Andrew Friendly Interview

Currently, he juggles a club night, The FFuss at London's Catch 22, a record label - Gulp - and his solo and band productions. Milke's new single 'Your Love', a cover of the Frankie Knuckles classic, is out at the end of January and the single release party is on 27th January at Catch 22. DJmag.com caught up with him to discuss all of this and more...

You've covered 'Your Love' with your band Milke. Is this a particular favourite track? What kind of twist have you added to it?

"It's like a live band version of it - half live, but still with some electronics. I just thought it would suit Ra's vocal really well, and it was one of the first house tracks ever, so I thought is was slightly ironic to do a band version of it, 'cos that was formed originally from band music, from disco, so it was a bit of a return back, a full circle. So we started doing it live, and we didn't want to release a single like, here's our proper single, but to do something different that we wouldn't necessarily want to put on the album."

So there's an album forthcoming?

"We've got loads of tracks now, and quite a bit of interest in it."

What's the vibe with your new club night The FFuss?

"We started four months ago now, and I wanted to do something that was really music based that would still appeal to the trendy Shoreditch kids, 'cos I would go to all these club nights, and there'd be cool kids there, but the music would be shit. The DJs literally couldn't even mix, or they'd just be playing Michael Jackson mixed into Justice, and it just really started to wind me up. There's no reason why there couldn't be great music and a really hype crowd as well. That's why I started it up, somewhere I could drag my friends, and we could listen to good music. It's free, it's on a Sunday, and loads of people have started turning up, and we've got a wicked regular crowd.

"We've got some top people playing down there as well, like Jonjo, David E. Sugar, people like that. We have space for live acts, so we try to put on a live act every time. Obviously my band Milke play down there, and then this guy called Black Peter, this kind of lo-fi trash, rap artist, from New York is playing as well. We're mixing that with DJs."

What's going on with your solo moniker, Andrew Friendly?

"I've got another single coming up on my record label which is called 'Let's Fuck', and I've just finished the B-side to that called 'The Horse'. The label (Gulp) is going quite well, we did just have distribution through Beatport but now we're gonna be going through iTunes and DJ Download too, so that'll be cool.

"We've actually got a roster now as well, Black Peter I'm working with, and this other Shoreditch duo called Joe and Will Ask. They remixed Milke and they've been playing around loads at clubs like Boombox, and they're really fresh."

You originally started out on a breaks tip, but seem to have moved increasingly towards a more electro sound. Are there any acts or producers in particular that have been floating your boat recently?

"Not because they're on my label, but I would definitely have to say Joe and Will Ask, because they sound a little like Justice, but more clubby, and their remix of 'Your Love' is awesome. Plus I get their tracks upfront so I don't have to worry that everyone else has got them. I like the kind of Switch and Hervé sound, but when people play them too much it feels a bit like a hype upon hype sort of thing. Some of the Dirty South stuff is good as well, because it has that dirty sound but it's quite clubby as well."

What's next for Andrew Friendly?

"Trying to juggle all the plates! Our gigs are ongoing, so they're just leading up to the release of the single. There's the launch party on 27th January, and we're going to do a sportswear special, so everyone's got to come up in their glam trackies and aerobics gear. I feel like one of those plate spinners, and every time one of the plates gets a wobble I have to give it a bit of attention, but all the different areas link in together."