Have you heard this man? asks the flyer next to a picture of Jnr, his trademark antennae silhouetted against fluoro pink. Well, you’d certainly remember! Jnr reads the crowd cover-to-cover seducing them into getting much filthier than they ever intended. You might have caught his dirty-electro house beats on Unknown FM or out clubbing in London, Croydon or even Norway… But before you dismiss this as Jnr’s Spam - there’s a reason for the hype. Here are ten facts about Michael Collins Junior:

He thinks funky house has got a bit “cuntish”
Jnr started DJing eight years ago, playing - whisper it! – garage. The attitude and “gangsterness” of that scene made him move onto soulful and then funky house. More recently the chav-factor’s pushed him into tougher sounds, “Personally I found the wrong sort of people were going to funky house, more interested in what they look like, and more trouble-makers. I really wanted to create a place that I wanted to go to. I find some nights I only love certain aspects of the night. I want it to be about the music rather than what’s in - a big friendly party where everyone has a really good time”.

So taking some Throbbinspiration…
Jnr’s part of Brixton’s Throb collective, where they believe in parties not club nights. “Throb definitely opened my eyes to that kind of party. Everyone’s looking decent but they’re not worrying about fashion, they’re friendly and they’re just there to dance and have a good time”. Jnr plans to put on his own night every other month so there are no clashes, “Throb are 100% committing to this, giving a lot of input. They’ve got 13 years’ experience putting on good parties. I’m part of Throb and I love it, I didn’t wanna take anything away, so we’re gonna alternate”.

...He’s started Jnr’s Jamm
“Maybe it’s a bit selfish? Cos I control the music policy: Danceable, bass-y, heavy, something you can let go to and focus 100% on the music”. It will reflect whatever Jnr’s feeling - at the moment it’s dirty electro - but he doubts he’ll be getting into hard house or techno, “I need something with a melody, something you can dance or bus’ a move to, rather than nod very fast to!” And the venue Jamm wasn’t selected just for its alliterative qualities, Jnr describes it as the type of place where “all your pretentiousness has to be left at the door, cos it’s so not worth being arsey in there! It’s a great venue, the sound system’s great – all you’re left with in there is just party!”

King Roc the party
Jnr describes King Roc’s tunes as awesome and says he was first choice to guest at the inaugural Jamm, “There’s a track on my last CD that everyone asks me about [the mix of Left/Right Switch] so… the first person on my lips was King Roc”. Turns out, they’d already met, “No, King Roc isn’t really his Christian name! I dunno if he wants his name given out!” Jnr’s warmed up for him twice, at the Ignition Crew’s soiree at Inigo and says he’s an amazing DJ, “He definitely Rocs and his skills are out of this world”.

Keeping it in the family
Jnr lives at home, “Hi Mum!” which he describes as mutually beneficial, “We’re a really close family, I get to help out a lot, my Dad’s not around so I’m the man of the house with two younger brothers to look after”. Margaret’s proud of her son so she’s helping out at Jamm, “She’s gonna be doing a lot of partying but mostly she’s gonna be on the door, greeting guests and meeting my friends”. It’s going to be a real family affair: As well as DJ Chewy and members of the extended Throb family, Sneal and Frank, there’ll be a set from the younger brother who passed Jnr his skills aged just 12! “The best DJ I’ve seen in my life, but after teaching me he gave up the game. I think maybe his main purpose was to teach me to mix so I just wanna repay him.” The same brother is now showing Jnr how to make tunes so watch this space!

Brixton is home…
Jamm is in Brixton round the corner from Jnr’s house, “I wanted to keep it local, to give something back… Cos it’s so multi-cultural and everyone just gets along with each other it’s the perfect place to party. It does have its reputation but most of that stays away from the music scene. Once you get in a club and you meet the people you just fall in love with them”.

...But Oslo’s adopted him!
On a Throb jaunt a couple of months ago, Jnr converted around 30 thousand Norwegians to the joys of electro-house, “The crowd were amazing… Everyone was asking, What is this music? I think they’re mostly into hard house out there!” Jnr was playing the annual summer parade, “First I was DJing on a truck – nearly fell off twice – then I did the main stage… I mean, I always get nervous and with such a large crowd I was shittin’ bricks, but I feed off the nerves, so I did what I did and they loved it”. So much so, Jnr’s been made a resident DJ!

He’s already been stalked
With such adulation perhaps it’s not surprising that some fans border on the obsessive, “A while ago I did a gay night at Egg, I gave out one of my CDs with my number on it and I used to get all these calls all the time, Hey Junior, where are you playing, what are you doing now, what are you wearing? It was a guy, yeah!” Jnr admits it’s flattering, if tedious after a while, ”It’s part of the game, innit. I wanna do well in this, so if that comes with it, bring it on”.

He’s good with kids
The debauched world of smoky, sweaty clubs might seem a million miles from early mornings and scholastic achievement, but Jnr’s other job is as a classroom assistant. After being a mechanic for Toyota and Lexus, he describes working with primary children as a cool job, “They mostly wear me down! No, they’re good fun; it’s so rewarding working with kids, when you see the positive difference you’re making. I’m loving it”. Jnr does admit to finding certain days of the week harder than others!

And finally… that trademark hairstyle
“It pretty much started a year after I got into house. It’s a traditional African girls’ hairstyle. One of my cousins had it, and I was like, Omigod I wanna do that with my hair. And it just stuck, now everywhere I go, people just recognise me cos of my hair so it’s worked in my DJing”. It might be worth learning the lyrics to Gangsters Paradise, “Everywhere I go, people look at me and go, Coolio, Coolio, Coolio! I was in France last month and a woman gave me free food in the caff cos she swore I was Coolio. I know he has some mad hair-styles but I’ve not seen him with this particular one”. It’s not for the shy and retiring, “Nigerian girls hate it. They go, My mum used to do that to me, I used to get to forced to go to school with it. People just stare at you like, What the f…? But I really like it, everytime I see it in a mirror!”

Jnr J

King Roc

Throb