’s the inspiration behind this one? According to your own words, ‘Lose Control’ was the first track I made when the lockdown was announced. Having just finished up a week of partying after the Yup signing, this track was fueled by that final week of normality before lockdown hit.’…would you mind taking us through that week?
Fallon: There was a lot going on that week. We partied for the signing with Atlantic, which was a lot of fun! I’m so grateful we were able to celebrate that just a few weeks before lockdowns started hitting. We headed to a Brits afterparty a few days, after the signing celebrations which again was a lot of fun and another excuse to celebrate ‘Yup’ with close friends. I had a bit of a down day after that, where I think I started a rough idea for ‘Lose Control’.
However, Griff, my manager, his birthday was the very next day, so we were out for that yet again! So a lot of partying, a lot of celebrations going on. I think I finally got to sit down and flesh out the idea and get it done and dusted a few days after Griff’s birthday celebrations. The track was 100% fuelled and influenced by those nights out though. A few days after all these celebrations though I fell very sick for about 3 weeks with, what in hindsight, I believe I had COVID-19 and then lockdown hit, so yea overall a very eventful few weeks surrounding this record.
“I’ve had big goals mapped out even before the success of ‘Yup’, so I’ve just kept working away on them since then!”
EG: What do you look for in a sample? What kind of sounds rings your bell?
Fallon: I honestly don’t know. I just kind of listen through tunes/acapella and something usually hits me about them or stands out to my ears!. Could be a part of the vocal, could be the whole vocal, I honestly don’t know what it is, something about it just sounds right and I feel I can do something solid with it.
EG: What’s your workflow in the studio like? Do you have some kind of basic blueprint?
Fallon: I’d like to say I do, but being honest, I don’t. I kind of just go with the flow. Whatever happens in the studio just happens. Sometimes I start with a sample, sometimes I just simply throw some sounds at my computer until something works. Sometimes I have a groove laid down and then search for a vocal, and other times it goes horribly wrong and I have to just walk away and come back another day and try again! I don’t really have a strict workflow or process or anything like that. I’m not sure if that aids me or hinders me but that’s just how I seem to operate naturally.
EG: Where do you usually get your inspiration from? And the flipping samples? Where did that come from?
Fallon: Listening to other music gets me fired up to make tunes! I would say being out in clubs/festivals, but haven’t been able to do that for a while now so, at the moment, just listening to other music is my biggest inspiration. That sample flipping started from when I first began making music. I obviously had no connections to singers or songwriters, so I just looked for acapella sounds to use and based some tunes around them. I’m also a huge fan of sampling, due to my love for hip-hop, so I think that fed into it too!
EG: What would you say makes for a good record?
Fallon: I think it’s just how it hits people. A dodgy mix can be fixed, dodgy mastering can be fixed. All these technical bits and pieces can be fixed, but if the core idea of a tune doesn’t hit someone, and I think evoke some sort of emotional response from the listener. I just don’t think people will take to it as much.
“I’m a big advocate of goals, the law of attraction, visualizing, manifesting, positive thinking”
EG: What’s in store for Fallon for the rest of 2021? What moments are you are looking forward to?
Fallon: I’m super excited to get back on a dancefloor, don’t even care if I’m DJing or not. I just want to be in a club with loud music pumpin’ into my eardrums and dancing with friends! I’m obviously also looking forward to getting behind the decks and blasting some tunes myself but, honestly, I just can’t wait for normality to return. Also looking forward to releasing more music and, hopefully, releasing it a bit more frequently this year, as for whatever reasons it’s usually months in between each of my releases, sometimes years! So gigs and more tunes I guess!
EG: Thank you for sitting down with us Fallon! We wish you all the best for the future.
Fallon: Thank you for having me! It was lovely to chat with you! Thank you very much, appreciate that! Hopefully, we’ll be back for a chat further down the line!
Fallon’s ‘Lose Control’ is out via Another Rhythm. Stream and buy here.
Follow Fallon: Facebook | Instagram | Soundcloud | Spotify.
