Kid Kenobi
There’s no disputing the transient nature of the DJ: many hopefuls come and go, but few actually remain. You could attribute this to one of many vague criticisms of the dance scene, but the truth is DJs who quickly and quietly sink into obscurity just don’t have what it takes. When the lights go on, the job isn’t all guestlists and groupies and not many people love the job that much to persevere.
Jesse Desenberg does. It’s been over a decade now since he’s been DJing as Kid Kenobi and during this time his contributions to the Australian dance scene can be matched by few of his peers. A quick look at his rap sheet shows he was voted Number 1 DJ in the Technics InTheMix Top 50 three years in a row; he chalked up so many mix CDs for Ministry of Sound Australia that Ministry created the special Sessions series for him (he’s still the only Australian DJ to have a compilation named after him), and he received numerous Australian Dance Music Awards for Australian DJ of the Year, NSW DJ of the Year and Remix of the Year. Most people don’t achieve so much in a lifetime, but for Kid Kenobi this is still the beginning.
His first original release, “The Bump” (with Hook n Sling, signed to Hussle in Australia), scored him a nomination for ‘Best Dance Release’ from the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA). His first remix, of Green Velvet’s “La La Land’ won him a Remix of the Year award at the Australian Dance Music Awards. Since then Kid Kenobi’s clocked up a little over 20 remixes for some of the world’s biggest names in dance, pop and rock.
While Kid Kenobi the artist is adored by fans and respected by fellow DJs, Jesse himself is loved by everyone. The last five or so years have taken him around the world and back again. From Brazil to Canada to London to Cologne to Shanghai to Paris to San Francisco. Despite his high profile and commercial success, he’s the last person to buy into his own hype and the first person to hang out after the gig for a beer and a chat. It’s not false modesty – like most iconic DJs, he really does do it for the love.
His “Two Fresh” collaboration with his brother, Sydney based DJ Hugga Thugg has seen a number of exciting releases and remixes – in fact their debut remix resulted in a top 10 in the ARIA Club Charts and a 10 date national tour in its launch month. Since then they’ve released a slew of tracks and zig zagged the nation. In addition, Jesse has been working on more remixes as Kid Kenobi and original material for his debut artist album and an EP release is also in the works for 2010.
Our advice? If the Kid comes to your town for a show, make sure you don’t miss him. It might be a while before he has the chance to come back.