Lockdown DJ

Music to me has always been a great passion that's run alongside bartending.

From my first job in a sports bar in my hometown, I have always dedicated a lot of time meticulously putting together playlists to play on shift. I draw a lot of pleasure from creating the right atmosphere through music and seeing people enjoying makes me really happy. I moved on to collecting records, producing beats and djing a lot when I moved to London.

When my partner and I began planning the bar of our dreams, we always wanted to combine our shared love for funk/hip hop and soul music and that's part of how Funkidory came to life.

We opened our doors in October 2018 and have been very proud of the direction the bar was headed right before the lockdown. All the hard work we've put in was beginning to pay off and we were also very excited to be expecting a new addition to the family as Anna fell pregnant with our first baby!

Our baby girl Cleo was born on 23rd April and I would never have imagined I could spend all this time off with my newborn child and despite the worries of the bar being closed for now, if there's a silver lining it's the family time we are now getting to enjoy together while she's so small.

I have also used this time to get back to DJ-ing and have organised live streams on our Funkidory social media platforms where our friends and regulars can tune in. We're uploading playlists on our Spotify profile and have had fun collaborating with Tim Etherington-Judge on his great initiative called "Music To Make You Happy" on his Healthy Hospo page where myself and other bar personality from around the world stream live DJ sets every day from 7pm.

I hope to be able to entertain people at the bar soon but while that's not an option you can follow me at @Sergio_Leanza and @Funkidory

Big love,
Sergio