The shit hot mystery producer setting dancefloors alight with smash after smash after smash
Words : Dan Prince
Welcome to DMCWORLD – whoever the fuck you are!! Well let’s begin with what we do, you make great music! A brand new EP has been smashing up dance floors for a few weeks now and out on Claude Von Stroke’s all firing Dirtybird stable. Two pieces of most excellent tunage, talk us through this audio delight…
“The Game and The Hollow are instrumental jams that I like to think get down to the essence of what a dancefloor is looking for. Humble beats and playful bass riffs. They work for me anyway. It’s out now.”
You provided Skream & Benga with an exclusive mixtape recently for their Radio 1 show, they were trying to figure out just who this ‘veteran DJ or producer’ was. Why have you chosen the route of the mysterious unknown for this dance music guise?
“This music I’m making now is different to what I was known for previously, so I didn’t want any preconceptions. When I was sending demos to Dirtybird and Hypercolour I wanted them to be judged on their own merits so I set up a new email address and sent them anonymously.”
You have been all over the airwaves in recent weeks with your Turntable Orchestra remix of ‘You’re Gonna Miss Me’, a massive house anthem from back in the day. Why did you choose this track to put your touch to?
“Simply I got asked to remix it and fell in love with the original, so just had to do it.”
Annie Mac was all over your new ‘The Relate’ track last week, talk us through the tune…
“It’s kind of quirky and has a funky energy to it. Catz n Dogz picked it up for their label, Pets Recordings. I’ve seen a great video of them playing it at BPM festival. It’s out now on their ‘Friends Will Carry You Home Too’ compilation.”
Right let’s try and get to the bottom of this mystery man act. So you’re from the Liverpool area that little we do know. Would we have seen you at Cream back in the day?
“No, never been to Cream.”
What is the current top 10 you are spinning right now, let’s see if there any clues in there…
Friend Within – The Game [Dirtybird]
Squarehead_-_No_One_Has_To_Know
Turntable Orchestra – Your’re Gonna Miss Me (Friend Within Remix)
Hauswerks – Shake Your Body
Friend_Within – The_Relate [Pets]
Origin – Heaven
Friend Within – Renegade Master re-fix
Kry Wolf – Together (Makes_No_Sense_remix)
Bodhi – Culture
Hackman – You Should Make Me
Ibiza is just around the corner, Claude Von Stroke has a nice little Dirtybird residency at Sankeys that is getting everyone excited. Are you on the bill there this summer?
“Watch this space…”
Hmmm, well give us a little help here. How many members make up Friend Within?
“At least one.”
Can you remember Sasha when he had hair?
“Does he have alopecia now?”
Not as far as I know. Have you ever played vinyl in a club?
“Yes.”
Who were the artists you were listening to when you were growing up that set you on dance music’s way…?
“I had a rave cassette tape called Kaos Theory that I played incessantly. I’ve got a lot of Wildchild and Inland Knights records.”
If I asked you for some new jack swing would you point me in the direction of a playground or spin me some Teddy Riley?
“I’d tell you about Keith Sweat and New Edition.”
Okay enough of that. Tell us all about the forthcoming remix of ‘Renegade Master’ that has everyone from Disclosure and Heidi in the spin…
“The original track is one of my favourite tunes ever. I think it was the first 12” I ever bought. I just wanted to make an updated version and it seems to have really caught on. I thought there would be people coming out saying how could I do such a thing to a classic, but everyone seems to like it so far.”
What is coming out next from our mysterious Friend Within…
“There’s a 4-track EP coming on Hypercolour; a remix for Ben Pearce’s label, plus a couple of others. One more track on Dirtybird called ‘The Pull’ is coming on their Dirtybird Players series. Lastly, I’ve signed an EP to an exciting new label headed by one of the biggest producers right now.”
And you’ve got a busy few months ahead…
“Yes I have, I’m going to keep trying to write fresh music and play some DJ sets. I’ve got about 10 gigs lined up over the UK in the coming months so it’s exciting”
And finally. Will there ever be an unmasking?
“Ask me again later Dan….”
Friend Within ‘The Game’ on Dirtybird is out now
http://www.facebook.com/FriendWithin
