Rayza & Darren Bailey

State your name & in 3 words describe your personality as you see it.

Ray Saurin - Determined, passionate, loyal 

Darren Bailey - Considerate, focused, introvert 

Interesting. Now describe each other in 3 words.

Ray - Scouse Brew Master Darren - Irish Pat Sharp 

Tell us about your love of electronica and how it evolved.

Ray - As a kid i would sit in my older brother and sister's bedrooms and listen to all their dance tapes, Underworld, Prodigy, Moby, Baby D, SNAP, etc and was hooked. Prodigy's music for the jilted generation was my favourite album, i had no good (start the dance) on repeat. I bought my first set of turntables Gemini XL 500’s when i was 13, and played a lot of trance as a teenager. 

Darren - Well its been a rollercoaster from day 1! I can remember getting a double vinyl album called Deep Heat from a bargain bin when i was 8 or 9 years old and it all started there, loads of acid house, hip house and techno on there and i was hooked. It just seemed so much more interesting to me than what was playing in the charts. From there it was a journey through rave, happy hardcore, jungle, gabber, you name it, if it was electronic i was listening to it. But trance stole my heart in the late 90s and it was all a natural progression to my 'sound' now, from there. 

What is your sound, what do you play personally.

Ray - My style now is more deep, progressive and melodic with heavy baselines. 

Darren - My sound tends to have a harder, faster edge to it more leaning towards techno. But i could never pigeon hole myself, it all depends on my mood! 

How does that sound change playing together.

Ray - My style doesn’t change too much playing with Darren, I think we compliment each other pretty well when playing together. 

Darren - I tend to tone things down a bit when we do a B2B, sometimes, but growing up going to similar clubs back home have given us very similar tastes so it always seems to work out well What do you think makes a great B2B DuoDarren - Unless you're a duo that plays together regularly it can be difficult to get a flow going with the music, so i guess knowing each other pretty well is a great place to start and you kind of feed off the music each of you plays, and for me the set can go anywhere from there. I think thats the beauty of a B2B set, theRay - A great b2b duo in my opinion should have a decent understanding of what each others style is. Another key element is being able to easily adapt when upping or slowing the tempo during a set and being comfortable switching between genres.  

Tell us what Burnout is.. (Darren)

 I think Burnout is a celebration of house music in all its forms, a place for people to lose themselves to the music and above all empty the tank! 

How did that journey come about (Ray)

A friend of ours owned a bar on K road, and it was such good spot to throw a free party. We had a really good turnout the first night, and we were asked to throw a monthly party at the bar, and it just kicked on from there. (elaborate a touch, what gigs, with who. etc) 

What are the satisfactions coming from this.

Ray - Satisfaction from this is that we have been lucky enough to throw some pretty epic parties, and always see a lot of regular faces at each gig which has been great. 

Darren - Yeah to gain the following we have, and the feedback we receive has been amazing! To put on sold out events, to lock Ink out at midnight are all big achievements for us, but that means nothing if the punters aren't having a good time. For us making the crowd happy is all the satisfaction we need! Whats the future hold for burnout?Darren - Well we can't give too much away about 2022, hopefully omicron doesn't put a spanner in the works, but watch this space, big things are coming...

Ray - We have a few things up our sleeve for 2022 so hold tight! 

What do you guys play on preferably and what are your thoughts on where technology is taking us in the Dj booth

Ray - I play on CDJs and DJM 900NXS normally. I’m excited at the new technology and am always keen to see what new effects gadgets are out on the market.

Darren - Same setup for me. I know Allen and Heath mixers are renowned for their sound quality, but the effects on the Pioneer range are part of the performance aspect of DJing for me personally, I can't wait to gets my hands on a DJM-V10! The advances in technological advances have been amazing in the past 10 years for our scene. They have allowed a lot more people to take up the decks cheaply where it used to be very expensive to buy a set of turntables and heaps of vinyl. Also it enables a lot more variety of performance options other than just mixing two tunes together.

Do you think up and comers should still be learning to beatmatch or should be pushed more towards technology basic systems and live production

Darren - 100%. People may disagree with me, but personally i think it makes DJ sets more human, if you hear the odd mistake in there. All this new technology still has that ability to beat match built in if you want to use it. 

Ray- I think everyone who dj's should be able to beat match without the use of a sync button. I'm all for the new technologies that are out there but for me, beat matching should be the first step taken. ​

Whats been your career Highlights

Ray - Highlight for me was playing after Nic Fanciulli a few years back. I went to see him play b2b with James Zabiela in Dublin when I was 18, I’d been a big fan of his for years, so was special sharing a mixer with him. 

Darren - I've never had the pleasure of sharing the booth with a legend, but closing the night to a locked out Ink crowd for our first foray there is up there for me. There's nothing quite like the atmosphere in a loud, sweaty, intimate club! 

Elephant in the room, COVID. How have you been navigating this and what effect on our scene has it had, and how will it affect it now we are opening back up

Ray - Covid can f*@k off, hopefully it doesn’t have too much of a long-lasting impact on the music scene over here. I feel for all the bar, club and venue owners going through such a tough time at the moment, fingers crossed some sort of normality isn’t too far away, and everything can open again soon.

Darren - I agree, total shit for the bar and club owners, and the DJs that make a living from playing out. Judging by the events after lockdown last year, it will only strengthen the scene, everyone is chomping at the bit to get back out there. But in truth I don't think any of us know what's in store over the next couple of years. 

What good and or bad has resulted from the pandemic?

Darren - Good - The hunger to get back out there and live life to its limits. Bad - the polarisation of society and the breakdown of friendships and families over Covid and vaccines, none of which is healthy for the mind or body. Hopefully this summer in this amazing country will bring those people back together.

Ray - Good Being able to focus on little projects I always wanted to get into but never really had time for before the pandemic. Bad- Being constantly bombarded with the doom and gloom of Covid, fingers crossed normal life is not too far away for us all, a new normal that is. Things will never be exactly as they were prior to the pandemic, but as long as we get pretty close to it again, i will be happy.

What Advice would you give newcomers and what advice would you give your young selves.

Darren - Don't be afraid to promote yourself, and get noticed. Approach promoters, bar owners, DJs and get to know your way around the scene and show interest in what people are doing. But above all else, practice daily.

Ray - Believe in yourself, if you are good at what you do, you will eventually get noticed. Don't be afraid to put yourself out there, it's always daunting for everyone when they are first starting out, but stick with it. Have faith in yourself and eventually good things will happen for you.  

How did you approach this mix.

Darren - We wanted to make something that showcased both of our individual styles without it being too laid back, or too full on. We were in lockdown when we made it so had plenty of time to get the music just right to tell our story. We did an hour each so this is more of a side by side mix than a back to back!

Ray - We wanted to make a mix that harnessed both are styles in a complimentary way, so by starting out deep and slowing building through the mix, we were able to achieve this. Being in lockdown when we made the mix, we did an hour each and combined the two together. All things considered, we were pretty happy with how it turned out. Hope you enjoy.  

Finally what makes a good sandwhich

Darren - Bacon, fried egg, HP brown sauce, with a side of tea

Ray - The person who makes it