Darran Brennan (aka Tilersun and formerly EDM producer, Demon Groove) is a singer-songwriter and music producer from Dublin, Ireland.
In September 2011 I signed my EP to Frederik Olufsen’s (of the Bang and Olufsen family) label, Royal Fetish Recordings under the moniker Demon Groove. Between 2011 and 2015 I released eleven EDM face mashers through the coolest indie labels around, including Adapted Records and Tasty Records.
Serving up bangers lost its appeal when the EDM scene devolved into fan-service for teenage boys playing video games and mollied-up ravers who put their hands up for anything remotely energetic. Determined to remain authentic as an artist, (yeser, EDM has [had] depth), I went travelling for 6 months. I crossed the Swizz Alps by bike and lived for 3 months on a remote Thai Island. During this time I wrote songs on a borrowed ukulele each night on my balcony.
After gigging around Dublin and some busking on th city streets, many new songs began to formulate. I was less drawn to connecting with music fans sonically and it became about the lyrics. Deeply, I felt the music that resonated the most with me had powerful stories withing the structure of the songs.
Completly subconsciously, I employed a fall-and-catch idea when writing lyrics, something I developed thorough writing novels, which entails taking the listener to one place, making them assume something sociological or political (or both) and then taking it to somewhere else less chaotic. This is my natural being, a problem solver and a mediator. I want the listener to return to a grounded place of common sense, harmony and peace—that what all great music should do!
The vibe that came through travelling developed by playing the songs live around Dublin. The pandeminc threw the proverbial spanner in the works, however, just as I was reaching a level of comfort in front of a live audience, which wasn’t helped by writing three novels, which I have obsessed over editing. I finally finished in 2 of them in 2023 (I say that but…) and that’s also in the pipeline.
The 40+ songs I recorded, another perk of the pandemic ready to f(%!n& rock.
