Introduction
Ed Keeley(born May 1977), better known by his stage name Friction, is a drum and bass producer and DJ from Brighton, England. He runs his own record label, Shogun Audio, and has a regular overnight show on BBC Radio 1.
Biography
Brighton-raised Friction is one of only a handful of drum and bass DJs to utilise three decks to mash up his mixes, creating a unique sound. As a teenager Friction was busy playing and promoting events in Brighton when he began collaborating with local producers Stakka & K-Tee who were heavily involved in Andy C's Ram Records label.
In 1998 Friction released his debut single "Critical Mass" under the stage name Kinnetix, attracting the attention of major labels. Soon he was releasing tracks on renowned labels such as Valve, Tru Playaz, Trouble On Vinyl, 31 Records, Hospital, Charge and Renegade Hardware alongside his own Shogun Audio imprint.
Friction is regarded as one of the biggest DJs in the drum and bass scene, with an extremely fast rise to success. Highly regarded for his various mix CDs and releases on labels like Hospital, Tru Playaz and Renegade Hardware. One of his biggest tracks was the "Back To Your Roots Remix" on Shogun Audio in 2007.
He is label manager of Shogun Audio, and was a regular DJ on the BBC 1Xtra D&B M1X Show. Friction is not to be confused with Birmingham-based DJ Fricktion who specialises in Open Format Genres, or Bobby Friction of the BBC Asian Network.
Friction has collaborated several times with British singer-songwriter and rapper Example. Since Friction's 2011 remix of his #1 hit single "Changed the Way You Kiss Me", Example has co-written songs for Friction ("Led Astray" and "Long Gone Memory") and Friction has co-produced an album track for Example ("Snakeskin"). Friction also collaborated with English electronic musician Skream in the 2013 song "Kingpin" (featuring UK grime MCs Scrufizzer, P Money and Riko Dan from Roll Deep). On 10 January 2012, BBC Radio 1's Zane Lowe made Friction's song "Led Astray" his Hottest Record in the World.
On Monday, 2 April 2012, Friction started presenting his own drum and bass show on BBC Radio 1 on Mondays from 2am to 4am. The show has now moved to Sundays from 3am to 5am and is also simulcast on BBC Radio 1Xtra.
In March 2016, he launched the label "Elevate Audio". Its first release was Friction's Dare EP with the title track, Dare (Hold It Down) containing an interpolation of Gorillaz' 2005 song Dare.
Accolades
Friction has won numerous accolades such as:
- Best Newcomer in the Drum & Bass Arena Awards (2002).
- Best Breakthrough DJ at Knowledge Awards (2003).
- Best Newcomer at Accelerated Culture Awards.
- Best DJ at MTV Romania Awards (2007).
- Runner Up Best DJ at Drum & Bass Awards 2009.
- Runner Up Best DJ at Drum & Bass Awards 2011.
- Hall Of Fame in the Drum & Bass Arena Awards (2011).
- Best Radio Show for his BBC Radio 1 show at Drum & Bass Awards 2013.
- Runner up Best DJ at Drum & Bass Awards 2013.
- Best Radio Show for his BBC Radio 1 show at Drum & Bass Awards 2014
- Drum and Bass Awards 2012 Results. Drum and Bass Awards. Retrieved on 27 February 2013.