Scottish DJ enters UK Top 40 with 'The Glen' remix created "for mum's birthday"

A Scottish DJ has entered the UK Top 40 Singles Chart after his remix of Beluga Lagoon's 'The Glen' went viral on TikTok.

Levi Heron, from Stornoway on the Isle of Lewis, had first created the track in January as a gift for his mum's 50th birthday. “She showed me the track and said: 'Do you think you could do a remix of this?', and I thought, I'll try it,” he told BBC News.

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Since then, 'The Glen (Levi Heron remix)' has garnered millions of streams on TikTok, with users creating dances, memes and more to the sound of Heron's reimagining of the 2019 Scottish indie-folk track. 

While the rework contains nods to trance, hardcore and more, Heron has labelled his signature style of music as "Cèil-tech" — a combination of gaelic folk ceilidh music and techno. 

Following the track's success on TikTok, Heron says that he uploaded it to YouTube where it has garnered nearly five million views: “Record companies were calling me from all over for weeks," he tells BBC News. “I had to get a manager and he's been handling it for me for the last few weeks." 

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Having started learning the ropes as a DJ at eight-years-old, Heron had rarely played outside of his hometown before this year — though, according to BBC News, the 29-year-old has now left his job as a fish farmer to create music full-time off the back of the track's success, having landed a record deal with Sony Music.

“Before we had kids, every month we'd be going away to a rave. Now people are starting to listen to my music instead of me going to listen to other people's music. It's unbelievable," he says.

[Via: BBC News]

Megan Townsend is Mixmag's Deputy Editor, follow her on Twitter