The release of Proper Filthy Naughty’s debut album "Fascination" heralds the coming of age for producer and remixer John Ross (or Ronnie as he’s known to his friends). Exploring electro, house, breakbeat, hip hop and some more downtempo stuff too, Ronnie demonstrates why he is fast becoming on of those few producers who can throw his hand at virtually any style. The lead single from the album, also titled "Fascination" is testimony to this fact. Electro- house record with a saucy French vocal and disco edge, it features mixes from The Droyds and Stirfry and has sent shockwaves throughout the cool electro-clash club scene. Support has come from all the major players such as Tiga, Larry T , Jonny Slut, Mark Moore and Jo Jo de Freq and it has been licensed to Larry Tee's' "Mogul Electro" label for inclusion on "Electroclash Vollume 2".
It received over 10 specialist spot plays on Radio 1 from Steve Lamacq, Colin Murray Mary Anne Hobbs and Fergie, and was presented for playlisting 3 weeks running but just missed it. It did however make the C-List on XFM and was also playlisted on both the Student Broadcasting Network (SBN) and Ministry Radio. In addition the single was picked up on by radio jocks up and down the land from Beat 106 in Scotland to Kiss 100 and Capital in London. PFN also did a live session on XFM and a DJ mix on James Hyman's "Rinse". The international recognition for the Fascination project has also been taking shape with good licenses for the single in Italy (H*Plus / distr.Hitland), US and Germany and album deals with comprehensive campaigns to follow.
The press has been great too with Cool Cuts/Buzz/Beats/Club chart places galore and great reviews and features across the dance media, Music Week, The Times and even Gay Times. However this new found exposure and publicity is nothing new for Ronnie who has been working hard behind the scenes on his own projects and as a remixer too. Having broken onto the scene as one half of progressive house act The Light back in 1994 with tracks such as "Dusk" and "Pan Fried", Ronnie followed this up with the progressive "Expand The Room" released in 1997 (picked up by Hooj Choons and re-released in 1999 with a Rennie Pilgrem remix).
His remix credentials are also pretty impressive too. Having reworked the likes of Public Enemy, Renegade Soundwave, Orbital, The Crystal Method, Gus Gus, Banco De Gaia and even Britney Spears in the last eight years and more recently Paul Oakenfold’s chart hit Starry Eyed Surprise.
After the immediate success of The Light, who were signed to both Hooj Choons in the UK and City of Angels in the US, Ronnie and Joe Williams then formed Proper Filthy Naughty (PFN) in the year 2000, to experiment with more underground, electronic dancefloor sounds. They signed to 10 Kilo and released "Stitch Up", a single that immediately acquired cult status on the newly emerging breakbeat scene and which was supported heavily by Adam Freeland (licensed to his Tectonics mix album), Rennie Pilgrem and the Plump DJs (on one of their mix cd's too) to name a few. The subsequent single "Philter/Earphones" cemented their breakbeat following but also opened them up to the dirtier side of the progressive scene and Philter was picked up by not only Sasha and Digweed, but Steve Lawler, Craig Richards, Lee Burridge and Nick Warren too and featured on all their respective compilations at that time. Ronnie then went solo and set to work on the "Fascination" album which was released in June 2003.