On Friday 29th June 2007, a guy I know headed up to London with a bag full of records and came back a UK champ. JFB, Brighton DJ and producer, performed in the final DMC UK Championship heat for six minutes, wowed the packed out Empire in Shepherd’s Bush and more importantly impressed the judges, who included DJ Daredevil, Mr Thing, Cutmaster Swift, Netik, Billy Biznizz, and Matman.

The DMC heats traveled up and down the wet countryside all summer. JFB pushed through in the Bournemouth heat in early June. As the UK champ, JFB will go on to compete against the world’s best DJs and turntablists from Mexico, Australia, China, Norway, America and heaps of other countries for the DMC World Championship crown on Saturday 6th October and Sunday 7th October 2007 at Indig02 in London. JFB, with his sick beatjuggling and scratching abilities, will no doubt rise above the competitors. In Brighton, you can catch JFB DJing every Saturday night at a trendier-than-thou bar called Riki Tiks in the North Laine, or if you’re a mate, you can just go hang out in his studio and check out his latest tracks.

JFB’s August Drum n Bass Mix (2007) — Tracklisting
Top Rankin – HighRankin – Dub
Comebotty - ? – Dub
Dubroom – Bennypage Rhythm Beater rmx – CutterzChoice
Turndownthelights - Bennypage – Soundboy
Checkpoint – Ed Solo – Dub
Chains – Ed Solo & JFB – Dub
The Burial – Logistics Remix - V
BeardyBeatz 1 – Beardyman & Ed Solo – Dub
BeardyBeatz 2 – Beardyman & EdSolo - Dub
PandaStyle – LAOS – Hospital Records
SoundClash – Xample – Frequency Recordings
Quickpasta – JFB – Dub
Weather – HighRankin – Dub
Milk bottle – JFB & Ed Solo – Dub
Too Bad – Taxman – Frontline Records
Luminous Colours – PRS – Dub
Living Dangerously – PRS – Dub
He That – Double O – DZR
Always There – Ed Solo – Supercharged Records

[A note on the dub recordings: Using 3 Serato scratch setups, 4 decks, a PSP, 2 laptops, outboard delays/reverbs, some musicians and a 16-channel mixing desk, JFB and Ed Solo (Undiluted, Supercharged record labels) bring the traditional dub set up, as used by Lee Scratch Perry and the Mad Professor, up to date. With the popularity of Dubstep at the moment, they are looking at taking the setup on the road with a number of vocalists and musicians. Total sonic manipulation is now possible. -- words provided by Rob @ Don’t Panic, Brighton]

I ran into JFB about three weeks after he won the DMC UK Championship. He was flyering outside of Audio, a nightclub near the Brighton seafront, for his monthly night Battle Jam, which he runs with his good friend and collaborator, beatboxer Beardyman (also a UK champ). Inside Audio, DJ Zinc was deep into his two-hour pipe-banging drum n bass set. The walls were glistening.“You going inside?” I asked JFB. He shook his head and looked to the ground. “Nu-uh. It’s gonna be full of sweaty guys and they’re all gonna be like, ‘JFB, have you heard this track?’ Fuck that.”

We decided to join forces and look for a party. JFB wanted to find girls – “yeah, lots of pretty girls.” As we walked, I advised JFB he needed to hang out with more girls, which was my logic for hanging out with lots of guys – so I could meet cute boys. “Yeah,” he said, “I get what you’re saying.” We couldn’t find any parties so we went back to JFB’s place, where rolling papers were pulled out and new tracks were slapped on. I drank the dregs of two wine bottles. I asked JFB about winning the championship. ”Oh, it’s alright,” he said with a modest shrug. “No big deal.” It was about 6am when we all finally went home.

Having known JFB for years, meeting him through Nottingham drum n bass DJ V-Chip, and worked with him on several projects, it’s hard to write about a technically awesome DJ who also happens to be the most modest artist I’ve ever come across. Despite being a previous UK championship winner (Movement/Vestax 2003 DJ Competition), you will see JFB pounding the streets for hours, passing out flyers for his own nights and talking to passing groups of people. As a producer, he has worked with many musical legends such as Evil 9, I’lls, Tc Islam, Brockie, Deekline, McDet, and Skool of Thought, and yet if you were to complement a set, he’d tell you to shut up. JFB’s richer and more interesting collaborations, however, are the ones with his two close friends here in Brighton, Beardyman and drum n bass dj/producer Ed Solo. Quite a few tracks from the boys feature on JFB’s latest drum n bass mix, which is literally hot off the press.

You Tube
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KF8zu4ac-rg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y9qX5dO-I_U
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9qXf-thapZ4
http://youtube.com/watch?v=gqM4Xuu_YCw

Myspace
http://www.myspace.com/jfbdj
http://www.myspace.com/battlejam

JFB’s Upcoming Shows
Catch him scratching live in preparation for the DMC World Championship every Saturday evening @ Riki Tiks, Brighton.

10 August, Block Rock, London
10 August, Bust the Box: D for Darfur @ Concorde2, Brighton
15 August, With Scratch Perverts, Supercharged @ Audio, Brighton
18 August (daytime), Loop Festival, Brighton
(evening), Slackers Convention’s 5th Birthday @ Concorde 2, Brighton
13 September, Movement, London
6 October, World DMC Finals, 02 Dome, London
19 October, BattleJam @ Audio, Brighton

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