Shogun Audio label boss and veteran DJ, Friction is really a drum and bass name which hardly needs an introduction. His Dj sets are renowned and hes been known to rock the 3 deck mixes as well. 

Since he founded Shogun with K Tee hes built it into one of the most prestigious labels in Drum and Bass with tunes from artists as varied as Noisia, Klute, Alix Perez and Spor.  Hes also built a name for Shogun's sister label SGN:LTD.  

We caught up with Friction ahead of the release of his new summer tune Someone to talk to him about his influences, life as a DJ and what's coming up next for Shogun Audio. 

 Example : Tell us something interesting about you that we probably don't know.  

Friction:  I had professional cricket trials when i was younger. Never made the cut tho.

Example :  If you don't think you'd ended up in music what do you think you would be  doing?

Friction: Selling cars most probably!

Example :  What was the first piece of music you bought and why?  

Friction :  Think it was the Happy Mondays - Step On. A lot of my friends were into bands. Happy Mondays had a little dance feel to their music and it kinda lead me into rave.

Example:  Last piece of music you bought and why?

Friction:  Bought the SBTRKT LP on itunes last night.

Example : Dream collaboration with anyone?

Friction : Dr Dre

 Example : Why the name Friction and why the  name Shogun? 

Friction: Friction had no real story tbh. I was young and just thought it was a cool name. Shogun came after I first went to Japan. I always wanted to have my own label with artists writing music for it and loved japanese typography. I was sold after that trip basically!

Example:  Opinion on Rupert Murdoch? 

Friction :  Well firstly I'd say it's definitely been a good advert for Karma after all the lives that he had ruined whilst making his millions. The pie thing was quite funny but spoiled things in a way as it almost made him look human.

Example : A tune which changed your life?  

Friction : PFM - The Western - GLR

Example:  Funniest / Craziest thing you think has ever happened to you whilst touring as a DJ ?

Friction : Wasn't funny, more crazy but i left my records in the back of a taxi in Beijing a couple of years back when i was very drunk at about 4am. There are 15,000 licensed taxis in Beijing and they all look exactly the same and somehow the bellboy in the hotel managed to track them down for me. Luck was with me that night!

 Example :  Weirdest ever request? 

Friction :  This is a family magazine so i wont go into detail but it involved a fan wanting me to get to know his girlfriend a bit better!

  Example :  You've just dropped your Someone EP. Tell us a bit about it? 

Friction :  'Someone' is a dancefloor / liquid style dnb track ft. Mclean on vox ft. remixes by The Prototypes and Rockwell. It also features another new track called 'Flip The Page'

Example :  You've mentioned in recent interviews about broadening shogun's horizons. Recent releases such as the 2nd Evo EP and also the new Someone EP are definitely on a slightly different vibe to some previous Shogun output.  Do you worry that going in a new direction with Shogun could alienate people who have grown to know and love that certain something that Shogun releases have? 

 Friction:  Its not so much that we are a going in a new direction, more that we are adding an extra string to our bow. We wont be alienating anyone as we'll always be releasing cutting edge music.

Example : 3 tunes that are never out of your box at the moment ? 

Friction:  Spor Aztec, Icicle - Minimal Funk, Capone - Friday

Example :  Whats in the pipeline next? 

Friction :  Early stages of writing an LP at the mo, touring and working with the other artists to sort all their upcoming releases. 

You can pre-order Someone By Friction on Itunes now... OUT ON 8th August

www.shogunaudio.co.uk / www.twitter.com/frictionshogun www.youtube.com/shogunaudio