M People’s Shovell and A-List Producer Anthony Gorry Create Wellness Music Movement

13th October 2025

What started as two music industry veterans healing from personal trauma has evolved into AjoiA, a revolutionary collective redefining the boundary between electronic music and wellness. Led by acclaimed producer and Musical Director Anthony Gorry (Gwen Stefani, Moby, Richard Ashcroft) and legendary M People percussionist Andrew “Shovell” Lovell, their debut album The Essence of Being is released 31 October, Defected Records.

AjoiA represents something unprecedented in contemporary music: a collective of musicians, producers, and performers creating live electronic experiences to make people feel better. Blending cutting-edge sound technology with nervous system science, uplifting dance music, and ancient tribal rhythms, they craft emotionally resonant sound journeys that foster genuine social connection and well-being.

The collective emerged from parallel personal crises that transformed both founders’ relationship with music. Gorry, whose musical production credits include Nightmares on Wax and Dubaholics, suffered a serious stroke in 2021. Simultaneously, Shovell was navigating his own period of deep challenges after achieving global fame with M People, whose hits like “Moving On Up” and “Search for the Hero” sold over 10 million records worldwide. His response was equally radical: retraining as a psychotherapeutic counsellor and somatic practitioner.

Their partnership birthed AjoiA’s unique approach: fully immersive performances that range from high-energy DJ sets using rhythm and collective movement to uplift audiences, to ambient sessions that induce shared states of calm and relaxation. Each experience is intentionally collaborative, connecting people and their own bodies through sound.

“For us, AjoiA isn’t just performance , it’s personal practice where joy, rhythm and community become medicine,” says Gorry, whose eclectic musical knowledge spans deep electronic and euphoric soulful house. “Anthony creates these incredible sound journeys informed by nervous system science, while I bring the ceremonial, rhythmic elements that help people feel truly connected,” adds Shovell.

Since launching, AjoiA has affected audiences from WOMAD and Defected Croatia to wellness festivals, trauma conferences and recovery clinics. Their therapeutic music movement bridges worlds that have traditionally remained separate, proving that dance music can serve healing purposes without sacrificing its essential joy and energy.

‘Within the Heart’ exemplifies this philosophy, incorporating the therapeutic frequencies that aided Gorry’s stroke recovery within deep rhythmic patterns that Shovell has found effective in his counselling practice. The track serves as both dancefloor anthem and healing tool, a perfect introduction to AjoiA’s revolutionary approach. Rather than a dancefloor anthem, it is the antithesis of a night out or a busy, stressful day, a gentle, restorative piece that eases the nervous system and supports deep relaxation.

The collective will be at Oxford University’s trauma and mental health conference (September 30), demonstrating how electronic music can serve both celebration and healing.

The collective will appear at two major wellness events this month: Paris’s Théâtre Le Trianon (16–17 September) for The Body Keeps the Score programme, on the same bill as one of trauma’s leading voices, and Oxford University’s trauma, mental health and wellbeing conference (30 September), Europe’s largest event of its kind. At both, AjoiA performs in its own capacity, demonstrating how electronic music can serve both celebration and healing.