LPFUNK hails from the suburbs. Born to a Greek father and Italian mother and christened Lucas Papaelias, he fantasized as a child about one day becoming a meterologist, a novelist, a real-estate agent, and the next Marv Albert (one of the greatest sportscasters of all time!). His defining high school experience was tryouts for the basketball team occuring the exact same week as the Drama Club's Fall Production all four years. Upon returning from college up in the boonies of western New York state, where he majored in theatre, played guitar & sang in a funk band, dj'ed a weekly funk radio show called "The Soul Funky Train", and started the first intramural hoops team in school history comprised solely of actors, singers, and dancers (which rode the Cinderella bus all the way to the semifinals before losing to Delta Kappa Tau in a barnburner!), LPFUNK came to New York City to live, work, play, and kick some ass!!!

Since then, it has been quite a ride. Working with directors such as John Patrick Shanley, Nicholas Martin, Trip Cullman, and Brian Mertes, LPFUNK made a nice lil' dent in the NY theatre scene, while simultaneously working several stints on Law & Order as "burnout who passed out on the job", "drug addict who rats on a guy to save his own ass", "hearing-impaired burnout surfer dude who finds a dead body", and a short "hippie burnout whose dog finds a dead body" stint on NYPD BLue, where he got to experience the incredible teaming of Dennis Franz and Mark-Paul Gossalear firsthand. In addition, he hocked some fast food for the Wendy's "Snake" campaign, worked on several Sundance award-winning independent films such as "What Alice Found" and "Brother To Brother", and rocked out on bass alongside Jack Black in the highly-acclaimed Richard Linklater film "School of Rock".

But meanwhile, back at the ranch, LPFUNK was never fully able to escape the lure of rock'n'roll, constantly writing songs and jamming out on guitar & bass with several different bands during the early years, including Torpor, Deborah Smith's Energy Project, and The Truthseekers, while maintaining steady solo acoustic gigs at downtown haunts such as Sidewalk Cafe and CB's Gallery. He also fronted the rock band Cool Hand for several years, culminating in regular gigs at lower east side venues such as Mercury Lounge, Arlene's Grocery, The Delancey, and the gone-but-never-forgotten Ludlow Street institution, Luna Lounge. The seeds to his dream of one day melding theatre and rock'n'roll were sewn at The Lobby, an artists' showcase run by Truthseekers frontman Eric DeArmon at CenterStageNY, which was, at the time, the HQ of the LAByrinth Theatre Company (where DJ LPFUNK made his NYC debut, bringing "The Soul Funky Train" in live for various cast parties-turned-all night funky dance-a-thons).

Cool Hand's music eventually found its way onto several compilations and was featured in several indie films in which LPFUNK also had an acting credit, such as "Sex & Sushi" and "WTC View". In the theatre realm, LPFUNK has acted in and composed music for a Juilliard production of Shakespeare's "Twelfth Night" and the acclaimed children's play "Walk Two Moons" at the Lucille Lortel Theatre in Greenwich Village; a neighborhood close to his heart, where he founded and performs regularly at "Jack's Acoustic Tuesdays", a weekly singer/songwriter showcase at the quaint and cozy Jack's Stir Brew Coffee on West 10th St, one of NY's finest organic/shade-grown/fair-trade coffee shops. Jack's has featured many talented & eclectic performers, including Ian Thomas, Langhorne Slim, Don DiLego (who produced the LPFUNK e.p.), Bree Sharp, Post-Midnight, The WoWz, Maya Azucena, Ching Chong Song, Tessa Perry, Hannah Lindroth...the list goes on and on!

LPFUNK marches on toward his goal of doing theatre & music for the rest of his life, and, in death, on his deathbed, achieving total consciousness. He will always be thankful for his wonderful family, friends, and fellow artists who make up the artistic community in the great city of New York and beyond. Enjoy your trip to lpfunkrocks.com!

"AND HERE COMES WILLIS...AND THE CROWD IS GOING WILD!!!!!!!!"
--Marv Albert, 1970 NBA Finals, Knicks vs. Lakers, Game 7