From Sligo To Berlin, Spray Is Redefining the Dance Floor

Spray not just a producer and DJ, he’s also the founder of Punctuality, a label that champions transparency, emerging artists, and the DIY spirit. We caught up with him fresh off his residency at Dublin’s beloved Yamamori Tengu to talk about the journey from rural Ireland to Berlin’s dancefloors, the roots of his signature sound, and why his track Where Are You still gets sung back to him from in front of the decks.

Spray’s new single ‘Sunscreen’ is out today.

Q:How was it being back in Ireland for your Tengu residency?
Spray: I felt really honoured to do a residency at Tengu. It’s my favourite club in Dublin, the people who run it are lovely, and the crowd it brings is great. The bookings there are top notch, super diverse range of sounds so the crowd is open to different sounds. The team that run the place are all legends. 

Q: I know you’ve never lived in Dublin, and moved straight from Sligo to Berlin. Could you talk a bit about how that happened?
Spray: I finished school in Sligo and then went to Derry for a year to do a music course—it was kind of a fallback, because I failed my Leaving Cert and couldn’t get into university. But it gave me a full year to make music every day. I was living with a friend, and we were just doing music all day and I never really went into college.

After that, I moved back to Sligo. A friend who’d moved to Berlin came home for Christmas and said, “You should move to Berlin,” and I thought, “OK, cool.” I didn’t need much convincing. All my friends had gone off to college, and I was kind of ready to try something new. I didn’t think I’d stay this long, but it’s been 11 years now.

Q: Can you talk me through how Berlin shaped your sound?
Spray: I think I was really lucky with the timing. When I moved, Berlin was cheaper, it was easier to live here and scrape by. You could work part-time and spend the rest of your time making music. In the beginning, I’d work for a month, save up, then take two months off just to focus on producing, buying records and going out and spending time on the dancefloor.

Q: And the nightlife?
Spray: Totally. The biggest shock was the opening hours. In Ireland, things shut at 3am, but here people are only going out at that time, or even on Sunday mornings. Playing all night in Ireland means 11pm to 3am. Here, you could start at 11 and play until 8am. Doing 7–8 hour sets really changed my relationship with DJing. It was really educational, you learn so fast from playing all night long.

“Doing 7–8 hour sets really changed my relationship with DJing. It was really educational, you learn so fast from playing all night long.”

Q: How have Ireland and Berlin each shaped your sound?
Spray: For me my view of Irish music culture has always been melody based: I feel melody really speaks to Irish people. Trance and Celtic music feel really similar to me. Then, in Berlin, I found more rhythmic, hypnotic music that evolves over hours. Now I try to blend the two, rhythmic and emotive. They can feel like opposites, but it’s nice to bring them together.

“I feel melody really speaks to Irish people. Trance and Celtic music feel really similar to me.”

Q: Could you tell me a little about “Where R U?”
Spray: Yeah, it’s a special one. I made it in Ibiza about three years ago. I had this romanticised idea of Ibiza from watching old DJ sets when I was younger. I came across this vocal from an old Irish track and built the song around it. At first, I thought it was cheesy—I liked it, but I wasn’t sure if others would. Then I played it at Speilraum at De School, and the reaction blew me away.

Some people say it sounds nostalgic, others haunting—someone even said it reminded them of that snowman ad, in a creepy way.

“Some people say it sounds nostalgic, others haunting—someone even said it reminded them of that snowman ad, in a creepy way.”

Q: I remember people actually singing it during your set!
Spray: Yeah, it happens sometimes. I’ve done tracks with friends who are singers, so people end up singing along. It’s cute, especially in these sweaty, ravey settings. It makes the atmosphere feel lighter, less serious.

“It’s cute, especially in these sweaty, ravey settings. It makes the atmosphere feel lighter, less serious.”

Q: Can you tell me about one moment in your career that stands out?
Spray: Pitch Festival in Melbourne, a couple years ago. The festival got shut down by the fire authorities while I was about to play. One of the owners told me I’d be closing the entire festival on the main stage for 10,000 people. I was absolutely shitting myself. Job Jobse was supposed to play after me, so I suggested we do the set together. As I said that, Job got out of a car behind me was perfect timing.

With 20 minutes notice, we ended up playing the final set of the whole festival. Despite the cancellation, the crowd still had the best time, it really solidified my love for playing in Australia.

“With 20 minutes notice, we ended up playing the final set of the whole festival.”

Q: Let’s talk a bit about Punctuality. What’s the idea behind it?
Spray: The whole Spray project actually started as a label. I wanted to reissue old trance records, but COVID and vinyl delays slowed things down. In the meantime, I did a mix under the name Spray, and it took off. When people started getting confused with the artists on the label, I separated the two and changed the label name to Punctuality.

The idea was always to support younger artists. A lot of my first releases, I never got paid for. So now I try to be transparent, offer advice, and give people a proper label experience. I encourage people to self-release and not gatekeep the process. Ask yourself: “Is the label really doing that much, or could I do it myself?”

“A lot of my first releases, I never got paid for. So now I try to be transparent, offer advice, and give people a proper label experience.”

Q: What’s next for you and for Punctuality?
Spray: This summer I’m doing a big tour and working on a live set. I’ve also got a track coming out next month under my Spriitzz alias called Sunscreen I did with one of my favourite artists – Merely.

And for the label, we’ve got seven records coming this year. Really excited to share the records.