Art / Street Art
Colourful new mural celebrates much-missed DJ Derek
The finishing touches are being put to a huge mural celebrating a legend of Bristol’s music scene.
Derek Serpell-Morris, better known as DJ Derek, was a much-loved figure in the city and further afield who left his job as an accountant to play reggae records.
The new mural in Eastville features Derek, dancing crowds and items that featured prominently in his life.
is needed now More than ever
The collaboration piece on the side of a house on Stapleton Road close to the Eastville interchange has been painted by artists Hazardone, Inkie, Zed in the Clouds and KOSC.
Among the items on one section of the wall are a minidisc player as Derek was known for DJing on this device, a bus as that was how he travelled and some beer as one of his hobbies was visiting as many Wetherspoons pubs around the UK as possible.
Items from Derek’s life and dancing crowds form part of the collaboration mural – photo: Martin Booth
“Everyone in Bristol seems to have their own story about Derek, which is amazing,” project coordinator Jonathan Savage told the BBC News website.
“Derek was a white guy playing black music and he ingratiated himself into the black community and we want to spread that message and do a really positive thing for Bristol.”
The 73-year-old DJ went missing in 2015 with his body being found the following year. Another mural to his memory in Montpelier was recently painted over.
“We feel enough time has probably passed since Derek’s disappearance that it’s the time to really tell his story,” Savage added. “We wanted to bring some happiness and joy.”
DJ Derek honed his sets to include toasting – MCing in a Jamaican accent – firstly over vinyl records and later over his famous collection of personally recorded minidiscs – photo: Martin Booth
Main photo: Martin Booth
Read more: The death of DJ Derek is now officially a mystery
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