While in theory his universal approach may be appealing, when you think about the practicalities of producing a crowd pleasing set that is memorable, diverse and crowd pleasing, the possibilities are endless. And though the choices of tracks for a genre-specific DJ are already endless, his bank of source material is so wide that it must be almost impossible to contemplate. So, he must have some sort of system that enables him to sort the wheat from the chaff. Is there some sort of process that helps define what is and what is not a good track? “Well for whatever reason, it could be any specific thing about the song,” comes the initial curt response. After a moments pause, Lesinskis proves that he is able to elaborate on what within a track makes him tick. “Generally something that is timeless, a classic. It’s very hard to emulate the sounds of some of the greatest disco producers 25 years ago and most new hip hop is just embarrassing these days.”
With an appearance at this Saturday’s Favela Rock penned into his schedule, he reveals there is one track that is guaranteed to get his own booty shaking, Dis-n-Dat’s Whoot, Here It Is. However, while it is a bit of Dis-n-Dat that gets him on the dance floor, has he noticed any other surefire dance floor fillers that he can use to get a party started? Without a moment of hesitation, he reels off his big three; “Gwen McCrae Keep The Fire Burning, Biggy Hypnotize and 2 Live Crew Hoochie Mama.” On the whole Lesinskis is a guy who likes to accommodate his crowd, with his sole motivation that of making those bodies move. So, what preparations does he make for his set? It appears that like many of his contemporaries, he feeds off his crowd and in doing so puts only a minimal amount of thought into his set planning. He admits, “I just clean out my bag and rearrange some stuff. But if the previous gig was at Favela Rock I’d be doing it for a lot longer. Cleaning records, replacing all broken and missing CDs and soggy record sleeves drenched in beer, etc!”
Lesinskis’ admits that he is trying to define himself through his own sound and actions, though it is impossible to state abjectly that a musician ever works without some form of inspiration. Though his presentation style may be different from the following, he concedes that it was “a combination of people [who] were the catalyst” to him considering music as a career, “Namely James Murphy of LCD Soundsystem, Greg Wilson and Lewie Day/Tornado Wallace.” Though he is willing to concede that there is a need for inspiration, he closes that as an artist you yourself must determine a path and an identity, “Myself and Lewie had explored through many genres as friends and DJs together. We heard James Murphy’s Fabric Live set and Greg Wilson’s Essential mix a few years back now. In hindsight it was a life changing period of both our DJ and producing careers.”
