Luke Hood started UKF in Frome in 2009, setting up two YouTube channels at the age of 16 to share drum and bass and dubstep. Within a year, the channels had attracted a million subscribers. Hood moved to London in 2010 to work with AEI Music, adding UKF Music as a third channel and beginning a release catalogue alongside the uploads.
UKF Drum & Bass 2010 and UKF Dubstep 2010 were its first digital compilations. That multi-artist format has remained part of UKF’s releases, with the 37-track UKF10: Ten Years of UKF marking its tenth anniversary in 2019. The channels also continue to share records released elsewhere, connecting UKF’s own catalogue with music from across the wider bass scene.
Live events developed alongside the records, including a show at London’s Alexandra Palace in 2011 and an Australia and New Zealand tour in 2023. UKF also publishes interviews and filmed performances, giving artists space to talk about and play their music between releases. Drum and bass remains a substantial part of an operation that grew from two channels into a record label, editorial platform, and events brand, while retaining the wider interest in bass music that Hood began with.
