When most people imagine the life of a jet-setting DJ, they probably picture a career filled with late nights spent drinking, dancing and partying.

But despite years of playing gigs into the wee hours in packed nightclubs, Gourock music producer Bruce Glenny says there’s nothing quite like getting to his bed at 9pm.

The 25-year-old DJ admits the party lifestyle which can sometimes be seen as part and parcel of a career behind the decks appealed to him more in his teenage years, but says he keeps things strictly professional these days.

He believes that mindset has helped him find success in his career, which has seen him play at TRNSMT, the country’s biggest music festival, on no fewer than five occasions.

The young artist also played for hundreds of local music lovers at the recent Terraza Del Clyde music festival at Fort Matilda, an event he helped organise in partnership with his colleagues at Summer Friends Productions and property firm, Bowman Rebecchi.

While his musical talent is evident to anyone who comes along to his gigs, Bruce revealed to the Telegraph that his abilities weren't always so obvious.

"I started playing drums when I was six or seven," he said.

"Lesley McLaren, a local music teacher, taught me. She never told me I was terrible, but I knew myself I was terrible.

“If you asked her now, she would probably still say I wasn’t terrible, but I know I was.

“I realised I wasn’t that good at it. Just didn’t practice. My brain just wasn’t there, I think I just got too bored. I needed to be doing something on my feet.”

While his first foray into the world of performing hadn’t worked out, Bruce says he was still drawn to music.

He became enamoured by electronic artists like Daft Punk, Calvin Harris and Martin Garrix, and the mythology surrounding their careers.

Bruce said: “I remember finding out that Martin Garrix was creating tunes on his laptop when he was 16. It made me think ‘why couldn’t I do that?’.

“So many people had access to YouTube and stuff, and that lets you see everything that was going on.

“There will be like 500 DJs in Scotland who have this same story, but you see people doing things and you think ‘what is stopping me from doing this?’.”

Bruce’s fascination with DJing started while he was still at high school, but steadily developed as he went on to further study, first at West College Scotland and then at Glasgow Caledonian University.

With a leg up from local businessman Alex McGilp, who helped Bruce get his first gig in Greenock nightclub Word Up, the young DJ started to build up a busy schedule of events.

Bruce playing at Terraza Del Clyde in May 2025

Bruce said: “At high school I loved doing music tech. It wasn’t like DJing, but I learned the basics of everything.

“I went on to do it at college and at uni. College was when I started playing Word Up. That was pre-Covid.

“At that point I was DJing Tuesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday every week.

“It was mental. I wouldn’t have any sleep. I’d be DJing until three or four in the morning then I’d have school or college.

“When Covid came along, I remember my mum telling me I looked great, it was because I’d actually been sleeping seven days a week.

“But I had to do that to become talented at it. I wouldn’t have been able to do what I can now if I hadn’t gone through that.”

Since starting out as a 16-year-old, Bruce has played at events in Miami, San Francisco and Ibiza, and is constantly working on new music or organising new gigs and ventures.

Bruce says his determination to stay professional and grounded no matter what environment he finds himself has played an important role in helping him stay on top of the demands of his job.

He said: “This is a job more than anything else. You could party if you wanted to, but if you want this to be professional and have this be your life then you can’t mess about because the next day you have to get up and get back to making music.

“It’s easy to fall into the whole nightclub scene, but my girlfriend will tell you I love going to my bed at nine o’clock at night and getting my sleep.

“When I was 18 that probably wasn’t the case but I learned through people that were around me that I needed to be supported and guided because when you wake up you might need to go do something else, and you can’t be rough for that.”

While some DJs prefer to mix other people’s music, Bruce has always been keen to produce tracks of his own and has released numerous songs since he first started out.

He said that nothing beats seeing people enjoying music he’s made himself.

Bruce added: “I think nowadays you can’t be an on-stage artist without having your own productions to play. You can go on stage, be an amazing DJ and play tonnes of other people’s music, but the moment it clicks for you is when you play your own stuff and people relate to you.

“The moment you play full sets of your own music, that’s when people start to say ‘I want to go and see him’.

“You get to the stage when you start having releases coming out and then you, through DJing, you meet other people and that’s how it all links in.

"But you need to release your own stuff to give yourself a platform.”

Although Bruce has played at major venues across the globe, he confesses that he still feels nervous before gigs, especially those in front of a home crowd.

He said: “I still get nervous, although it depends now. Playing in Miami, Ibiza and San Francisco, I don’t get that nervous anymore.

“It’s when there’s people in the crowd that I know that I get nervous. Terraza Del Clyde is probably the most nervous I’ve ever been, because it’s my mum, my dad and my mates.

“They know me, and they’ll tell me if I’m bad. But it’s incredible to get to perform for them. I’m really happy with how Terraza went and I’m really excited to see how it grows as the years go on.”

This article and image appeared in the Greenock Telegraph.

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