This month Australia’s golden boy of clubbing Kid Kenobi returns with his first compilation in two years Klub Kids 01 , which is also the launching point of his new record label of the same name, so it looks like we’ll be seeing even more of ‘The Kid’ than usual. But it comes at the end of a long process that began when he decided to steer away from his reputation as exclusively playing ‘breaks’, so he could explore other sounds in his DJ sets. Kid Kenobi chatted with ITM recently about the challenges he faced in forging a new musical identity.

“It’s a challenged that all artists face at some point in time, if they want a career with some kind of longevity then there’s gonna be a point where you’ve got to rethink what you’re doing and evolve,” he told ITM. “The last two years I feel I’ve come through the transition and have been finding sounds and music that I’m really inspired by. I feel I can really stand behind it and say, this is what I’m about. I’m really excited about where I’ve ended up.”

Kid Kenobi shook up a few of his fans when he made the transition a few years ago, but he says he’s enjoying his fresh freedom of expression. “Music changed, and a lot of breaks just stayed the same. Those two things don’t always work well together,” he told ITM. “The way I look at it, the fidget sound and the bassline sound that’s coming through… If you look at that, and you look at where breaks was when it first started, it’s almost identical… it’s using the same samples, it’s using the same loops, it’s referencing the same loops that breaks always has.”

“I don’t think you should restrict yourself, I think you should be in a position where you can play whatever you want as long as it suits the vibe. Even though styles change, I’d like to think I keep a common thread to what I’m playing… I really enjoy being in the position where I can mix things up. ”

Kid Kenobi’s Klub Kids 01 is out now, stay tuned to ITM for the full-length audio interview later this week!