He may be young in years but 15-year-old Belfast lad Tyler Jack has already built up a wealth of experience since turning his hand to dance music.

Having been gifted his first set of decks when he was just 12, Tyler has amassed a huge following in the techno/trance scene in Belfast over the last few years.

He's also become an in-demand name at dance events throughout Northern Ireland and beyond, performing alongside the likes of Belfast Vital headliner Timmy Trumpet and meeting up with the likes of Ben Nicky.

Speaking to Belfast Live, Tyler said: "I've always had a love for music from when I was very young. I got my first set of decks when I was 12, then I was uploading videos on social media. It kind of blew up really quickly from there and all of a sudden the videos were reaching a really wide audience."

Tyler was catapulted to a much larger audience with his live-streaming sets taking off on platforms like Instagram and Facebook. This has also proved even more popular during the lockdown period, with people to turning to the likes Tyler to get their dance fix while nightclubs are shut.

"I started doing live streams a few years back and that caught the attention of a lot of promoters in Belfast," he said. "From then, it went from playing birthday parties to playing social clubs, to playing nightclubs and making my way onto the festival circuit."

Tyler found himself sharing a stage with one of his music icons last year - Timmy Trumpet. He performing as part of Timmy's Belsonic after-party at the Telegraph Building in front of hundreds of people.

"I was putting my videos up on social media and I caught the attention of a promoter in Belfast," said Tyler. "I went up to meet up with her and she said, 'I have a lot of gigs coming up. What do you think about playing the Belsonic after-show with Timmy Trumpet?'. And with him being one of my idols for years, it was a brilliant thing to do."

Tyler also recently met up with the hugely successful producer and DJ Ben Nicky, who is scheduled to perform a massive outdoor Belsonic gig in Belfast next summer.

"Since I started, Ben's always followed my stuff and supported me," he said. "Whenever he came over here, I went up and met with him and we had a really good conversation about music. He's been a massive help to me and given me loads of advice, which I obviously value highly because this is someone who plays shows to 15,000 people."

Describing his music and a mix between techno, trance and hardcore, Tyler has performed to audiences up and down the country in recent years, with plans to tour as soon as he's able to. Despite the obvious challenges that come with being a dance musician when you're under 18 years old, Tyler says he's taking things in his stride.

"At the start, it was hard to be this young and try to perform gigs and stuff," he said. "I mean at the very start, I was doing this at the age of 12! But once I got to know the promoters and the club owners, they obviously knew I wasn't going to be messing about if they gave me a chance to perform. I'm not going to be drinking and I'm there with someone who's older than me. At the end of the day, I'm there to play the music."

The same goes for the balancing act of playing gigs and managing school life.

"It can be hard at times," he says. "But I've always managed it all. You come home from school, do some studying and coursework, then you make music - that's how I've balanced it. Then at the weekend, Fridays and Saturdays I'd be playing gigs, and Sunday I'd be setting up for school again."

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Meet the 15-year-old Belfast DJ headlining shows throughout the country - Belfast Live