Jfb is a turntablist, DJ and producer from the United Kingdom, based in Brighton. He works with scratching, beatjuggling and mixing, and his sets cover drum and bass, hip-hop, breaks, dub, jazz, funk and beats.

Early work and local scene

Jfb begins mixing and scratching on local pirate radio in 1996, initially playing drum and bass. He develops his style through scratching and then spends several years playing party hip-hop instrumentals around the Brighton area. In 1999 he takes a residency at Meltdown, then widely regarded as a leading local drum and bass night, and also plays occasional dates at London’s Movement night.

He later holds further residencies at Oceanrooms, Substance and Minimelt. During this period he also scratches with the improvised jazz act VogueGyrator and jams with musicians including J’m’Black and Kirsten Elliot. These regular performances help build his crowd control and local following.

Production and releases

In 2002 Jfb gets a computer and starts home production with 3EN, forming a project called Abstractivity. The following year he wins the Vestax championship at Endclub and releases his first EP, NoDestination, on OneEyeRecords. He follows this with Ritz on Hospital Records and Pompayup on CookshopRecords.

These releases raise his profile and lead to more regular bookings abroad, including in Austria, Romania and Bulgaria.

Collaboration and live performance

From 2004, Jfb works with Deekline, Wisard, DonnaDee and Ills, who use his scratching in their music. He also begins DJing with Ed Solo and scratches for artists including Evil Nine, Tc Islam, Brockie and Pressure Drop.

In 2005 he expands further into beatjuggling. That same period leads to the development of Battlejam, a live event built around beatboxing and turntablism. He works with Beardyman in testing ideas, records Beardyman live using Serato, and performs with beatjuggling and scratching alongside beatboxing. The night becomes a regular platform for live electronic performance.

Recognition and equipment work

Jfb wins the DMC Championship in 2007 and the Vestax Championship in 2003. He also reviews the Serato TTM57SL mixer for DJ Mag, which leads to work reviewing Numark’s VirtualVinyl video scratching kit.

Style

His ongoing work centres on mixing, beatjuggling and scratching across drum and bass, hip-hop, breaks, dub, jazz, funk and beats, with performances in venues across Europe.