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DJ Funkerman, who is about to embark on his North American tour, was gracious enough to be interrogated by one of our very own. What did he have to say?

First things first, I'm super stoked that your tour ends in Vancouver. Have you ever been here before? 
 
I’ve never been to Vancouver before so I’m really excited to come. I’ve had the opportunity to visit other Canadian cities and I really enjoyed myself so I’m excited to see what Vancouver has to offer.
 
Anything special lined up to celebrate the end of the tour?
 
Every gig is special but because it is the last stop in the tour, I’m going to try to replicate the atmosphere and energy of a closing party at Ibiza. Vancouver, are you ready?
 
Besides your highly anticipated show at Ginger62, any other plans for your time in Vancouver?
 
Unfortunately I’m only here for one day (show’s on Saturday, fly out Monday). I know that it can be difficult to explore a city in one day but I'm lucky that I usually stay with people who know the city inside and out so I'm usually able to experience a good chunk of whatever city I’m in.
 
I know you’re starting your tour at Pacha in New York and winding your way across North America until your last stop here in Vancouver. Are there any cities in particular you're excited to go to? 
 
I’ve never been to San Diego so I’m excited because I’ve heard great stories about the people and how open-minded they are. I’m really looking forward to it. Something that I love about playing in North America is the enthusiasm of people for dance music. I think that it's still quite underground here so the energy and vibe I get whenever I’m here is amazing.
 
You were in Ibiza all this summer. What was your favourite memory?
 
I really enjoyed the closing party we had last Tuesday. It was really fun – the atmosphere rocked and the people were great. For me, it was also the realization of a dream. I mean, 4 years ago, I was playing in clubs in Holland and only dreamed that I would be playing in Ibiza. Who would have expected this? I’m the first one in 10 years to have a weekly residency and am blown away and humbled by the whole experience. I haven't stopped dreaming either. Who knows what could happen?
  
What was the concept/style behind your new release 'Slide'?

At the core, I’m a conceptual music producer. Sometimes I produce stuff that’s softer and more soulful. I don’t like to name a style because it limits you in what you can do. Slide has a soulful, r&b feeling in a house jacket. In other words, it has house beats and soul chords. Slide originally came about when I got a few beats from Fedde Le Grand. We went to the studio with Mitch Brown and came up with a few bars. Unfortunately Fedde wasn’t able to finish it due to deadlines for his CD but I couldn’t just put it away. Over the next year, I would bring it out every so month to work on it before putting it away. It was definitely a work in progress but I'm glad that it's out and everyone is enjoying it. 
 

How was it working with Ida Corr in remixing ‘I want you’?

The remix came about when we were touring in Australia last Christmas. We had some extra time between Christmas and New Years Eve so the entire group (about 13 or 14 people) decided to stay at a beautiful resort to re-charge our batteries. Ida was playing her new album and wanted my opinion for which track would make the best single. I listened to I want you and told her right away that this would be the best single and that I’d love to remix it. The rest is history!

I know you started Flamingo Recordings with fellow DJ Fedde le Grand and friend/ producer Raf. What made you guys want to start your own record company?

Well, Fedde and I met when we were both DJing for the same club. Raf was a producer at a recording company that we once all worked for. They were producing and releasing house music that was similar to music already out there instead of music that we wanted. We’re artists and we want to push the envelope to make fresh music – not just copy music that was already out there. Thus, Flamingo Recordings was born! We decided to pick a bird as our name to symbolize freedom. Just as birds can fly wherever they want to, we wanted to produce and release whatever we wanted to.
 
At the beginning, our breakeven goal for selling records was 600. However, Fedde changed everything with his single 'Put your hands up for Detroit'. He basically put the spotlight on us. Now, instead of listening to half a track and forming an opinion, people will listen to our tracks twice over before deciding if they liked it. He gave us instant credibility. Now our goal is to avoid caving in to our commercial success. We still want to push the envelope and create new, innovative, exciting music. 
  
I know it’s still early in the game but how is the 'Automatic' remix contest going? Anybody stand out that you want to bring sign to Flamingo Recordings?

I'd tell you but then I'd have to kill you (laugh). No, seriously, I haven’t listened to any of the submissions because I wanted to give everyone a fair chance.

How did this contest even come about? I mean it's not often that you find artists wanting their work ripped apart.

Fedde, Raf and I used to work at a record store. One of the nights I regularly worked, Thursdays, soon became known as a place where musicians and DJs could gather to talk about music. Discussions really took off about what was hot and what wasn’t. It was really fun and I missed having that conversation dialogue with other like-minded people. This contest came about because I wanted to facilitate that dialogue in the modern world. I really wanted the contest structured so that people can talk to each other about their submissions. The response has been huge so far. People are reacting to each other posts which is the exact goal of this contest. That’s the love for dance music!

OK. A little change in direction. If you could talk to anybody dead or alive, who would it be and why?
 
Well I’m already talking to you so that wish came true but if I had to pick someone else it would be Curtis Lee Mayfield. I think he was one of the most important musicians of our time.  
**I was blushing for the rest of the interview - who knew Funkerman was so charming?**
 
What do you think makes Dutch DJs so successful?

I think it’s a combination of pure coincidence and advantage. Because Holland is quite small, an aspiring DJ can quickly gain exposure for himself by doing 2 or 3 bookings a night for a few nights a week. Mostly though, I think its coincidence.
  
What are your plans for 2009 and 2010? 
 
After my North American tour, I’ll be working on an album and touring around Europe. In fact, I had a meeting today with all our staff members talking about all the exciting things we want to accomplish in the first half of 2010. There are a lot of plans because I like to stay busy. So stay tuned!

For more information about his tour, the Automatic Remix contest and much more, go to www.funkerman.com or follow him on Twitter @djfunkerman