Kid Kenobi: How One DJ Made Breaks Mainstream in Australia
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What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
Welcome back to Danny Rand. This week, we have a very special guest. Every week, we have a special guest sitting across from me. We have a pioneer for three decades in the dance music Australian scene. And when you think of breaks, this is the first name that should come to your mind. All the way from Sydney to Melbourne, delivered to me on a platter. Literally. Yes. Keith Kenobi, how are you? I'm good, thank you. Really good to be here. Thank you, man. Thank you so much for coming down with me to sit down. Pretty pumped about this one. Yeah, awesome. Let's start from the get-go, right? So everyone has kind of normally a pinnacle point where they fall in love with music.
Yeah.
Was breaks originally what you got into? Was there something else? How did you fall in love with dance?
Well, initially, actually, it was hip-hop. That was the first music that I became like, this is my music. This is what I'm really into. And it evolved from that love, I guess.
How did Kid Kenobi first discover dance music and breaks in the early 1990s?
Discovered raves early 90s. I went to my first rave in 1992 as a 15-year-old. And at that point in time, I fought it a lot because I was really into hip-hop. I was like, no, I'm not going to listen to this rave music. I'm trying to shut it out. But it was really hard to ignore. And I think one of the main things was that being into hip-hop is in Australia was difficult. A, because I was underage, couldn't go to any of the hip-hop clubs, but B, because it was American culture. So half the time when they were rapping, I didn't understand the slang. And it was always that cultural difference that was really hard to bridge, you know. And I think when I went to my first rave, I was like, this is so cool. I can listen to the music at home, get pumped, and go to an event where everybody's there, everyone's enjoying the music.
So I felt... for the first time, a part of the culture. But having said that, I think the way I also segued was I found early sort of breakbeat hardcore in around like the early 90s, sort of, I guess, before Jungle really came to fruition. So it was basically using the same breakbeats as what hip-hop was that I was into at that point in time, but just sped up. So for me, there was like a really strong correlation with the music in terms of the breakbeats, you know. So I guess... In a sense, that's always been the uniting force, you know. At that stage, you know, hip-hop was breakbeat bass and then, you know, the same breakbeats were being used in that kind of early hardcore. So for me, I found my little niche inside dance music and, you know, I guess I just love the energy of it and the –
Look, I think in early 90s, rap culture was like slightly different sort of viewpoint on what dance music was. And I guess there was a slight sort of transcendent sort of spiritual aspect to it. So there was, you know, there's a lot of different reasons why I really got into it. I think it's just a very uplifting, unifying culture as well as the music.
It's interesting because hip hop seems to be, you know, one of those things that people get into from like acid house to house to breaks in the early days. Like really, if you're going to like tilt your hat to anyone that creates dance music, it kind of is sampling and hip hop, right?
Yeah, I think sampling has a lot to do with it. And I think, you know, if you look back to where hip hop started, you could trace it back to like, you know, hip You know, things like even Kraftwerk influencing early hip hop, which again, in a sense, was electronic. So some of the early stuff like electro was electronic and, you know, that's still used today, a lot of that kind of stuff. So yeah, there's definitely been a very strong tie between the two, I think, from the early days. Yeah.
So, because we're going to talk about it a lot, right? If someone has lived under a rock and they don't know what breaks is, because it's not as traditionally like a big term these days or a part of the conversation, how would you explain the difference between breaks and house?
Yeah.
Oh, it's a good question. People still ask me that now, you know, they'll be like, oh, so what kind of soul do you play?
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Chapters
5 chapters
1
What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
0:00–0:50
2
How did Kid Kenobi first discover dance music and breaks in the early 1990s?
0:50–14:19
3
What’s the technical difference between breakbeat and house music?
14:19–20:38
4
Where did the early Sydney raves and underground warehouse parties take place?
20:38–37:34
5
How did Kid Kenobi transition from small pub gigs to club residencies and touring?
37:34–58:30
Speakers
2 identifiedMore from Danny Rants
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