DJ Friction

Brighton raised, multi award winning DJ Friction is a member of an exclusive club. He is one of a handful of DJ's to have smashed through the ranks and become a superstar in his genre simply through an unbelievable talent behind the decks. 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.

As a teenager Friction played at events and promoted his own club nights much like any other young DJ trying to make a name for himself. He soon linked up with Brighton producers 'Stakka & K-Tee', who were heavily involved with Andy C's Ram Records imprint. Many hours were spent in the studio and in February ’99 Friction released his debut single ‘Critical Mass’ under the name Kinnetix on the 'Under Fire'. Before long Friction received interest from big Drum & Bass record companies such as TOV & Renegade Hardware. He soon produced a track for TOV's ‘Here Comes Trouble’ EP with the defining track ‘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, helping to start what was regarded by many as the 'Neurofunk' sound.

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. These days due to his non stop Club and Festival schedule the releases flow slightly slower but always to high critical acclaim. After joining BBC 1Xtra in 2002 at the station’s launch, he made his mark quickly. His 'Mix Show' was truly groundbreaking, creating a massive following worldwide, reluctantly calling it a day after two years with an constantly growing schedule proving too much. Numerous awards have followed, including ‘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 has gone 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. Around the same time he began to dabble with the Breaks scene, playing at select events around the world, joining Aquasky in the studio to produce the uncompromising anthem 'Control Freak', released on their 2007 'This Way Up' LP on Passenger. 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.

Twisted Individual

Twisted Individual's first releases were back in1998 wen u wernt even born, and for his debut produced Wales, the biggest track on earth and the now legendary World of Cock album. Seeing that he was onto a good thing, in 2001 DJ SS entrusted him 2 piss in his bed, and the seminal Lighter Rmx Was Born. Whilst working on his debut album he pieced together several jigsaw puzzles, two of the biggest that year.

Proving that he could mix the rough action with smooth talk, the Tooled Up! LP on Foolmation Records), he crafted an album that would get heads talking, and the crowds jumping showcasing the Twisted sound.

Following the success of Tooled Up!, Twisted found himself in the spotlight, with remix offers and DJ bookings beginning to flood in. Twisted was now able to showcase his skills on the decks all around the world. Picking up regular plays at all the major UK promotions including Slammin Vinyl, One Nation, Telepathy, Best of British, United Dance, Accelerated Culture, as well as residencies at all the Formation and World of Drum & Bass nights all over the World, Twisted is now an exclusive member of the top flight of D&B DJs. Always armed with a bag of fresh dubs to unleash on the crowds, his explosive partnership with MC Biggie has smashed many venues over the past few years. In this time Twisted has also been fortunate enough to have his travels take him all over the world, notching up stamps in his passport and champion hangovers everywhere from Germany to Estonia, USA to Australia, Spain to Brazil and pretty much everywhere else in-between.

As with any popular style of music, when something is successful, the masses will follow, and soon the Twisted clones started to fill the shelves of all the record shops. Not a man known for his restraint, in 2003 Twisted got back in the dungeon and cooked up a message to all those he felt were ripping his sound. Bandwagon Blues exploded onto the scene and instantly became an anthem with rewind after rewind ensuring this was a front runner in every DJs set. Off the back of his previous success and other tracks such as Rusty Sherrif's Badge, Heavy Metal, and Hand Grenade Twisted found himself up for 3 categories at the 2003 Accelerated Culture Awards, walking away with awards not only for Best Tune for Bandwagon Blues, but also Best Producer.

Since then Twisted has not stopped. Recent tracks such as 'Swan Cake', 'Konga remix' have kept him at the top of his game. His days are now filled with tours and DJ bookings as well as a spending time in the studio working on a whole variety of projects, dnb and beyond for his own Grid Recordings.

Chase and Status

How many artists / producers can count Jay Z, Snoop Dogg and Pharell as fans as well as drum and bass’ finest Andy C, Hype and Pendulum; enjoy heavy rotation in the hands of dub-step royalty such as N-Type and Skream; and have each release enthusiastically supported by Annie Mac and Zane Lowe? This is what Saul Milton and Will Kennard, producing under the name Chase & Status, have achieved in 5 years, and the highlight of their young career so far has been their debut LP ‘More Than Alot’ which has helped turned them into a unique urban phenomenon, and the biggest crossover act to come out of the underground since Pendulum.

They met at Manchester University through their mutual love of drum and bass in the mid nineties and have DJ’d ever since, waiting until 2004 for their first production, a remix for Future Cut (better known these days for their production work with Lily Allen). It was followed by a series of drum and bass anthems for the biggest underground labels including ‘Duppy Man’ for Breakbeat Kaos (home of Pendulum’s platinum selling debut album) in 2005 and ‘The Druids’ EP for DJ Zinc’s trendsetting Bingo label a year later. Their production work for Jenna G’s ‘In Love’ the same year earned them their first award, ‘Best Single’, as voted by over 40,000 listeners for the BBC 1Xtra Drum & Bass Awards.

Despite a high volume of releases on Ram Records and constant DJ work, Chase & Status managed to mastermind and release their debut album last year. Packed with the kind of drum and bass anthems that helped build their reputation, it also features tracks which show the diversity of their work: such as ‘Pieces’ featuring Plan B and the Radio 1 A-List single ‘Against All Odds’ featuring Kano. The result of the album is a thrilling journey through the UK urban scene and deserves its great title: ‘More Than Alot’. One track from the album ‘Eastern Jam’ was recently spotted by Snoop Dogg and newly released in April 2009 as ‘Snoop Dogg Millionaire’.

Chase & Status have recently been hailed as ‘The most exciting producers in the UK today’ by Pharell Williams of N*E*R*D fame, and the excitement around the pair doesn’t stop there. They have been asked to remix tracks by some of the world’s hottest artists including recent remixes of Jay Z’s ‘Death Of Auto-Tune’, The Prodigy’s ‘Invaders Must Die’ and White Lies ‘Death’.

Since signing a major publishing deal with Universal Publishing in May 2009 and working closely with Roc Nation, the duo have been involved in some fantastic productions, most significantly with Rihanna who has been quoted as calling the pair ‘the backbone’ of her new record.

If keeping themselves busy in the studio with multi-platinum artists and DJ commitments all around the World wasn’t enough, they have also booked in a 29 date live tour of the UK and Europe for the end of 2009. This will be their first ever live tour following on from the success of their ground breaking debut performances at the 2009 BBC Radio 1 Big Weekend and Relentless’ Nass Festival. Their new set up includes the amazing Andy Gangadeen on drums and appearances from vocalists including Plan B, Kano and Yolanda who all feature on ‘More Than Alot’. “The best new producers finally make it out of the studio. It will be worth it.” (Zane Lowe)

Looking forward to 2010, Chase & Status have signed a major record deal with Vertigo on Mercury Records and have already started working on new material for their second album, the first fruits of which entitled ‘End Credits’ feat. Plan B will appear on the up and coming film ‘Harry Brown’ featuring Sir Michael Caine.

Nero

NERO have become a big name in both the Drum and Bass and Dubstep scenes, often fusing both styles of music in their DJ sets. They started with DnB, joining DJ SS's Formation Records in the Summer of 2004. Since then Dan and Joe's tracks have caused quite a stir, gaining huge support from DJs like Andy C, Grooverider and Friction, as well as radio airplay from Zane Lowe, Jo Whiley, Pete Tong, Annie Mac, Rob Da Bank, Steve Lamacq and of course Fabio & Grooverider.

In June 2006 Nero released their acclaimed EP, "Requiem EP" on Formation Records. The EP featured 4 top tracks, Requiem, Bitch I'm Gone, Autopsy and Bad For the Brain. High Contrast included Bitch I'm Gone in his mix for the legendary Fabric Live series, Fabric Live 25.

This year sees Nero's first release on iconic label Breakbeat Kaos. The killer track 'Act Like You Know', backed with Sound in Motion and a dubstep edit of the title track, has been hitting dance floors across the world for the last year and was picked up by Fresh and Adam F.

Onto Dubstep.... Nero's debut dubstep release, 'This Way', became one of the biggest dubstep tunes of 2008 and is still selling big units across the world. Since then, Nero's consistent releases have made them one of the most talked about acts in dubstep. Their recent Remix of the Streets' tune 'Blinded by the Lights' has been a massive radio hit as well as a dance floor smasher played by DJ's from Chase and Status and Skream to Tiesto and Diplo. Nero are currently working on their debut dubstep album...

Dieselboy

The most recognized face and sound in American drum & bass belong to Dieselboy. An icon for American d&b for over a decade, he has become an international symbol of this volatile underground dance music movement. America’s best-selling d&b artist by far, Dieselboy was the first American to be voted into the UK-based Drum & Bass Arena Top 10 DJs 2004 online poll. Early in 2007, Dieselboy tag-teamed with d&b’s best-known superstar Goldie in Russia where they co-headlined a festival attended by over 25,000 junglists, and they shared headliner status again soon after at SXSW 2007 in Austin, Texas.

As a DJ, Dieselboy, born Damian Higgins, was an original pioneer in the early ‘90s spreading d&b in North America, first in Pittsburgh, then from Philadelphia, growing in popularity until he was criss-crossing the continent virtually nonstop. His popular mix-tapes and mix-CDs have been the gateway for countless fans to the high energy, futuristic, science fiction sound of d&b. Dieselboy’s style is characterized by flawless execution, meticulous pulse-quickening programming that not only excels at showcasing individual tracks but also creates an intense and epic cinematic atmosphere.

Based now in Brooklyn, Dieselboy is the most in-demand American d&b DJ on the international club, rave and festival circuits including the United Kingdom (home of d&b), Europe, Asia, Africa, Australia, and North and South Americas. Beyond the scene, Dieselboy, sponsored by DC Shoes, has played rock festivals and X-treme sports exhibitions. Few d&b artists can claim as hardcore a global cult following as Dieselboy’s.

As a producer, Dieselboy was the first d&b artist to chart a single on Billboard’s dance chart with “Invid” in 2000. In 2002, Dieselboy founded HUMAN, the d&b imprint of respected dynamic electronic dance music label System Recordings which launched in 2000, boasting Dieselboy as its first artist, and where he is still its best-selling artist. In 2003, Dieselboy was honored to be asked by highly respected, globally distributed DJ Magazine to create a mix showcasing American d&b entitled DJ World Series: D & B From The United States. In 2006 Dieselboy presented the first HUMAN IMPRINT compilation, a 2XCD set with a mix by producer/DJ crew Evol Intent of Atlanta and a CD of singles called The HUMAN Resource which debuted at #14 on the Billboard electronic album chart only behind non-dance competition such as Gorillaz, Madonna, Depeche Mode, Goldfrapp, and a Disney remix CD.

Born in Florida in 1972 and raised in Colorado with his two sisters by a single mom, young Damian Higgins played drums in his school marching band, and his hobbies included break dancing, skateboarding, videogames, reading, films and role-playing games. In his senior year of high school he DJ’ed a few dances fading between CDs, tape cassettes and a turntable. Then as a student at the University of Pittsburgh, Higgins threw house parties where he met two Carnegie Mellon University radio DJs who offered to teach him how to beat-match records at the station. Higgins was soon was playing on their weekly 6 hour-long radio show.

In 1994, on borrowed turntables, Higgins made a mix-tape called The Future Sound of Hardcore and offered it for $5 on rave-related Internet list servs. "Through that, people heard about me and I started getting bookings on the East Coast. It was a very slow process that eventually snowballed into my getting flown various places," which now extend to the six continents with d&b venues. In 1997, Nigel Richards, DJ and owner of 611 Records in Philadelphia, was looking for a roommate, so Higgins moved to Philly, became the d&b buyer for the store, and designed T-shirts and logos for 611. From 1998 to 2004 Dieselboy hosted “Platinum,” a weekly Thursday night event at Philadelphia club Fluid, which gained renown as North America’s premier d&b club night.

In 1998, Dieselboy tied with atmospheric d&b legend LTJ Bukem as “Best Drum & Bass DJ” at the Global DJ Mix Awards, also marking the first time an American had been nominated for the award. In 2000, Dieselboy’s track Invid became the first American track ever played at Goldie’s legendary London club, Metalheadz.

Each of Dieselboy’s albums has raised the bar for the mix-CD art form. He had the distinction of being the first American invited by British d&b label Suburban Base to make a mix cd of a compilation, Drum & Bass Selection USA (1996). Suburban Base had him follow up with 97 Octane (1997), this time allowing him to submit track suggestions, resulting in a more varied selection. In 1998, Nigel Richards gave Dieselboy full artistic control for his next mix-CD, 611 DJ Mix-Series Vol. One (1998), for which he even did the graphics. Always striving to create something different, in 1998 Dieselboy made a mix-tape called Director’s Cut which he had packaged in film cans, his first experiment in presenting a dance mix in a quasi-cinematic framework.

In 1999, on legendary dance music label Moonshine, Dieselboy’s A Soldier's Story was a comment on junglists' (who often called themselves "soldiers") second-class status in the scene, relegated to substandard rooms and sound systems, while house and trance DJs took center stage. It opened with his first original cd “intro” and marked his debut as a producer with Atlantic State, co-produced with Technical Itch (Mark Caro) of Bristol, England. On his next Moonshine mix, System Upgrade (2000), his intro featured a clever sample from the Ghost in the Shell movie. His mix prominently featured emerging American producers Hive and E-Sassin.

Later in 2000, Palm Pictures released Dieselboy’s The 6ixth Session, a cyborg-themed mix described by the Washington Post as “hard-edged hyperdriven dance music,” which marked the beginning of Dieselboy’s VIP remix phase. Also for the first time he bundled a second unmixed CD with original tracks.

For projectHUMAN (2002), Dieselboy presented a mix framed as a movie trailer, hiring movie trailer voice extraordinaire Don LaFontaine for his intro and outro. projectHUMAN was also Dieselboy’s first foray into massive remix commissioning, most of the tracks featuring American producers remixing UK and other international producers, and vice versa.

For his next mix-CD, The Dungeonmaster’s Guide (2004), Dieselboy asked Peter Cullen, well-known for his work as the cartoon voice of the Transformers’ Optimus Prime, to be the voice of the Dungeonmaster who introduces the d&b fantasy and appears throughout the mix to narrate phases of the journey. Again Dieselboy commissioned remixes, this time asking d&b producers from around the world to remix tracks by non-d&b dance music luminaries including Tiesto, Sasha, BT and Josh Wink.

Dieselboy has played metal concerts with Orgy and Disturbed, and was the only d&b artist invited by rock superstar Moby for his Area2 national tour that also included David Bowie, Busta Rhymes, Blue Man Group, Tiesto, and Digweed. Dieselboy has been booked for the second U.S. Virgin Festival at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, Maryland in the fall of 2007, where he shares the bill with Smashing Pumpkins, the Police, Beastie Boys, Wu-Tang Clan, Interpol, and Velvet Revolver.

Always seeking innovative ways to build bridges within the d&b community, Dieselboy has toured with other DJs such as Technical Itch & Decoder, DJ Rap, DJ Fresh, Bad Company UK, and Hive, expanding exposure for their respective fans as well as creating interesting bills for promoters.

In 2000 Dieselboy united with two other North American d&b legends, AK1200 (Dave Minner, Orlando, FL) and Irish ex-pat DJ Dara (Darragh Guilfoyle, New York, NY), to create an annual super-tour, the Planet of the Drums. Dieselboy brings his trademark hard edgy pyrotechnics, Dara a mellower dub/reggae flavored vibe, with AK1200’s arsenal tearing up the space between, but when these three forces of nature tag-team, with MC Messinian (James Fiorella, Philadelphia, PA) hyping the crowd, the combined effect is magical mayhem. 2007 marks POTD’s 8th North American tour, making it the longest running annual electronic dance music tour of any sub-genre. The Planet of the Drums proudly claims credit for moving d&b out of the side rooms and onto the main stage.