DJ Funky Junkie was born and raised in IJmuiden, on the west coast of Holland where he started playing for an illegal radio station at the age of just 13! With a little luck, he landed a gig at a local club, aged 15, and has been spinning ever since. Recently he's been concentrating more on making music, as in producing house tunes. He willl be performing live on stage with his own set for the first time in March 2007. Wicked!

Real name?
Lesley Leyenaar

DJ name?
Funky Junkie (aka Les Ley when performing live)

How did you choose It?
Um, do I really have to tell you that? It was given to me because whatever style I play, I always include a funky touch – plus I always smoke a joint while I spin. So, in nine out of ten pictures, you'll see me spinning with a 'doobie' in my mouth...

Vinyl junkie or CDs?
Funky Vinyl Junkie for life!

How many records/CDs do you have?
About 1500 12"s and about 500 full CDs. And then, of course, I have about 60,000 tracks of various kinds of music on my hard disk. I had a lot more original pieces, once, but it all got stolen by the owner of a nightclub in Haarlem where I was resident DJ a couple of nights a week... but I'd rather not talk about this. I was able to replace a lot of the music that was stolen through the internet, thank god, but still...

What style of music do you play?
I always find it very hard to describe, but I guess it's somewhere between techno and clubby progressive house; often with a very 'housy' touch.

Where do you DJ?
At different parties. I used to have a full-time job playing at clubs on the Leidseplein in Amsterdam five days a week. But since starting my own business, I now spend my time focusing on serious house music, as well as producing – which I recently started doing and love! My last gigs where at Technoville (www.technoville.nl), Createch (at the Lichtfabriek in Haarlem), and at Club Rector in Gent, Belgium. I'm doing a live set at Createch on Saturday 3 March at the Lichtfabriek in Haarlem.

Your ideal DJ gig?
Well, the night in Gent was probably the nearest I've got to an ideal gig – except for the fact that I was driving around the city for 45 minutes looking found the club. I practically ran into the club, ordered a Bacardi-and-coke and was spinning two minutes later. The crowd was beautiful: they cheered and whistled loud at every tune I put on. I played a classic house set with all the best tunes from 1987/88 till 1991/92 and, apparently, was the only DJ who stuck to the format of the night and surprised the crowd. I loved the reactions and was 'naturally high' the whole trip back to Holland! :)

Last record/CD you bought?
Ahem, that was actually a Frank Sinatra compilation I bought today. I had it specially delivered from the States... Other then that, I bought some techno classics and the House of God Remix, by DJ Falk, this week.

Current musical obsession?
Producing and getting ready for my first live PA performance! It's only been a month since I 'officially' announced that I was going to concentrate on producing and wanted to get as many live gigs as possible – as soon as possible. Well, here we go then! I am in my little home-studio practically 24/7; designing samples, riffs, beats, strings, leads, effects and other sounds. My girlfriend refers to my nightly escapades in the studio as "an addiction"! Hahaha.

Top 3 all-time dancefloor favorites?
Innerlight - Phantasia
Paperclip People - Throw
Lil' Louis - Club Lonely

Worst request?
I don't really think there ís such a thing as a bad request, as the people asking for it are those you are playing for. But all morals aside, I hate it when people ask for a total different kind of music to what I'm playing. That's just rude and ignorant!

Favourite record stores in Amsterdam?
Outland above all. But Indeepndance Records on the Rozengracht is also a fine little shop.

Favourite internet radio station
I hardly ever listen any radio anymore. It's a shame and I do miss it. But
I am in charge of an internet radio station though: www.up2dance.com. It's a weekend radio station with all sorts of house, played in DJ-sets.

Do you have your own website?
Yes, I have a website for my DJ related work (which needs an update by the way), at www.djfunkyjunkie.com. And I'm currently working on a site just for my work as a producer and live-act at www.les-ley.com. I design my websites myself: if you want to see some more of my creative work, please check out another one of my own sites at: www.technoliq.com. Thanks!