FRICTION is a very hot property right now.

This drum and bass legend is widely-regarded as one of clubland's biggest names. His Back To Your Roots Remix is a dancefloor epic, and his Radio 1 show goes out to millions.

This weekend he plays GlobalGathering - the two day electronic music festival taking place at Long Marston Airfield, Stratford-Upon-Avon. As he warms up, we find out what the Brightonian producer (real name Ed Keeley) likes - and finds most surprising - about the summer festival season.

What is your best festival memory?
I would have to say, about three or four years ago doing Glade Festival when the sun was going down and it was one of my first big festivals where I wasn’t a headliner so to speak but I was a name a few people knew. I played to about 5000 people with the sun going down. That was special.

What is your worst festival memory?
Not really sure. I’ve never really had anything go wrong. I do remember flying to this festival in Japan and there had been a massive storm. I flew all that way and it was a total wash out, was gutted for the organisers.

What’s the weirdest thing you’ve ever seen at a festival?
Well, at festivals you see a lot of weird things, like couples meditating together. Something you do always see at festivals is someone asleep in a random place like on top of a speaker. There are lots of strange things you see but it never ceases to amaze me how someone can fall asleep next to 100k of blazing sound system.

Any other funny festival stories or anecdotes?
Outlook last year was quite interesting, I had to rush to the festival because my flight was delayed. I played and ended up getting really drunk and woke up the next day and panicked because I couldn’t find my passport.

I looked all over and was just about to try and phone the embassy or sort something out. I went downstairs to check out and it turned out that I had obviously had to hand in my passport when I checked in but because I was so drunk I couldn’t remember and I’d just spent three hours on the phone to my agent trying to work out what to do.

What’s the record amount of festivals/gigs you’ve played in one weekend?
Probably about six.

What is your festival survival tip?
Never ever wear your best trainers to a festival, you don’t know what the weather is going to do. If it turns bad then it’s game over for your creps!

What do you always put on your rider?
It’s so boring, probably the most interesting thing I’ve got on my rider is Jaffa Cakes.

What do you wear on stage?
Well, it depends but I like to keep it really simple. If its boiling I’m going to go with shorts and a t-shirt.

Who is your favourite electronic music act at the moment?
I’m going to go with Koan Sound, they’re doing some really interesting stuff.

What are your tips for this summer’s big festival dance tracks?
There’s going to be quite a few, any number of drum and bass tunes. There's the likes of Delta Heavy, Drumsound and Bassline Smith. I’m sure the new Netsky single will be a big one.

On the bass music tip I recon you’ll be hearing the Dillon Francis remix of Hulk by Clockwork. I think there’s a new Dismantle track I hear Toddla T play all the time. I know a lot of the guys are going to be playing that.

Who are you most looking forward to seeing perform at GlobalGathering this year?
Sub Focus has a whole new live show which is supposed to be pretty special. I will look out for that for sure. If the sun is out then sitting back with a beer listening to a bit of Maverick Sabre would be cool.

What do you think of GlobalGathering?
GlobalGathering over the years has been consistently a highlight of my year. It’s just a great festival.

I love everything about it from the set up, to the size of it, to the vibes . I’ve had some really amazing sets there and I can’t wait to enjoy it once more.

What does GlobalGathering mean to you?
GlobalGathering is the mainstay of dance music, I think that clubbers really look forward to seeing the GlobalGathering line-up. It’s a massive part of UK and world dance culture and such a great festival to be involved with. 

What is the best electronic festival act you’ve ever seen?
It has to be The Prodigy. I saw them last year at Ibiza Rocks and they were incredible!

Also, and they’re technically not an electronic act but were at an electronic dance festival - The Beastie Boys at Exit Festival, about four years ago. I had the pleasure of playing after them. It was such a good show.

What is your most memorable rave/dance night?
It’s probably the first time I ever went to a rave. I was underage and managed to get in and literally had the time of my life!

What do you think the biggest issue facing the dance music industry is today?
Definitely originality. With so many of the classic samples used over the years I think a producers task of making something original gets harder and harder every year, so I would say that is the biggest issue facing dance music today.

What made you decide to get into dance music?                                                                          It was a culture thing at school, loads of us were into it. I was collecting flyers but couldn’t get into the raves because I was too young and I looked young so I had no chance. I just picked up the craze from there and been in to it ever since.

Who is your biggest inspiration in the dance industry?
That’s got to be The Prodigy. They’ve reinvented themselves, and they were one of the acts that got me into rave music.

How do you see dance music evolving over the next few years?
You can’t predict that far ahead, it’s constantly evolving. I’d like to see some more guitar/rock elements come into things again.

  • GlobalGathering takes place on Fridayand Saturday (July 27 and 28) at Long Marston airfield, near Stratford-Upon-Avon.
  • Tickets are £105 for the weekend (£180 VIP), £65 for saturday (£105 VIP). Regular tickets can be uprgaded to VIP. Go to globalgathering.com for details and full line-up.