Dublin-born producer and DJ Desmond McGouran began making music in the early 2000s as one half of Xerox Soundsystem, working with production partner Speakertreatz before releasing music as Detboi. His work spans UK garage, electro-house, jungle and drum and bass. He also joined the electro-house project Machines Don't Care, contributing alongside Hervé, Sinden and Trevor Loveys; Drop the Lime and Toddla T were also part of the project. McGouran is a graphic designer as well as a producer, and has said that keeping his day job helps him stay grounded. He is based in Ireland.
In 2008, McGouran signed to Skint Records and released the EP Come Rest Up / Jump Up & Dow’n. The following year brought the Cheap Thrills Records EP Y’all Want Mo, followed in 2010 by his solo album Sliding Floors on Cheap Thrills. After a period when music work felt pressurised and restricted his creativity, he returned to producing for himself and pursuing his own interests. He has named old jungle and garage, as well as early records on Moving Shadow and Metalheadz, as inspirations for that renewed direction.
The 2015 EP Scatter on Keysound Recordings marked a turn towards midtempo, deconstructed jungle. The next year, McGouran signed to Metalheadz; his first release for the label was the four-track EP Joyride, made in collaboration with Goldie. The tracks reached the label after Paul Woolford played some in his Special Request sets, and Goldie then signed them. Metalheadz released Secrets in 2017 and Ice Cold in 2018. The album Secrets includes the track “Secret Venom.” Other labels to release McGouran’s work include Skint, Cheap Thrills, Keysound Recordings and On the Brink.
In 2024, McGouran released the single “Dispatch Blueprints 013” on Dispatch Blueprints.