Uncle Dugs

We are very proud to have Dugs as one of our official sponsored artists.

Uncle Dugs is Rinse FM’s only dedicated old skool DJ. His weekly show, dubbed ‘Run Come Follow Friday’ as a homage both to jungle’s history and his growing legion of faithful Twitter followers, takes listeners on a whirlwind trip through the genres that were instrumental to the station’s early days.

“I’ve never found music that’s buzzed me like the hardcore, the acid house, the jungle, from the mid/late 80s and the mid/late 90s,” he grins. “There’s nothing that’s ever done that to me again. I’ve never lost the buzz for it I found the day I went to my first rave. The minute I found it, that was me, forever.”

Dugs has been involved in pirate radio for 20 years, having caught the rave bug as a teenager. He managed Rinse FM from 1999 to 2005, was helping to run the station’s operations when grime was first developing, and oversaw the arrival of dubstep. “In those days it was going up on the tower blocks and putting up aerials, looking after DJs,” he remembers. “I was there when the internet was first introduced, so I remember the very first web stream, the first website.”

Having left Rinse FM in the middle of last decade, Dugs returned in 2011 to start his Friday morning show of jungle and hardcore on the station. He’s a fast, energetic and chatty host, engaging with listeners and gearing them up for the weekend ahead. “For me, Friday daytimes are about giving shout outs, having a laugh with people,” he says. He also uses the show as an opportunity to invite legends of the scene to be interviewed on air. With the internet allowing younger listeners to re-engage with the genre, and with so much of the new music that Rinse champions so strongly connected to jungle, Dugs’ approach is all about reminding people of how deep the station’s roots run. Like his show itself, they reach right back to the vibrant energy of the early days of rave and pirate radio.