FYI.

This story is over 5 years old.

Music

Next Hype: Friend Within

A bacon-loving producer with the balls (and the skills) to take on the Renegade Master.

You know the track "Renegade Master." Of course you do. That rave anthem is like the ABCs of dance music. When those big, cheery beats and freewheeling saxophones come on, even Dina Lohan would have to pause, look up blearily from clawing through her bottle of Xanax, and croak along: "Back once again with the ill behavior, D4 damager, with the ill behavior."

Roger McKenzie, aka Wildchild, was the dude behind the 1995 original. He died from an undiagnosed heart condition a year after the track came out, his talent indisputably unfulfilled. Fatboy Slim's remix etched the hit into history, and it's been snipped, scrambled, and turned inside out by innumerable producers since—yet we all can't stop loving it.

Advertisement

So when Disclosure dropped a "Renegade Master" remix in their XLR8R podcast earlier this year, suddenly everyone wanted to know who the fuck had the balls (and the skills) to whip up such a fresh take on the beaten-down-but-still-beloved classic. Turns out it was the Liverpool newcomer Friend Within, whose plumped-up, garaged-out rework has since racked up almost 100,000 views on YouTube. So here's our attempt to get more info about cat-loving, bacon-gobbling, sitcom-obsessed producer. Enjoy.

THUMP: Where are you from?
Friend Within: Liverpool, England.

One line about your hometown?
The Beatles, Cilla Black, Friend Within, in no particular order.

How did you get your name?
There's a cat that comes into my garden. I don't know its name so I started calling it 'friend,' like in that scene from The Inbetweeners. "Within" just came from a few seconds of random thinking.

What labels do you record for?
Dirtybird, Hypercolour, Method Records (which is partly run by Disclosure), and Pets.

Other than a club or a house, what's the best environment to hear your music?
A garden shed full of plastic balls with a gin and tonic in hand.

What are your favorite sounds right now?
Sizzling bacon and a tuba.

What is a "donk" to you and do you ever "put a donk on it"?
Le Donk is a very good film by Shane Meadows featuring acting luminaries Paddy Considine and Olivia Colman. You should see it. It is impossible for me to answer the second half of your question.

Advertisement

What are your thoughts on this revival of the UK garage and jungle sounds?
My jungle knowledge is virtually nonexistent but I did love early UK garage. I'm talking 1997, before it went all 2-step. I still love the deep, jazzy, moody vibes of that stuff so as long as it there are still new ideas being thrown into the mix, I say let it continue.

Name three non-musical inspirations.
Whiskey, love, and the internet.

Who is one up-and-coming artist you think we should look out for, and why?
Take a look at The Golden Boy. He's released on Ministry of Sound's latest label HK Records and all his output has been top-notch.

What's next for you?
"The Renegade" is out on October 13 along with Paul Woolford's Special Request remix and three other tracks of mine. I've been doing a lot of remixes which are out soon: John Legend, Bondax, Wankelmut, Lethal Bizzle, G Logan.Lots of touring around Europe and knuckling down in the studio too.

Friend Within's The Renegade EP drops October 13 on Method Records.