Holly Lester

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Holly Lester
OriginHamiltonsbawn, County Armagh[1]
GenresHouse, Techno[2]
Occupation(s)Record producer, Disc Jockey
LabelsTerrazzo, Duality Trax[3]
Websitewww.onehouse.com/artists/holly-lester Edit this at Wikidata

Holly Lester is an electronic dance music disc jockey from County Armagh, Northern Ireland, who performs techno live sets. Lester is co-founder of the Free The Night advocacy organisation aimed at boosting the night-time economy in Northern Ireland.

Career[edit]

Lester first started to beat-match at age 14, while growing up in Hamiltonsbawn, County Armagh.[1] She first came to prominence working as a disc jockey in dance venues in the north-west of England, has been a regular "homegrown" performer at the AVA Festival in Belfast, and was in the top 50 of the Guardians pick of the best new music for 2019.[2][4][5][6] Lester has gone on to achieve wider recognition, playing sets across Europe, and in Australia and Indonesia.[2][3][7]

In 2019 Amy Fielding of DJ Magazine called Lester "one of Northern Irelands' most exciting selectors".[8] She was also nominated for a DJ Mag award in 2021 in the Underground Hero category.[2] Lester has been featured on BBC Radio a number of times, including performing mixes in both 2021 and 2022.[9][10] Her sound has been described by Resident Advisor as "raw analogue jams" that "rub shoulders with dreamy trance tinged melodies and swirling breakbeats".[2]

Lester set up the Duality Trax record label, which has released music for artists including Abdul Raeva and Tifra.[3] In August 2021 the label released a compilation, "Visions Vol. 1", in aid of Doctors Without Borders, which was described by DJ Magazine as a "globetrotting, genre-hopping affair".[11] In 2023 Duality released the follow-up compilation, "Visions Vol. 2", with all proceeds aiding the Palestine Children's Relief Fund.[12]

Free The Night[edit]

Lester, along with Dublin-based Sunil Sharpe, is the founder of Free the Night, a non-profit organisation which started in 2021 with the aim of improving the night-time economy in Northern Ireland, including making it more "safe, progressive and culturally diverse" and campaigning for improved public transport.[1][13][14]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b c Faragher, Rick (24 March 2024). "Dance music continues to take off from Northern Ireland". BBC. Retrieved 24 March 2024.
  2. ^ a b c d e "Holly Lester · Biography". Resident Advisor. Archived from the original on 27 March 2024. Retrieved 24 March 2024.
  3. ^ a b c Murray, Eoin (3 February 2023). "Selections: Holly Lester - DJ Mag". DJ Mag. Archived from the original on 25 March 2023. Retrieved 24 March 2024.
  4. ^ Townsend, Mega (10 October 2021). "REVIEW: AVA WAS A VIBRANT, EUPHORIC BUT SUBDUED RETURN TO RAVING IN BELFAST". Mixmag. Archived from the original on 24 March 2024. Retrieved 24 March 2024. The pride and adoration are palpable when watching the crowds interact with their homegrown heroes: Holly Lester has the throngs melting through LWS's remix of Bolam's 'Forgot My Brain', jackets being spun through the air as she expertly negotiates between '90s warehouse rave tunes and high energy bleeps and bloops.
  5. ^ Fielding, Amy (4 July 2022). "How AVA Festival is creating a second age of rave in Northern Ireland". DJ Mag. Archived from the original on 24 March 2024. Retrieved 24 March 2024. The Baltic is stealing the show with three back-to-back sets of undiluted Irish energy from Holly Lester, The Night Institute's Timmy Stewart, and Jordan Nocturne. They're three of the festival's mainstays
  6. ^ "Tunisian techno, Xitsongan rap and Satanic doo-wop: the best new music of 2019". 28 December 2018. Archived from the original on 24 March 2024. Retrieved 24 March 2024. Cosigned by fellow Northern Irish dance darlings Bicep, Holly Lester shares their enthusiasm for warm analogue jams over tinny digital tech. Her DJ sets are full of vintage or neo-classical house, either jacking tracks with vogue-worthy claps or deep explorations with sad, watery chords.
  7. ^ "HOLLY LESTER IS TOURING AUSTRALIA". Flow Music. 2023. Retrieved 24 March 2024.
  8. ^ Fielding, Amy (12 July 2019). "Fresh Kicks 110: Holly Lester - DJ Mag". DJ Mag. Archived from the original on 30 September 2023. Retrieved 24 March 2024.
  9. ^ "BBC Radio Ulster - The Stephen McCauley Show, Holly Lester AVA Mix". BBC. 23 September 2021. Archived from the original on 27 March 2024. Retrieved 24 March 2024.
  10. ^ "BBC Radio Ulster - Beat Seekers, Holly Lester in the mix". BBC. 25 April 2022. Archived from the original on 25 April 2022. Retrieved 24 March 2024.
  11. ^ Coney, Brian (20 July 2021). "Holly Lester's Duality Trax announces new compilation in aid of Doctors Without Borders". DJ Mag. Archived from the original on 3 December 2022. Retrieved 24 March 2024.
  12. ^ Heyraud, Max (14 November 2023). "NEW MUSIC: HOLLY LESTER'S DUALITY TRAX IMPRINT LAUNCHES VA IN AID OF PALESTINE". fourfourmag.com. Archived from the original on 4 December 2023. Retrieved 24 March 2024.
  13. ^ Olufemi, Tope (17 June 2021). "FREE THE NIGHT NIGHTLIFE CAMPAIGN LAUNCHES IN NORTHERN IRELAND". Mixmag. Archived from the original on 2 July 2022. Retrieved 24 March 2024.
  14. ^ Ross, Gemma (17 November 2022). "NIGHTLIFE CAMPAIGNERS IN NORTHERN IRELAND URGE FOR LATER PUBLIC TRANSPORT SERVICES". Mixmag. Archived from the original on 2 June 2023. Retrieved 24 March 2024.

External links[edit]

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Holly_Lester&oldid=1222022199"