| Biography | Bobby joined the BBC in 2002 co-presenting with Nihal on BBC Radio 1 on the Sony Gold award winning 'Bobby Friction & Nihal presents' - and joined the BBC Asian Network in 2005 presenting the station's Saturday afternoon 'Album Chart Show', before moving to 'The Mix', on Sunday afternoons.
He is now presenting the week nightly Friction show on the Network, which like the Radio 1 programme is regarded worldwide as the gold standard for Asian Music & Desi Beats.
Bobby, who is from West London, is a hugely influential figure on the Asian club scene and a sought after broadcaster with wide appeal to Asian youth. He won his 2nd Gold Sony award in 2005 for his BBC documentary on the Elections and the BNP in Burnley called 'Vote Friction', and completed a hat trick after winning his 3rd Sony Gold in 2007 for his Friction show the BBC Asian Network.
His career as a DJ started with a residency at the legendary Swaraj @ The Blue Note, which showcased new Asian talent and sounds from across the Asian musical world in the late 90s. He was also the first resident DJ at the equally renowned Shaanti club at The Custard Factory, in Birmingham, the first Asian club outside of London which mixed up various genres from across the Asian music scene.
Over the years Bobby has represented British Asian sound as a DJ all over the world and has built an international reputation as a genre mixing turntabilist from Asia to the US, and from the Middle East to the whole of Europe.
He was one of the founder members of the band Ecostani and still works alongside The Infinite Scale, his production partner. They been recording their own original material for the last nine years and theyve worked on numerous remixes, taking in Electronica to Bhangra, House to Hip-Hop, through Bollywood and back again.
Bobby has also recorded tracks with the Mercury Music Award nominated Black Star Liner, starred in the BBC 1 documentary This England and fronted the Channel 4 TV show Bollywood Star. He has also presented documentaries The Countryside Sucks & Generation 7/7 for Channel 4 and is a regular face on TV in the UK.
His British Asian Urban compilation Friction (On Sony India) sold a quarter of a million copies in the sub-continent and stayed at number 1 in the charts for 14 weeks. It has quite simply been a phenomenon and is seen by many across Asia as THE definitive album of the British/US Asian music scene. Friction 2 has been released and Bobby recently signed a three album deal with Sony BMG India.
Bobby also co-released Bobby Friction & Nihal Presents (V2 Records) with Nihal his Radio 1 partner at the end of 2004 and it has also come to be seen as a definitive Asian compilation for the UK and Europe, and a great reflection of the music they play on Radio 1.
Bobby is a recognised specialist in British Asian music and Desi Beats worldwide - but is first and foremost, and will always be, a massive fan of music! |