As one half of the Funktrust DJing duo, Will Styles has managed to forge himself an inimitable reputation on the local scene. Starting out with their legendary weekly Thursday night funk-fest at the Globe many moons ago, the Funktrust phenomenon has now moved far beyond just a club night, with Will and his partner in crime Learned Hand invading the airwaves on Triple J each and every Friday night. With a new record label venture – Fresh Jams – now underway, ITM caught up with Will to find out how many credit points he had to fulfill to get his Dip Ed in Funk.

You’ve mixes one of the discs on the 2007 Good Vibrations Festival CD. How did you approach the CD?

Like any mix CD, it’s an interesting compromise between what the DJ wants to do – in my case, a 52 track megamix of Polka covers of gangsta rap – with what the record company expects – house remixes of the same Polka covers. While I didn’t have any say in the overall track listing, I chose which tracks went on my disc, and my disc makes me happy; hip hop, breaks, electro and drum & bass. Wee!

Are there any artists in particular that you’ll be looking forward to seeing at Good Vibes?

At last year’s Good Vibrations Festival I made sure I saw James Brown, because it was probably going to be my last chance to do so. How prescient… How could I look my grandkids in the eyes and tell them I didn’t take the opportunity to see the guy who invented funk? Same goes for the Beastie Boys and neurotic New York Jewish white boy rap. Watch, it will be a genre one day.

Your radio career is going from strength to strength, how are you finding working at Triple J?

So happy… Finally a place to hide my radio face. My mum and dad are finally happy with my career choice, now that I have a government job.

What kind of program are you trying to create on Radio Funktrust?

The show is on every Friday from 10pm – 1am on Triple J. We are aiming for them to rename Triple J to Radio Funktrust, and have us on 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Actually, any radio station that offers us complete control can have my first-born. It’s only a matter of time… As an aside, I made a deal with The Reverend Doctor Groove Shoes – who owns The Record Store and is starting a record label with me – that whoever has a child first has to name their kid after the other one. 2 weeks later he told me that his grandfather’s name is Will. I is stupid.

What have been your most memorable moments so far on Radio Funktrust?

We’re only a few shows in, but the highlight so far has to be when we replayed the Hottest 100, and Aaron mis-announced number 7. As I said to him at the time, I could think of exactly 6 bigger mistakes to make on Australian radio.

If you could be any radio personality who would it be?

Richard Mercer… or Will Styles.

Rumours are abound that you have a Dip Ed in funk. What subjects did you need to take for this?

Firstly, my full DJ name is “Sir William H. Styles Esq 3rd DipEd(Funk),” so yes, I do have a Diploma of Education in the field of Funk. Incidentally, the “H” stands for “Huge Big Nerd”. Anyway, I majored in Modern Dropmixes and Applied Dancefloor Physics with a minor in the The Fundamental Characteristics Of Scratching As Newton Would Have Applied Them (Phatbeat Physics 401). I wrote my thesis on Social Aspect Of The Use Of Skills In A Post Socialist World.

You work at Sydney vinyl institution The Record Store. What new stuff is happening there of late?

It’s a retail empire specialising in the sale of music on vinyl discs we like to call “records”. This is a new music delivery format, that has innate copy protection, is unreadable by any known hard drive or digital device and comes out in exceedingly limited and collectible runs. We also have 2 studios, one of which I share to write music, the other being used for film scoring and software tuition. We run an art gallery with monthly live shows, the next of which is on the 24th and 25th of February. Come down and watch the artists in their element, have a drink or three and maybe own some pieces without making your wallet cry.

We hear you are starting your own label, Fresh Jams. What will be its main focus?

Fresh Jams will be putting out all kinds of fun music; hip hop, breaks, funk, electro. We also have an English breakfast’s worth of food puns on the way. You have been warned.

We hear you’re also a big fan of putting your hands up for Detroit. Is there anything else you like to put your hands up for?

In the last year a veritable cheesewheel of DJs have tried to convince me to flaunt it – without actually specifying what “it” is – keep me on, don’t switch me off – particularly bad for the environment – and put my hands up for Detroit. I chose a different path; I put my hands up for Hawaii, but ended up with Kansas City. Kansas City doesn’t quite have the same cooooool.

It has been noticed that your signature esky-record holding apparatus has been missing from your ensemble of late. Is this purely fashion, or will it be making an appearance at Good Vibes?

The esky has been on a world tour with the Funktrust mascot, Blingy Bill. If anything is going to coax them back to Australia, it will be the possibility of watching me fluff mixes right before Jurassic 5 get on stage.

‘Good Vibrations 2007’, with one disc mixed by Will Styles, is out now through Jam/Shock. If you’re in Sydney you can catch Will and Learned Hand playing at Good Vibrations on Saturday February 17th, otherwise tune in to Triple J every Friday from 10pm to hear the Radio Funktrust experience for yourself.