At last we catch with the elusive DJ Fu. although he seems to be playing out more than ever with European and worldwide dates of late, actually catching up with him for a chat is nigh on impossible.  After hearing that he was about to start up a new night Free Range and had been given an idea of some of the future lineups, I insisted he give Blunted the inside story. This DJ from Bromley, now resident in Oxford has already made quite a name for himself. However,  I think it’s fair to say he will continue his ascendancy in the foreseeable future, if you see him on a lineup or haven’t been to one of his nights, make it a priority.

Yes Fu, you good?

Yes mate, good to be back on Blunted.

Too right, haha. Busy summer?

Yeah man been fairly busy, sorting out my new promo video with Jungle Drummer & Stamina MC filmed by Yakuza Studios (spot the Blunted t-shirt). I’ve been doing a few festivals Gatecrasher, Audio River (Poland) Summer Break (Romania), NASS Skate Festival, The Tuesday Club, One Nation and Random Concept.

Nice, glad to see some European bookings in there. First and foremost a DJ but you have been known to dabble in promotion and MCing(!).  You’ve been promoting Hit & Run for the last 5 years; tell us a bit more about that?

Sykane and Hassan asked me to get involved with running the night, I had been a resident for a while and helping out with the promotion was just a natural step.  To be honest, I never thought I would get so involved. It’s definitely very time consuming and has been difficult for me to balance relationships, practice and sleep with it.

I remember checking those nights back in the day.  All about Rich Reason wearing a skirt whilst playing the bongo’s, haha. Over time it’s reputation and attendance’s grew. It became extremely successful and now it’s come to it’s conclusion.  Why did you finish it up?

I never started Hit & Run and I wanted something that was mine and no one could ever discredit me for that. I felt the brand was being over-valued in relation to how much work I was doing and all the contacts that I brought with me.

Fair enough, but it’s not all bad news, you and your trusted partner in crime Charris have started another night called Free Range.  What’s the concept behind the name and the night?

Well I suppose the first thing is I’m free to do my own thing.  I think musically the night has a wide range of sounds and DJs.   Having all 3 rooms of the academy means you are all free to roam around the building and check out DJs and music you might not have seen and experienced otherwise.

Like it, like it. Can you give the people out there a flavour of the nights you have in store?

We’ve got DJs like Friction, Yoda, Dillinja, Benga, N-type, Logistics, Count Skyarkin’ and live acts such as Virus Syndicate, myself and Jungle Drummer and Leeds award winning band Gentleman’s Dub Club.  We are a strong supporter of up and comings DJs such as B-Ill, Flawless, Darkman, Heartless P & Mr.Lager. We boast the best residents in Oxford in my opinion. Since winning our DJ competition,  B-Ill has really come on leaps and bounds.  Now co-hosting the Free Range radio show on FM107.9, Flawless ranked in the top 20 in the Drum and Bass Arena DJ comp that had thousands and thousands of entries.  Mr Lager has recently had his tunes dropped on 1xtra and getting rewinds in The End night club. Heartless P another DJ to enter the Oxford scene through our DJ competition an excellent turntablist who has taken to the DMC DJ Championships this year and is soon to rank amongst the best in the UK.

POW!  Looks like Oxford’s in for some treats! You got Woody appearing soon and we have an interview with him coming up – you looking forward to having him down?

Yeah man I’ve always been a great fan of his and judging by the mix he’s passed to you guys it will be OFF THE SCALE ……

Yeah, I’ve had a preview of the mix, those Oxford students are in for a treat. Your scratch skills are almost un-paralleled but who do you look up to in terms of DJing?

Originally I looked up to hip hop DJs, people like Mr.thing, Skully, Shorty Blitz and then I started learning about the American DJs people like Craze, Develop, P Trix.  I then started to appreciate all-round skills of a DJs like set structures and more about mixing and putting sets together rather than just technique.  I started watching more drum and bass DJs like Marky, Andy C, Zinc.  These days I’ve been checking DJ EZ, I don’t really like garage culture, being ‘bad boy’, wearing polished shoes and girls that don’t have a brain cell between them. Some of the tunes are pretty good accept the ones with sped up chip munk R’n'B bootleg vocals on them. Despite all those things I hate about Garage, EZ is still a sick DJ and is easily a recent inspiration to me.  I think someone who is a less obvious inspiration is the Jungle Drummer.  Despite being a drummer he is very clued up on what works and what doesn’t and has been great in pushing me musically and as a performer.

Some interesting names right there. Any plans for production?

Yes definitely, but more working with established producers. As I said earlier it has been hard trying to juggle everything with my time. I have taken a step back from the Wednesday nights (Free Range at The Cellar Bar, Oxford).  I have been talking with Logistics and N type about possible collaborations on production.

Cool, cool. Thanks for taking the time to speak to us.  As for Free Range, I’m already looking forward to checking some of the line ups. Can people get involved with your night?

Yes if you’re interested in getting involved email freerangepromotions at gmail dot com

Lastly – your shout outs, big ups –

Big up to the mighty Jungle Drummer, Risky @ Drum and Bass Arena, Logistics, N type, Charris, Mantmast, Script, all the Blunted crew, ss20, Ryouki, Stamina MC, Lowqui, Jerona Fruits, FM 107.9, Scheme, Subterra, B-Ill, Lazcru, Hydro, Commix , Harry Shotta, Yakuza studios, Knowledge