Upgrade is Sam Smith, a Norwich producer and DJ rooted in jump-up and the practical business of making music work on a soundsystem. His releases have appeared on Serial Killaz, Low Down Deep, and Multi Function, while his own First Request project gives him somewhere to take that enthusiasm beyond the studio.
First Request Records launched in 2021 with Sprayed. It was never intended to be a label alone. Upgrade and his friends had spent two years learning about speaker design and building a rig, bringing together production, photography, design, and technical expertise around a shared love of soundsystem culture.
Talking to UKF, he described sourcing powerful drivers, seeking engineering advice, and handing some of the woodwork to Shakedown Audio. The plan was to put income back into the crew and the system. It is a more revealing picture of his approach than a list of DJ endorsements: he wants a platform his friends can help shape and physically hear.
He has also made an unexpectedly public contribution to dinner. A complaint about KFC’s chips became part of the company’s 2018 campaign announcing a new recipe. The story followed him into the national press, but First Request tells you considerably more about what he actually wants to build.
