Kintyre drum and bass DJs are radio hit
The meeting of three musical minds in Kintyre has resulted in a hit DJ slot on a Londonbased radio station.
Shirley Jones, also known as Shirlz, Dean Giles, aka DJ Mung, both from Campbeltown, and Michael Paul Wintle-Brown, aka Malwav, from Carradale known collaboratively as the Kintyre Collective Kru - broadcast worldwide on Music Galaxy Radio (MGR) on Saturdays from 9pm to 11pm.
The trio, who all independently moved to Kintyre several years ago, share a passion for drum and bass - a genre of electronic music characterised by fast breakbeats with heavy bass and sub-bass lines, sampled sources and synthesizers - and jungle - a music genre that developed out of the UK rave scene and sound system culture in the 1990s.
Shirlz, a record collector for about 35 years, and DJ Mung, who has been DJ-ing and collecting records since 1988, were approached by Behshad Mahjoobi, the radio station’s owner, himself a DJ for more than 30 years, to ask if they would be interested in hosting a slot.
The station - which is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year - plays various genres of music courtesy of DJs from all over the world, attracting listeners from 916 cities worldwide.
For the last five years, Shirlz and DJ Mung have shared their record collection with a global audience of drum and bass fans every Saturday night.
‘I love many styles of music and my collection is very varied,’ said Shirlz, ‘but the largest part of my collection is drum and bass/jungle.’
‘My collection also consists of varied music styles but is mostly drum and bass/jungle,’ said DJ Mung. ‘My influence came from being part of the rave scene which was massive in Coventry, my home city.
‘On occasions, I change the genre I play on MGR. My styles include old school techno, house and I love reggae and dub.’
‘I have been DJ-ing for 30 years now, mainly inspired by the underground scene’
He added: ‘I have been DJing for 30 years now, mainly inspired by the underground scene. I travelled all over to see my favourite DJs play at concerts, raves and parties in fields.’
Shirlz and DJ Mung were amazed to find fellow record collector, producer and drum and bass/jungle DJ Malwav had moved to the area at a similar time.
Malwav has been DJ-ing since the late 1990s, having been ‘massively influenced’ by the warehouse and basement parties and clubs around Bristol.
‘I progressed to having a release as Malevolent Wavelength on Exegene Recordings, an influential drum and bass netlabel, before working as a mix engineer at a recording studio in Gloucester,’ he said. ‘It seems like another lifetime ago.
‘Seven years ago, I retrained as a barber and, after relocating to Kintyre, I now run a hairdressing salon, h’Airds, with my wife Annik in Carradale.’
It was through one of the salon’s social media pages that Shirlz and Malwav came to meet each other and he was soon invited to play a monthly guest set on their MGR show.
Malwav explained: ‘I noticed that Shirlz was a vinyl record enthusiast like myself and we shared the same taste in music.
‘I was starting to get back into DJ-ing again after giving away most of my record collection before we moved to Kintyre. Being invited to play a monthly guest set revitalised my love of music and gave me the space to be creative within the format.’
Shirlz added: ‘From there, the Kintyre Collective Kru was created. We love having Malwav on our show once a month. Moving to Kintyre has definitely been a meeting of musical minds.
‘We also came up with the idea of us playing our collections at an event at h’Airds in Carradale,’ she added. ‘We loved the idea and definitely wanted to be involved but, sadly, due to Covid restrictions, we had to cancel this year but it’s something we hope to revisit in the future.’
DJ Mung said: ‘I love that I moved to Kintyre and connected with others who share my music taste.’
Malwav added: ‘I love the fact the three of us represent the varied spectrum of drum and bass and jungle. I like to try and take the listener on a journey, creating tension and not always being predictable in my track selection.
‘Kintyre has a wonderful tradition of music and creativity and I feel privileged to be a part of that.’
Visit themusicgalaxyradio. com to tune in to the Kintyre Collective Kru’s show on MGR on Saturdays from 9pm to 11pm.