DAIRE - The Belfast DJ who dreamed of the big stage

DAIRE is supporting Scooter and Ben Nicky at Belsonic in Belfast's Ormeau Park

If you haven't heard people talking about DAIRE, you probably will have after this year.

DAIRE is a DJ and producer from Belfast.

His high-octane dance music has millions of streams.

He has a massive Saturday night planned at Belsonic, where he is supporting Scooter and Ben Nicky.

And if that wasn't enough to impress, he is playing the SSE Arena Belfast in October.

Oh and he's only 25 years old.

Crowds of thousands attend Belsonic concerts every year in Belfast

DAIRE has been to Belsonic before, even going to see Ben Nicky in previous years.

And when asked if when he was in the crowd, did he think he would be supporting Ben Nicky one day he says: "Without sounding arrogant, I always had self belief in myself that one day I could be standing on that stage.

"I was looking up there and dreaming 'I want a bit of that'".

And, well, he wasn't wrong.

Saturday's Belsonic will see DAIRE, Ben Nicky and Scooter take to the stage at Ormeau Park, Belfast.

'Mate, of course I do'

The Belfast DJ says it came about from a phone call.

"Ben Nicky just, actually, rang me one day and just asked me did I want to play Belsonic. And, I was like mate of course I do. Don't be asking me silly questions."

DAIRE says he's really looking forward to Belsonic.

He says Belfast crowds are probably "number one" for him but, he says, that could be because he is "a home boy as well".

He says he doesn't really prepare too much, because he can read the crowds well.

So depending on where he is playing, what he plays changes a bit. For example, he says what he plays in Europe is "more techno-based".

'When you're a child and you're not allowed to have something - you have to have it'

It's been a lifelong dream for DAIRE.

He says that he grew up listening to dance music around the house and has always been obsessed.

"My uncle had decks and I was never allowed to touch them as a kid.

"That just grew, the want to get them. You know what it's like when you're a child and you're not allowed to have something - you have to have it."

But at eight years old, he got his first decks.

And since then, he says his success has been "mind-blowing".

DAIRE got his first decks when he was just eight years old

DAIRE describes how the first show he ever went to in Belfast was Hardwell in the SSE.

He recalls "standing there being like how do I get up there".

"It was everything I ever wanted to do".

DAIRE says he still can't believe it and that it still "doesn't really sink in yet".

And whilst music has been a lifelong interest for him, his success has come quickly.

Just last summer, he went from full time work as a fibre engineer to part time.

And by the end of September, he left his job.

He then announced two shows at the new venue the Telegraph Building in Belfast, which sold out in what he calls "record time".

'Everything I've dreamt of'

When asked about how he felt when that happened, he said: "Me with my head in my pillow crying my eyes out. I was just like this is crazy...everything I've dreamt of as a kid growing up".

DAIRE is extremely thankful for his fans, saying: "The support I have in Belfast is next to nothing.

"I can't even put into words how grateful I am".

DAIRE got his first decks when he was just eight years old

Social media has been a big part of DAIRE's success.

He says it's given him a platform and "allowed people to see him as a person".

"Just me being DAIRE on social media has helped my growth massively," he says.

But despite being so successful, DAIRE says he gets nervous performing.

"More now than ever, I have started to get more nervous because most of the shows I'm doing now, I'm the headline act.

"It's a bit nerve-wracking knowing people have came to see you and spend money on you."

And when it comes to what's next, DAIRE says hopefully "I'll be doing my own Belsonic".