One for the junglist massive, Mrs Magoo’s debut at Kelburn Garden Party is not to be missed! After coming up as a resident on The Bellyman Show, Mrs Magoo has grown to be one of the busiest Scottish junglists in the business, with tours regularly taking her as far afield as Australia and the USA, and her fire sets securing her a well-deserved win for Best Jungle DJ at the We Love Jungle Awards. Listen to Mrs Magoo’s guest mix, and read about her journey through hardcore and jungle niceness below…
Kelburn Garden Party: Hi Mrs Magoo! Can we kick off by introducing your mix?
Mrs Magoo: I want to give you a wee taster of what I’m going to deliver to you at the party. It’s going to be full on energy, crazy amen breaks all over the gaff. Hopefully it’ll get everybody dancing and hyped for the event. I’m really looking forward to it too, because I’ve wanted to do Kelburn for a really long time.
Before getting into jungle, you were obsessed with hardcore. How did you first get introduced to the hardcore scene?
Magoo: That’s totally my dad’s fault. He brought me up listening to all the old tape packs from Helter Skelter and Dreamscape in the mid 90s. I stole a tape off him when I was eight years old – Helter Skelter Human Nature 1998. It was DJ Sy on one side and DJ Unknown on the other. That was honestly the soundtrack to my childhood. I’ve rinsed that tape so much that I had to sellotape it back together where it got chewed in the player. I still have it in a box somewhere, though I doubt it will play now.
And when did you make the transition to junglist?
Magoo: I kind of always listened to it, but it wasn’t until I went to an event – it was called Rebirth in a place called Kettering, which is where I used to live down in England – I remember going and the vibe being absolutely amazing. And these super deep basslines, the grumbling, and how it gets you. It was different from the happy hardcore. It hits different.
I used to do a radio show, and I would invite people over to guest and we’d mix back-to-back. I met a couple of boys that played drum n’ bass, and I was still a happy hardcore head at this time, so they would mix drum n’ bass with my happy hardcore back-to-back. It was so much fun, but it wasn’t until I moved away back to Scotland, away from my drum n’ bass friends, that I really started missing those sounds.
I was like, “Do you know what? I’m going to have a bash at mixing it.” And then that was it. I fully caught the bug. Everything clicked. I was like, “This is it. This is what I’m supposed to be doing.” I haven’t really looked back since.
Bellyman has played a big role in your career. How did you two first start working together?
Magoo: It was coming up to seven years ago, he invited me and an old friend to come down and do a stream with him. This was when he’d just started his Bellyman show. It was just gaining momentum. Me and Belly, we got each other. We were on the same wavelength. It was so much banter when we were together. He always has me creasing. And then he said, “You know what? Come down again.” And again, and again. It got to the point where I was getting a bus all the way down every month to do the show in London with him and then the bus all the way home. It was absolutely mental but it was some of the best times of my life.
You’ve become one of the most internationally active jungle DJs from Scotland. What keeps bringing you back to the Scotland scene?
Magoo: Scotland, for one, is home. I’ll always have a soft spot for Scotland. I’ve tried to live in other places and it wasn’t for me. I got really homesick. I love it here a lot. But the parties here, they are fucking mental. I love the parties here. People actually go for it. They dance, they scream. It’s so much fun. You want energy like that when you’re playing. I find other places don’t quite have the same energy as the Scottish ravers.
You started producing a couple of years ago, and you spent some time in the studio with Hybrid. How was it getting to work with him?
Magoo: Super, super awesome. We became very good friends first, and then when he found out that I wanted to learn how to produce he was like, “Well, I’ll tell you what, come down and I’ll teach you all the basics. We can work on some stuff together.” He’s been a total legend, very supportive of my career, and got me involved with the Deep In The Jungle Records label as well. He’s a super down-to-earth dude. One of the nicest guys in the scene.
What sort of flavours do you try to bring out in your productions?
Magoo: I want to stay true to what I love, and drums are one of my favourite things in the world. Going forward there’s going to be lots of scatty, scatty drops. I want to make people lose their shit to the drums. But I also want to bring all of my influences from other music. I want to try and incorporate my hardcore influence. I want to bring in my hip hop influence as well. It’s going to be a big melting pot, but that’s what jungle and drum n’ bass is, isn’t it?
What is coming up next for Mrs Magoo?
Magoo: Me and Hybrid, we are working on another tune at the moment. It’s going to be something a bit different. We’re going for the more 160BPM vibe. I’m going to be doing Sweden for the first time this year, which is super awesome. I’m also going to be heading out to Canada and to Germany. Then festival season is going to be brilliant. Obviously, I’m buzzing for Kelburn.
Do you have a favourite memory from past Kelburns?
Magoo: I’ve not been to Kelburn before, so we’re going to be popping the cherry! I’ve heard so many great things. I’m super excited to finally witness what it looks like, and be in the atmosphere and the vibes. Bring it on.
Welcome aboard, Magoo!
