Fùnké Moves With the River: Sweat, Spirit, and the Dance Floor at Electric Spring

NOLA EDM: For people discovering you through Electric Spring Festival — who is Fùnké? Tell us about your background and the musical journey that shaped your sound.

Fùnké: Music has been my longest commitment next to breathing. Music was always part of my household. Sesame Street also played a crucial role in my level of musical diversity. In depth speaker systems were always in my home and everyone in my home cared about HOW they were listening to music. My granny was an archivist in her own right, my mother loved boom boxes, my uncle was a saxophone player with an extensive funk 8 track collection, my grandaddy wired the speakers so we could hear music all over the house, my cousin was a dj on K97, my dad was the first I knew who had a cd player in his red corvette bumping Too Short and NWA. By 6 or 7 years old, I was making my own mixtapes by dubbing over the sermons my granny recorded and playing with EQs. By 4th grade, I took up the viola and later the cello. Majoring in Music Ed at Jackson State, I realized I didn’t want to spend my life in an orchestra (even though, I really wanted to be a conductor and compose operas) and didn’t want any parts of that life. I still loved performing music, just not in that fashion. Fùnké is a zephyr or a harmattan, it just depends on what the night calls for.

NOLA EDM: You’ve spent years moving between cities along the Mississippi River, from Memphis to New Orleans. How have those places influenced the rhythms, grooves, and stories in your sets?

Fùnké: Mississippi River is my true home and she shares cultures, ideas and resources from all the cities she touches. This has given me a fluidity that allows my sound to confidently take shape no matter the container (event or genre.)  I have also been fortunate to live near trains all my life which represents this perpetual motion that is not only comforting but it’s also the thing I’m after whether playing or buying music. My teens were spent in St. Louis, MO which is considered the Gateway to the West, but I found it to be a gateway for me musically just as much. I was in the orchestra playing the viola and cello at the time so I was listening to a lot of Ravi Shankar, Prince, Bone Thugs N Harmony, No Limit, Camp Lo, Patra, Beenie Man, 3 Six Mafia, Pharcyde, Digable Planets, BPD, Celia Cruz and of course all the composers we had to play being in the orchestra. 

NOLA EDM: You’ve described dance as a form of prayer and transformation. How does that philosophy shape the way you approach the dance floor when you’re DJing?

Fùnké: We as Djs are to act as facilitators, those in service to the dancefloor. We are here to leave people better than we found them. I am here to help you shake that bad week off, to make you release the pain in your body. If you are drenched in sweat, then I have done my job as that is the real currency for me. I live this life. I don’t go out to be social; I go out to dance. I am here to release whatever that is needed for that moment, not to talk to you. I am coming to get fed, to express what my spirit calls to do. Music has healed me on numerous occasions and it’s important to me to be the conduit for that transformation.

NOLA EDM: Electric Spring is built around community and the idea of bringing people back to the dance floor. What excites you about being part of the festival’s first year?

Fùnké: We have aligned missions that focus on dance being in the forefront of dance music, so it’s an honor to be a part of this. Peter and Pardo KNOW House Music and that is refreshing. They know the power of what this dance and this music can do which excites me.

NOLA EDM: Music Box Village is known for its immersive environment and musical architecture. How do you imagine that kind of space shaping the energy of your set

Fùnké: I made sure they put me in the warehouse. It’s a location I’ve never played and it always reminds me of my Granddaddy and his work shed. I was a rambler as a child and still am now when I get into spaces like that. This could be the reason I am still figuring out which direction I want to go musically because so many things are catching my attention at the moment. But really, I always consider the venue and the theme of the night I’m playing. Once I get inside, I will see how the warehouse wants me to play.

NOLA EDM: Over the years you’ve shared stages with artists like DJ Minx, Mark Farina, Rahaan, and Kai Alcé. What lessons from those experiences continue to influence the way you move through music today?

Fùnké: Just to keep doing me.

NOLA EDM: Your sets are often described as soulful, groove-driven journeys. When you’re reading a crowd, what signals tell you the room is truly locked into the music?

Fùnké: I know we are all locked in when I see the dancefloor recreating that John the Baptist scene from The Last Temptation of Christ. Once I see that, Issa Wrap!!!

NOLA EDM: With over two decades behind the decks, how do you keep your relationship with music feeling fresh and evolving?

Fùnké: Change is the only constant. One must evolve or die and that’s with anything in life. Even though I have over 20 years in this, I still see myself very much an egg (Stranger in a Strangeland reference) and that allows me to be open to new possibilities. None of which is me following a trend but me chasing that perpetual motion that has people moving like they did with St. John the Baptist; that’s my guidepost. Also, I find it ageist to think the older one gets, the more out of touch they are with the dancefloor when it’s the complete opposite.

NOLA EDM: Looking ahead through the rest of 2026, what projects, collaborations, or moments should people keep an eye out for from you?

Fùnké: Never tell your plans until it’s too late for them to stop you.