Wefunk tops 10

>> CKUT’s Wefunk radio show celebrates
a decade on the airwaves

THEY FUNK: Professor Groove and DJ Static

by SCOTT C

For the last 10 years, music lovers DJ Static and Professor Groove (aka Mike Lai and Nick Foster) have been holding down the Wefunk radio show on CKUT 90.3 FM (Fridays midnight–2 a.m.), transforming their affinity for funk, rare groove and hip hop into a Montreal mainstay and an international contender. With a healthy European following and a tour this year that saw them in Switzerland, Germany, Poland and France, their humble college radio show feels more like a professionally produced affair, complete with a deep and detailed Web site (www.wefunkradio.com), and plenty of archives. The Mirror spoke to DJ Static shortly after Wefunk won “College Radio Show of the Year” at the Stylus DJ Awards in Toronto.

Mirror: Did you ever think that Wefunk would become such a Montreal institution back when you first started the radio show?

DJ Static: No, not at all. It kind of took on a life of its own. The whole scope of Wefunk took off beyond our expectations, or beyond mine anyway. We started it as first-year students just trying to do a college radio show, and we did it, but Nick put in a lot of work with the Web site and the archives, and that was a big shift in the scale of the operation. It made us accessible to the world.

M: What does the Stylus DJ Award mean to you?

DJS: Wow. That meant a lot to us. It just kind of hit me that with the 10th anniversary coming up, which is a big milestone in my head, it’s something I’m very proud of. And then on top of that, we won! The award presenter was Red 1 from the Rascalz, and when I first moved to Canada, growing up in Vancouver, I used to listen to a college radio show that really got me into hip hop and rap. Red 1 used to go on that show and freestyle, and I would listen, so for me to be on stage with him presenting us an award, it felt like full circle.

10th-anniversary party with DJ Static,
Professor Groove, Aliens and guest DJs at
Jello Bar on Saturday June 16, 9 p.m.