Kleiss, whose influence on the Dutch dance scene over the years has been subtle but deciding, has been a DJ for twenty-odd years. XPansions was the banner of Xavier Perec's weekly residential night at NL (Nieuwerzijds Lounge in Amsterdam) and a weekly radio show broadcasted by Kink FM every Sunday morning. Around 2001 Kleiss engaged his organisational skills as managing director of the internationally reputed RoXY club in Amsterdam. He was invited by Dutch promotor Mojo Concerts to rethink the lay-out and concept of their annual Lowlands festival; Kleiss re-conceptualised it from a rock festival to a contemporary cultural event - including a lounge, obviously. During his tenure as RoXY's managing director Kleiss conceived the Kubin label as a vehicle for quality compilations of club oriented music. Within 18 months Kubin released over half a dozen compilations in a variety of styles. The compilation Foreplay from 1996 stood out as an early example of what today is known as lounge.
Striking out as a lounge DJ was a long treasured wish for Kleiss/Perec. He started using the moniker Xavier Perec after working with Amsterdam based producer Alex Cortiz on the latter's debut album, Volume 1, released in 1997 via Movieplay. Perec contributed to Cortiz' recent follow-up album, Moodfood (Swirl Records, 2000).
Xavier Perec has been a resident DJ at NL in Amsterdam - the very first lounge venue in The Netherlands - since its opening in December 1999. His 5 months residency at The Quincy Lounge (Vakzuid, Olympic Stadium, Amsterdam) with Mood Patrol collegues Monte La Rue and Enrico Riva created an avalanche of media coverage. Putting lounge firmly on the map in the Netherlands. For several summer seasons he catered to the beach crowd via his Sunday afternoon sets at De Republiek in Bloemendaal aan Zee.