DJ Friction

Brighton raised, multi award winning Friction is a member of an exclusive club; he is one of the few nu-skool DJs who has truly earnt his stripes through doing exactly that - DJing. Although with many productions to his name it is his skills behind the turntables and his ability to adapt to any crowd that have brought him worldwide acclaim and one of the most hectic gigging schedules in the game. This year has seen him add more accolades to his ever increasing CV and is regarded by many as not only the most skilled but the most diverse DJ in drum & bass. Whether performing to an audience of 20,000 or 500, Friction never disappoints.

It was in the mid-90’s that Friction got the bug and began playing at and promoting his own events. He soon linked up with local Brighton producers Stakka & K-Tee, and a long-standing coalition was formed. Studio time followed and in February ’99 Friction released his debut single ‘Critical Mass’ under the name Kinnetix on the ‘Under Fire’ compilation. It wasn’t long after that he started to receive interest from legendary labels TOV & Renegade Hardware. He soon produced a track for TOV's ‘Here Comes Trouble’ EP with the defining ‘Photon’. Things were most definitely moving for this talented, hugely motivated young man from Brighton. Immediately following that was the acclaimed ‘Altitude’ with Stakka & Skynet, regarded throughout the scene as a truly ground breaking piece of drum & bass, fusing high energy techno and jungle. Releases followed on a host of top drum & bass labels including Valve, Tru Playaz, Passenger, Hardware, 31 Records, Hospital and Charge to name a few.

Friction joined BBC 1Xtra in 2002 at the station’s launch, he made his mark quickly. His 'Mix Show' was truly ground breaking, creating a massive following worldwide, reluctantly calling it a day after two years with a constantly growing DJ schedule proving too much and in 2004 he established the Shogun Audio imprint with production partner in crime K-Tee. Since then the label has gone on to become one those elusive ‘buy on site’ labels releasing some of the best drum & bass in recent times and picking up legions of fans along the way. Artists such as Alix Perez, Spor, Jonny L, Break, Marcus Intalex, Spectrasoul, Noisia, Klute, Icicle, Spirit, Rockwell and of course Friction & K-Tee have all appeared over the years and the arsenal of music new and old at Friction’s disposal is immense.

Over the years Friction would pick up numerous awards; ‘Best Newcomer’ in the Drum & Bass Arena Awards in 2002, ‘Best Breakthrough DJ’ at the 2003 Knowledge Magazine Awards, another 'Best Newcomer' at the 2004 Accelerated Culture Awards,  Runner Up at The Raveology DnB awards 2007 and finally 'Best DJ' at the MTV Romania Awards in 2007. Friction's mix CD's have also grown in quality and popularity. The Bingo Sessions Vol.1 CD (with DJ Zinc) on Bingo was a massive hit, charting in the national LP top 40 and was followed with the first of his own highly successful series 'The Next Level' which went on to sell thousands worldwide.

More recognition was to follow with his jaw dropping Pete Tong 'Essential Mix' which aired April 2006 to huge acclaim. In Pete Tong’s own words DJ Friction really had become one of the Drum & Bass 'Big Dogs'. His remix of 'Back To Your Roots' released on Shogun in 2007 was also regarded as the biggest drum and bass track of the year and received plays from Annie Mac to the Stanton Warriors to Judge Jules.

2008 was a year that saw Friction continuing to push his DJ’ing career even further, playing all over the world most weekends. However he still managed to find a little studio time and managed his debut release on Metalheadz, ‘Shogun Nightmare’, his massive anthem on Valve, ‘3rd Degree Gurns’ and also the highly anticipated ‘Altitude’ remixes on Shogun Audio. He also mixed the 2008 Drum & Bass Arena album alongside scene legend, Fabio, and it was from this that plans were hatched for an all-new Friction mix series that would set a new standard in drum & bass mix albums. Bring on 2009.

This next year turned into one of the biggest so far in Friction and Shogun’s history with said mix album ‘Assassin Volume One’ released to much critical acclaim from the music media and fans all over the globe. Following this up was Friction & K-tee’s vocal smasher ‘Fired Up’ on Hospital Records that received great support from the likes of Annie Mac and even Pete Tong on BBC Radio 1. Shogun then released the debut LP from one Alix Perez and helped on by Frictions relentless DJ’ing schedule became possibly THE drum and bass artist album of the year. Friction & K-tee’s killer single ‘Set It Off’ dropped on Shogun at the end of the year and along with a nomination for ‘Best DJ’ at the D&B Arena Awards and the new Shogun club residency in their home town of Brighton, it marked a huge growth and successful end to 2009.

So far this year has been another non-stop roller-coaster ride for Friction with gigs from London to Sydney to Korea and even Hawaii. Although the schedule is fierce a Friction set never falters; whether he's on two or three decks, playing for two hours or four, people are rapidly learning that, drum & bass fanatics or not, a night with Friction will be one to remember.