Friction

There are multiple artists by the name of Friction: 1.) Friction is an influential rock band from Japan, originally formed under the name Circle Triangle Square in 1971 as an avant-garde music group, by bassist Reck, saxophonist Chico Hige, and drummer Sakuro Watanabe in Tokyo, Japan. In the mid 70's, Reck and Chico went to the United States to perform, and ended up joining the Teenage Jesus and the Jerks, and later became the original members of James Chance & The Contortions before returning back to Japan.

1.) Friction is an influential rock band from Japan, originally formed under the name Circle Triangle Square in 1971 as an avant-garde music group, by bassist Reck, saxophonist Chico Hige, and drummer Sakuro Watanabe in Tokyo, Japan. In the mid 70's, Reck and Chico went to the United States to perform, and ended up joining the Teenage Jesus and the Jerks, and later became the original members of James Chance & The Contortions before returning back to Japan.

Renaming Circle Triangle Square to form Friction, they recruited guitarist Tsunematsu Masatoshi, who had studied art at the Tokyo National University of Fine Arts & Music. They released a live album and single in 1979, and their first studio album, Atsureki (??, meaning 'friction' in Japanese) in 1980, produced by Ryuichi Sakamoto. Tsunematsu left the band in December 1980 to become an artist, and from then on Friction has had numerous guest instrumentalists for lives and studio releases, all revolving around frontman Reck. The live video titled Dumb Numb was directed by Sogo Ishii. Towards the year 2000, Friction went on hiatus when Reck started producing for other musicians, but restarted in 2007.

2.) DJ Friction (real name Ed Keeley) is a drum and bass artist hailing from Brighton, United Kingdom. In 1998 Friction released his debut single Critical Mass under the name 'Kinnetix', attracting the attention of major labels. Soon he was releasing tracks on renowned labels such as Valve, Tru Playaz, Trouble On Vinyl, 31 Records, Hospital Records, Charge and Renegade Hardware alongside his own Shogun Audio imprint.

DJ Friction is regarded as one of the biggest DJs in the drum and bass scene, with an extremely fast rise to success in the last 5 years. Highly regarded for his various mix CDs and releases on labels like Hospital, Tru Playaz and Renegade Hardware. One of his biggest tracks was the "Back To Your Roots Remix" on Shogun Audio in 2007.

Since April 2012, Friction has been hosting his own drum and bass show on BBC Radio 1.

3.) Friction are an electronic/ambient band from London, UK. In the year 2000 they started to release tracks on the well respected Undiscovered Ibiza label (volumes 2 to 5 plus "The Best of Undiscovered Ibiza"). In 2005 Friction contributed a track called "Looking Down" to the Cafe Del Mar Volume 12 compilation. In 2008 Friction released their debut album "Return To Calm". Their brand new album is called "Medication". While keeping their signature chilled out, ambient and electronic sound, this time round Friction have added a rich multi layered texture of vocal harmonies and acoustic guitars. www.myspace.com/frictionofficial www.frictionproductions.co.uk


4.) Friction was an early 90's Midwest post-hardcore/indie rock band based out of Illinois from 1991 to 1994.

5.) Friction was an underground rock band based in Cleveland, Ohio, circa 1976. Fronted by ex-Rocket From The Tombs and Pere Ubu guitarist Peter Laughner, Friction served as Laughner's first band following his departure from Pere Ubu. The group, which took its name from the song by New York City's Television (Laughner had befriended Television during his time in New York City), also featured Anton Smith (later of the Golden Palominos) on drums, Debbie Smith on bass, and Sue Schmidt on guitar and violin.

As with many of Laughner's other bands, Friction performed a mixture of originals and covers, often featuring Laughner's unique brand of guitar pyrotechnics. Handsome Productions recently released a live recording of Friction's November 2, 1976 set at the Pirate's Cove in Cleveland. The Pirates Cove set features what may be the ?definitive? Friction song, Laughner's ?Dear Richard? (this version also appeared on the 1994 Laughner compilation, Take The Guitar Player For A Ride, as well as on the rarities disc in Pere Ubu's 1996 boxed set, Datapanik In The Year Zero).

There was also an early UK punk band called The Friction.