Kenny Larkin - Still raising the Bar (25)

Ten minutes with one of the most prominent figures in the second wave of Detroit techno is a tough one to condense. So many questions, so little time. Here’s how Hannah Briley got on with Kenny Larkin.

Pulse: Hi Kenny, thank you for taking some time to talk to us. How are you? What you up to at the moment? Kenny Larkin:  The question should be, what am I NOT up to at the moment!? I’m super busy doing a bunch of remixes and working on a new release for Cadenza and still doing a lot of touring.

To touch on the seeds of your music career - you met Richie Hawtin and John Acquaviva at The Shelter in Detroit in the late eighties which resulted in you becoming Richie’s first signing to his first label Plus 8 is that right? I met Richie at the Shelter in maybe 1989 in Detroit, I didn’t meet John until later. Richie and I became really cool. Eventually we both expressed interest in releasing music. Later he met John, and said he was forming a record label with him and I decided to release my first single with him.

Do you return to Detroit to play much? How does the energy feel there now in comparison to the nineties?
I don’t go back to Detroit much, other than to visit friends during the festival that goes on there yearly. Outside of that, I’m mostly in sunny southern Cali when I’m not touring.

Having followed your work for many years what stands out is that you’re very real, honest and retain an organic approach to music production – simply put – you make music for you and for your creativity and don’t give two f***s what anyone else thinks of it? That’s sort of the truth. I don’t care about what other people think or if they don’t like my sound. Why waste time caring when that time could be spent doing creative things?

Do you feel the electronic music scene of today and its artists have the same approach as you and the long standing artists of your generation?  Yes, I try to be more organic with my approach to music making. I try not to get caught up in the really technical side of things or use production tricks or whatever. My sound is more melodic, and so that’s where my focus stays, on the melodic side.

The process of creating music to then promote it versus promoting yourself in order to create music that stands a chance of being heard is a switch that has happened during your time as a producer – how do you feel about that switch? That’s change for you! The whole business model of music has changed because of the internet, and you either adapt and stay relevant, or you don’t.

You’ve remixed a substantial amount of high profile artists including Ben Klock, Radio Slave and Inner City – how does your enjoyment of remixing compare to solo production? I’m enjoying remixing more and more. I made the mistake of taking too much remix work though. I am currently working on roughly eight remixes! I agreed to do a remix for the project Guy Gerber and P.Diddy are doing together but had to back out because I have too much to finish.

‘Sketches’ on Be As One in 2009 was your last released original production if I’m not wrong? Yes and no. That was actually supposed to be a remix originally! They sent me the parts, I did the remix which is my version of ‘Sketches’. Then I sent Shlomi the parts and he remixed my remix!



Are we going to see any more original Kenny Larkin material come to light?Yes, this spring I have a release coming out on Cadenza.

You’re coming over to London to play at a night associated with the now closed Bar25 in Berlin – did you ever play or visit Bar25 when it was open? No, I didn’t have a chance to check it out unfortunately.

You’ve made annual London visits to play in the last couple of years – secretsundaze in 2010 and Simmer in 2011 – how do you feel the crowds and vibe are in London? I also used to play at fabric pretty regularly. It depends on the club. I’ve had great knowledgeable crowds in London and I’ve also had crowds that were shite! So, it’s just like any other city with a thriving club scene.

How do you remain passionate about searching for music to play out? What’s your ‘screening’ process of promos and how do you go about sourcing new music?  The old school art of listening to a bunch of demos! Mainly most are not my style so I guess for every 30 I may pick one? Those aren’t good odds! To me, that says a lot about the quality of music that’s coming out.

Is it true that you suffer from tinitus? If so, maybe you can help people understand the importance of protecting our ears while out in clubs... I hardly know any DJ that has been working as long as I have that doesn’t have some form of tinitus. I still don’t protect my hearing! Would I tell people to use protection? ABSOLUTELY! But, that only helps when you are in loud environments. What about when you’re doing you’re thing during the week? And you have your earbuds for your smart phone, blasting the latest Lil Wayne or whatever! I think that’s more of a problem than the club because people do that almost non-stop, daily!



Comedy has been a lifelong passion which you’ve dipped in and out of over the years – what’s happening with that at the moment? Huh? Comedy? What’s that? My answer should tell you how it’s going – ha!ha! I haven’t done it in a while because I’m so busy remixing and travelling. I seem to have caught a second wave with dance music and I’m really enjoying it.

Kenny Larkin will be joining Matthew Styles, Danny Faber and Robin Ordell when Bar 25 comes to London on Sat 04.02.12 - Tickets here

Listen to Kenny Larkin on Pulse Radio