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DJ Les Cole discovered his love for house music around 1985, at age 11. Early influences include an unusual number of talented DJs from his small hometown, Vauxhall, NJ, but the primary influence for Les was his older cousin, and fellow Klubnut member, DJ Devine. Les first fell in love with the Chicago Sound, hearing those funky baselines in songs like Jack The Groove, Mystery of Love, Distant Planet, et al. However, he soon got turned on to the weekly 98.7 Kiss Master mixes of none other than the Legendary Tony Humphries.
While DJ Devine taught Les the technical aspects of mixing / beat matching, it was the study of Humphries’ mixes that Les used to create his style and sound. Still too young to go to clubs, or even start DJing out on his own, Les listened to those mixes non-stop, imagining what was going on in clubs he could only hear stories about such as Paradise Garage, Zanzibar, Sensations, etc. The desire to control a dance floor was burning.
At the age of 17, he played to his first live crowd, a house party for college kids that were amazed at not only his music selections, but his mixing skills as well. It was on from there. For many years, Les lived a dual DJ life. He performed “mainstream” house sets on ski trips, boat rides, bottle-service style clubs, etc., often alongside some of the top hip-hop DJs such as Funkmaster Flex, Red Alert, DJ Mister Cee, etc. Those types of parties funded his true love, and obsession, of the NJ/NY underground sound where he has been blessed enough to play alongside some of the biggest names in house such as Jihad Muhammad, Naeem Johnson, Sting Int’l, Karizma, DJ Spinna, Tyrone Francis, MasterKev, Joey Mazza, and DJ Camacho (RIP). Les has played at venues spanning from NJ, NY, PA, DC, Baltimore, Virginia, and several times at the Winter Music Conference in South Beach (Miami).
Les’ Top 10 Favorite Songs, aka, “… what I consider to be real music”:
1) Free Yourself – Virgo
2) Rejoicing (Album version) – Ultra Nate
3) Los Conquistadores Chocolates – Johnny Hammond
4) People Hold On (Blaze mix) – Coldcut
5) See The Light – Philip Ramirez
6) What About This Love – Mr. Fingers
7) Release (MAW Rmx) – Afro Celt Sound System
8) Gloria’s Muse – Blaze
9) Waters of March (DJ Spinna’s mix) – Ledisi
10) Be There (Libation Mix) – Angela Johnson
Favorite Club: Shelter @ 6 Hubert Street. “Nothing else will ever come close for me.”