Kenny Larkin | Interview

Last week, amidst the smells of cigarettes, roasting marshmallows, and spilt Jägermeister – a couple low-lives had the opportunity to sit down with Detroit’s Kenny Larkin backstage at Montreal’s infamous Igloofest . Tucked into one of the few warm nooks at the entire sub-zero (outdoor) rave – Kenny gave off a humble, human glow, that went hand in hand with the cabin’y warmth provided by the artist lounge.

Low-Life: First off, how was your set ?

Kenny Larkin: It was cool.  I like to play a little longer [normally], because usually it takes me a few – probably 30 minutes to settle down and get into it, but yeah I had fun.

LL: We’ll start it off with a question we’ve gotten into a habit of asking artists as of late.  Is there anybody who you have, or still go to for an honest evaluation of your tracks, whether its for old time sake or, or for input?

KL:  No.. [pause]

LL:  Was there anybody at any point?  A collaborator?

KL:  No, no.. that’s weird that I’ve never thought about that… I’ve never done it.  I’m one of those guys that kind of worked by themselves in the studio.  But my thing is like, that’s a fine line for me.. because if you go to someone and say “hey what do you think of the track?” and they go “Oh yea that’s cool, but take that part out.”  So now its basically their track through you. So for me I wouldn’t even want to go up to somebody else and ask.. know what I mean?  Because then you have your own.. whatever weird shit they might tell you to take out — that would be your own signature.

LL:  Haha damn… I feel you.

KL:  That’s how you kind of establish your own individuality.  I mean, I can count on three fingers how many times I’ve collaborated with people, and I’ve been doing this for like… 20 years, know what I mean?  So yeah it’s been rare.

“…I’m not Jay-Z.  I’m the arty dude.. I wanna be left in the corner with a little keyboard as opposed to coming up with strategies, and marketing plans.”

LL:  A common theme within many of your interviews, is a focus on the progression / digression of music over time.  A perspective that historically holds true to many genres – rap, rock, and so on.. is the essential truth – that with time, it gets worse, not better.

Not to make you feel responsible for these themes unfolding over your various sit downs, but it seems that your interviewers see you as a prime source for insight into the fate that electronic music has in store for itself.

To me your responses seem very honest, but to the less informed – could be interpreted in a negative way. It seems that you’ve almost become the voice for that.

KL:  The voice of negativity [laughs] ?

LL:  Well no.. it’s the interviewers angle, but more so – the nature of the role that you play being from the generation you’re from, as one of the pioneers of a genre..

KL:  What they usually ask me, is “so what do you think of music today?”
And I’m just being honest, like.. for me, it’s a lot of horrible shit!  I mean… and I’m not just talking about the electronic music genre.. you could go across to hip-hop, rap, it’s a lot of wack-ass shit out there.  And it’s like, you know, your mom or your dad or your uncle would say “That’s not music !” you know.. “this is real music”.  It’s subjective, but at the same time, it’s so hard to find good music today.  I mean there’s less and less music in the music.  So that’s what you’re picking up on.. and if someone were to ask me again, I would still say the same.  I mean, until people do more cool funky shit, I’ll probably be just as negative [laughs].

And I’m going to try to do the stuff that I keep complaining about, like I’m gonna try to do something that has some kind of substance to it, instead of just bangin’ people out with a drumtrack, which is easy.. you can just make it hard, and heavy, and people go wild.. but where’s the art in that?  So for me, like I’ve been working on a lot of remixes right now, and it takes me forever to do them because I put a lot of shit into ‘em..

LL:  Your drama remix was my ringtone for too long [laughs]

KL:  Thanks! It took me a while to do that!  I can’t go into the studio and just pump something out.  It’s gotta be a feeling, and there’s got to be a vibe. There’s still got to be something that I feel.  I’m not going to put something out just because it’s got a nice drum kick or what.

LL:  I love that man.  I just wanted to say that after reading your interviews, I wanted to kind of give you a hug… I’m 21 years old, and as one of us, as much as we can being born when we were, there is a contingent developing – that is showing homage, and is learning a lot from you motherfuckers.. and yeah, I just sort of wanted to show you our drivers licenses and be like “look we..

KL:  Care about the music.  It’s not a lot of people that do.

LL:  Yeah.  Maybe I’ll hug you afterwards then…

[laughter]

LL:  You’ve refered to the cyclic nature of your faction of dance music, and really of electronic music in general.  Can you perhaps explain this?

KL:  Yeah.. that’s why I think me and the guys from Detroit.. we might be in the background sometimes, because the stuff that we do isn’t considered “trendy”.. and I mean you’re right; everything goes in cycles.. fashion, music, everything.  So usually when those trends die away, it goes back to the more melodic music, and so that’s where guys like us come in to play because we’re kind of more rooted in that, and people go “okay cool, that’s what is music sounds like.”   I just don’t understand how kids can wanna dance for two, three hours to non-melodic music… just beats beats beats beats beats [laughs].  And they’re not taken on a journey or nothing, it’s just.. it blows my mind.  It just happens.. like minimal, I mean that was the shit for a while, and then it died away, and yeah.. cycles.  It’s the nature of the beast.  We got to stay relevant somehow.. these old guys like me.. and you know, I don’t change or flip my style or anything for that.

LL:  Do you or have you had any interest in the business aspect of your career?

KL:  MMmm.. that’s.. you’re either good at that stuff or you’re not.  I prefer the more creative stuff.  I can handle it, but for me it’s more satisfying to focus on the creative stuff.  I’m not a mogul [laughs].  I’m not Jay-Z.  I’m the arty dude.. I wanna be left in the corner with a little keyboard as opposed to like coming up with strategies, and marketing plans.

“Location right now doesn’t have anything to do with music.  You could be from anywhere in other words.”

LL:  Bit of a lengthy quote I read of yours from an interview in ‘06.

“We hit a glass ceiling in Detroit a long time ago. I mean, there’s nothing else we can do here in Detroit. Nothing and I am talking about everybody. Carl , Derrick , Kevin , anybody… What else can you do with techno? There’s nothing. So you have to challenge yourself in some other way. You either got to go to that next level, whatever that may be. But whatever that level may be, you can’t do that in Detroit because there’s nothing that supports the arts there. Nothing. That city is a car town. And that’s all they do and that’s all they give a shit about and sports. They’re doing a lot of rebuilding in Detroit right now, especially downtown, but it’s all around sports. They’re building new coliseums. Nothing creative. They don’t want nothing to do with it and I’m saying to those guys, Derrick, “Why are you chillin’? Why are you accepting that? I thought you all were trying to fucking push the envelope? Be at the forefront of doing something different or whatever.” But the flipside of that coin is that they have families. They have kids and so I understand.”

I wanted to ask you – at that point, it was a very different state in Detroit.  I don’t have insight into what it was actually like there, but I think what I’m trying to ask is what’s the importance of Detroit artists being back there, and bringing it back?

KL:  Nothing now.. I moved away from Detroit to LA in like 2001.  Location right now doesn’t have anything to do with music.  You could be from anywhere in other words.  So I could say “I’m from Detroit”, but I’m not going to get any less gigs or business just because I’m not living in the city anymore.  And actually, I especially don’t want to be in Detroit right now, because the city is bankrupt now.. it’s so bad there right now..

LL:  Besides your career in / love for stand-up comedy, do you have any other creative outlets?

KL:  No.. not really [laughs]  I’m a pretty boring, creative guy.

LL:  You’re specifically creative.

KL:  Yeah I’m not a weird eccentric kind of guy.. a Howard Hughes creative kind of  guy, just a recluse.. sitting in the bedroom.

[more laughter]

LL:  In an old interview with asia-city.com, which was a series of one-liners, you had some interesting answers.

Fashion is…

“Anything you have the balls to get away with.”

I was hoping you could elaborate on this, and or perhaps give some insight into some individuals in your field that you think represent that.

KL:   I mean, that goes back to that other question.  Why ask somebody, “does this look cool?”  If you got the balls, if your personality is such where you can walk with the confidence, then people will go “look at this guy, he’s wearin’ that shit!”  So yeah that doesn’t just limit itself to fashion, it can be music, sports, me being a comic..

LL:  Is there a best-dressed, somebody that you’ve spun alongside, or at a certain point in their career even?

KL:  Naaah [laughs].  Man I’m too old for that shit !

LL:  Its you, I know it, you just didn’t want to say it !

[more laughter]

LL:  A few years back you did an interview where you said that no one was inspiring you at all, musically – has that changed at all since then?

KL:  No, naww.  I’ve been having to draw my own inspiration.  Like, there’s a few.. I can’t even name them off the top of my head.  I get a hundred promos and I can listen to maybe two?  It’s really fucked up..  and see?  Being negative again!  But I’m just bein’ real.

LL:  Haha I can feel that you’re far from negative.  Lastly, I’d like to give you the opportunity for a little Oscar speech.

KL:  Oscar speech!  Thanks everybody for coming, I wanna thank my mom and pops, and my brother, and my fiancé – I love you baby.  Muaahh

LL:  Thank you for being here, for your amazing set, and of course – the interview.

KL:  Thank you brother.  MERCI BEAUCOUP.

Connect with Kenny Larkin:

Facebook: facebook.com/KennyLarkinOfficial

Twitter: twitter.com/kennylark

SoundCloud: soundcloud.com/kennylarkin