Albanian Artists

Newsletter Signup

Name:

Email:


Funkerman

 

Funkerman Bio

Funkerman’s year is set to hit the big red warp factor button

Many love affairs start off in the bedroom; whether it’s Madonna, Britney, Justin or KISS adorning our walls, those early years in the dark depths of our teenage privacy can be some of the most important and formative. That was certainly the case for Dutchman Ardie van Beek, or Funkerman as he’s now known around the world.

But it wasn’t plastic pop bunnies that enamoured a young Ardie – instead it was the sounds of Public Enemy, Eric B and Rakim and other heroes of the US hip‐hop explosion that inspired him to take on the turntables and begin what was to be a journey into the very soul of funk. Religiously crate‐digging through the annals of R’n’B and soul, he followed the samples back to the original disco and rare groove tracks, unearthing a whole history of dance music in the process. For the 13‐year‐old Funkerman it was as if someone had opened a musical treasure chest for him to play with.

Ironically, the free and easy days of early hip‐hop disappeared, with Funkerman feeling creatively hemmed in by the rules and regulations that seemed to spring up around the sound. So it was that, in the early 90s, while spinning at Spock in Breda, the beats of Todd Terry, Derrick May and Lil Louis gradually worked their magic on the Dutchman.

Hobby became profession, a job in a record store introducing him to a wealth of new tracks and some of the people he would later collaborate and indeed go into business with. With the job at the record store progressing through to A&R, Ardie finally began to pull all the threads of those formative years together. Learning the ins and outs of the business, he teamed up with friend Raf and fellow Dutch DJ/producer Fedde le Grand to create Flamingo Recordings, a house and electronic‐tech label that is currently one of the hottest imprints in the world.

Over the past four years Funkerman and Flamingo Recordings have been behind such hits as Put Your Hands Up For Detroit, The Creeps, Speed Up and 3 Minutes To Explain. Not only that but, as far as DJ diaries go, Funkerman is fit to bursting point. Having completed a North American and Australian tour with label partner Fedde Le Grand, 2009 began with his outstanding new release Remember featuring IFan, dominating the download charts. It was accompanied by a somewhat beautiful but sinister video by acclaimed Dutch artists Rutger Termohlen, Michiel Sturm, Sander Brouwer and Collin van der Sluijs. Funkerman pushed beyond the boundaries of house music with Remember and firmly stamped his sound all over 2009.

2010 brought on Funkerman’s highly anticipated debut album House For All showcasing collaborations with Jay Colin, I-Fan, Tara McDonald, Shermanology and many more. The album upheld all that it promised and allowed Funkerman to prove he deserves all the praise.

With his own Flamingo Nights series of parties becoming an international benchmark for high‐class production and world calibre guest mixes, a label so on form it’s mind blowing, and a fast‐growing reputation as the man to front up any dance floor, Funkerman’s 2012 is set to hit the big red warp factor button – we suggest you hold on!

 

Videos