So, who is Australia’s most renowned DJ? If the question still begged an answer, Kid Kenobi’s many fans Australia-wide have given a resounding reply. With two DMAs for Best Australian DJ already under his belt, two ‘Clubbers Guide to Breaks’ CDs for Ministry of Sound (with a third on the way), frequent trips interstate and overseas, and headline slots at many of Australia’s biggest parties, Kenobi can now add winner of the inaugural Technics inthemix50 DJ poll to his mantle. Presently hard at work in the studio on his new CD for Ministry of Sound, Kenobi has had a whopping 5 hours sleep in two days. What better time to break the news he’s been voted Australia’s most popular DJ?
Otherwise known to his friends and family as Jesse Desenberg, Kenobi never set out to be a professional DJ. ‘I got into it by accident really, I never thought “cool, I want to be a DJ!” I guess the only time that crossed my mind was when I was younger and going to raves. I never thought about it in a career sense, I just really got into early trip-hop and drum & bass, started buying records and then I bought a turntable… yes one turntable!’ But, as the saying goes ‘from little things big things grow’, or in this case goddamn gigantic things, with Kenobi going from bedroom banger to a headliner in his own right. ‘When I first started I had to try and be the “token breaks DJ”, or fit breaks into house sets, because there weren’t that many places you could play the style. So as soon as people started saying “you can just play breaks, you don’t have to mix it up with house”, I thought, “wicked!” I’m happy being known as a breaks DJ. It’s such an ambiguous term, I can play anything from hip-hop to progressive-trancey-breaks, so I don’t see it as a problem at all!’
If any confirmation was needed on the popularity of breakbeat as a genre in Australia, then you need not look any further than Kid Kenobi. However, having spent some time overseas earlier this year I was interested to hear how the local scene shaped up in comparison to the UK. ‘For some reason, people always assume because it’s overseas it must be bigger or better, but it’s not the case at all. There are cool clubs, Krafty Kuts’ night Supercharged is really good but it’s on a Wednesday night, and Chew the Fat is in a small bar-pub type place. They’re definitely not like Fuzzy gigs! It’s quite unique in Australia, and I think at times people don’t realise that.’ Undoubtedly one of the factors contributing to 
Kenobi’s win in the Technics inthemix50 was his hard work on the interstate touring front, playing regular gigs all over the country. ‘Going interstate is a really cool thing to do. You don’t realise how many little hubs there are around Australia. You get to go to places like Noosa, Hobart, Coffs Harbour, all these places that you know of but you’d never imagined playing there, and the vibe at those gigs is often like the bigger events in Sydney! I think in the bigger cities people can become cynical because there is so much on and they go out all the time, whereas in a rural or smaller city it’s often a special event.’
Having already won a number of high profile awards in the past, Kenobi could be forgiven for being a little blasé when informed he’d taken out the Technics inthemix50. However, he was delighted to receive the accolade, especially considering that it was his many fans who voted him number one. ‘I’m stoked, I don’t know what to say. It’s all a bit full on really! The longer you DJ the more you appreciate people coming out time and time again to enjoy what you do. Once you become steeped in the music industry I think it’s very easy to become cynical, ignoring the fact that people go out to enjoy themselves and have fun. I’m incredibly grateful!’ When asked if the numerous awards and accolades were becoming a bit too much, Kenobi was astute in his response. ‘It’s awesome, you can’t lie and pretend you don’t give a shit, if anyone gives you an award for doing what you do then of course you’re going to be grateful for it! At the end of the day you have to be happy with what you’re doing yourself. You’ve got to do it because you enjoy it and because you feel it’s right, otherwise you’re never going to be happy. I don’t think many people in the industry do what they do because they want to win awards, but it’s a very cool thing!’
So what exactly does a day in the life of Kid Kenobi involve? Juggling the demands of touring the country, mixing CDs for one of the world’s biggest dance record labels, and now producing his own music, each day is a little different from the next. ‘I wish there was a normal day! It varies so much because I’m very project based. If I have a tour coming up, I’ll be geared towards getting ready for that, or if I have a mix CD I’ll work on that. DJing is a lot of fun, but you have to run it as business. There’s a lot of normal work involved!’ Having recently taken his first steps into production, with nothing but good reports filtering through on his collaborative remix of Green Velvet’s La La Land (undertaken with poxymusic), Kenobi is now trying to find the time to work on his production skills. ‘I really enjoy producing, but I really enjoy getting out there and DJing. Producing is definitely a unique challenge, once you start writing music you discover that it doesn’t always end up the way you’d thought it would. I’m into a lot of different styles of music, and at the moment, a lot of what I’m writing seems to be quite abstract and deep, not really banging dancefloor tunes. It’s kind of hard once you get a name as a DJ, there is a subliminal pressure that you have to go out and start writing ‘killer tunes’ right away and that can kind of ruin your enjoyment. Nevertheless, production is definitely something I want to get my head around.’
So what’s on the horizon for Australia’s favourite DJ? He’s putting the final touches on his third installment in Ministry of Sound’s successful breaks focused CD series as well as preparing for a national tour in support. Perhaps the most interesting venture is a project currently underway with respected UK breaks label Fingerlickin’ Records, of which he’s rather secretive (‘I’ll let them make all the calls! But there’s something on the way…’) Whatever the direction, having well and truly established himself as a force to be reckoned with on the Australian dance scene, Kenobi’s popularity shows no signs of slowing down.
Technics and inthemix.com.au would like to congratulate Kid Kenobi!
To see who else made it onto the list, click HERE.
Kid Kenobi launches MOS Breaks 03 in Melbourne on Friday 29 August @ Out of Order, Prince of Wales.
