ADFs distinctive sound is a combination of hard ragga-jungle rhythms, indo-dub basslines, searing sitar- inspired guitars and ‘traditional’ sounds gleaned from their parents’ record collections, shot through with fast-chat conscious lyrics. 1998’s album Rafi’s Revenge on London Records met with much critical acclaim and received a Mercury Prize nomination. By that time already considered one of Britain’s most exciting live bands, this album helped to introduce them to a wider audience. They started off in 1993 at London based organisation Community Music where bassist Dr Das taught music technology.
He teamed up with one of his students, rapper Deeder Zaman and civil rights worker DJ Pandit G to form a sound system to play at anti-racist gigs. The following year they recruited guitarist Chandrasonic and started moving further afield. With Sun-J joining in 1995 on live technology and ‘radical movements,’ the line up was complete. Their debut album Facts and Fictions (Nation Records) came out in 1995 and was largely overlooked by a country obsessed with retro guitar pop.
And at that time, to be ‘Asian’ was yet to be considered ‘cool.’ On the continent however, ADF were given ample opportunity to tour and develop their performance skills.
