dBs Plymouth Alumni Aiden Morgan aka DNMO's feet have barely touched the ground. Aiden's passion for dance music has certainly struck a chord in North America and Europe, with his work gaining millions of views across platforms such as YouTube and SoundCloud.
We managed to catch Aiden between his busy touring schedule to talk about his journey so far and hear about some exciting new career developments.
From big tours to radio appearances, it has been an incredible year so for you, tell us how did you get into music production and where did it all begin?
It’s been a crazy year for sure. I’ve always wanted to make music for a living and when I was about 11 I discovered dance music for the first time. It blew my mind and I had to find out how it was made. It’s funny actually, when I was 13 I heard about dBs Music and couldn’t believe there was this magical place in Plymouth and Bristol where you could study electronic music. So I went to an Open Day and came back set on studying at dBs Plymouth some day. I didn't get along well at school, so the one thing that got me through the last few years was a dBs badge I got that day and that same badge is sitting on my wall right now!
You hit a landmark moment in your career with your takeover of BBC Radio 1 & 1xtra, how did this dream come to fruition and how did it feel when you got the news?
Man it was definitely an emotional moment. The majority of work I’ve done over the last few years has been in North America so when I finally got to tell my parents and family that something big is happening over in the UK that they really understood was a big deal, it was a really fulfilling feeling. I was going through a pretty rough patch in the personal life the week I got the call, so I’m sure you can appreciate how it brought me back up.
Tell us about your time at dBs Music, what were your highlights while studying with us?
My favourite part of my experience there was the relationship I had with my tutor Matt Radley. He’s a real legend and was always available at the drop of the hat for advice or just to bounce ideas off. All the staff and facilities are top notch, excellently maintained and I think aspiring artists have access to all of the recourses there is a game changer for them.
How did your time at dBs Music help you progress in your career?
It was a great stepping stone for me because I started right after I finished school, and was debating going full time into music. I look back now and think it was the perfect place for me at that time to get a grasp of what it’s like when you’re doing it all day every day - but you still have the security of it being education and have plenty of room for failure and improvement.
What have you been up to since graduating from dBs Music?
Lots of travelling, touring and of course working on music. Put out my first EP earlier this year as well as some big collaborations over the summer too.
Tell us about your favourite career moments so far.
It’s tough because there’s been so many! I’ll never forget playing a show in Denver with Steve Aoki earlier this summer, arriving at the venue and waiting to go on. There were 10,000 people just roaring in a stadium and it truly was the most frightening and exciting moment. Although I think really just being at a point where I’m comfortably living off of this, is a dream come true in itself.
Finally, any advice for people thinking about a course at dBs Music?