Biography - Sonãre

With one eye looking to the past and the other firmly fixated on the future, Sonãre’s sonic journey started at a very young age. Borrowing his neighbours early Dire Straits and Phil Collins records and copying them to tape, the artist would take requests from his mothers record collections at parties she would host in in the 80’s – meandering through the contemporary and bygone sounds of Elvis, Soul and 70’s rock and roll.

“I got to know what they liked and started sequencing the records more and more on my own, just playing one after the other.”

Originally from Belfast but moving to Craigavon at the height of The Troubles, Sonãre – real name Keith Montgomery – started going out to local bars and clubs at the age of seventeen. Although 70’s and 80’s chart music dominated as the clubs began to fill, late 80’s and early 90’s chart dance would filter in as the hours turned from pm to am – Inner City, Technotronic and Oceanic providing an electronic score for the young (yet to be) DJ to fall in love with the futuristic sound.

“When we turned eighteen we were introduced to Circus Circus. I can remember the excitement in approaching that plain black door between the shops after the normal clubs had closed at 1am. It was like entering another world. No alcohol, minimal lights, full of smoke, dancing until 6am and the craziest sounds I had ever heard.

Citing these all-nighters as a life changing experience, Sonãre began to seek out the dance music sound at every opportunity. Digging through the crates of iconic Belfast record stores such as Hairy Bear, Belfast Underground and Street Dance, he began purchasing twelve-inch records and developed a knack for predicting what would become a great record; citing Hardfloor’s Acperience and its significance as a particularly impressive discovery.

Going on to play a selection of both local and regional events and raves across Ireland, hosting a Belfast Underground Records radio show and releasing a handful of records under Keith James, Sonãre is a relatively new sonic experience coming from the creative mind of an older, more experienced head. Floating in the grey area between house and techno - winding and twisting through old school breaks, indie dance and the dark, melodic techno aesthetic – the alias encapsulates the energies of the past, present and future in a flurry of melody and euphoria.

With a debut release under his new moniker on the horizon, and a commercial studio, rehearsal space, label and internet radio station in the pipeline, the future (although uncertain and anxious in the current climate) seems to finally be brightening.