| Profile |
News |
Events |
Releases |
Comments(0) |
|
He began his music career in 1990. After serving two years in the U.S. Air Force repairing computers, Larkin returned to Detroit to pursue stand up comedy. During his pursuit, he, along with other Detroit club goers, witnessed the birth of a new genre of music at local clubs. What came to be called “Detroit Techno,” thumped in clubs like; The City Club, The Majestic Theatre, The Shelter, and the legendary Music Institute. The latter considered home base for the bumping, sultry, emotive, yet almost romantic style of club music that rose out of urban plight, desperation, and decay.
Larkin mostly frequented The Shelter, were he soon hooked up with Richie Hawtin, who was one of the club’s resident dj’s, and the two became good friends. While driving around the city at night, they stumbled onto a local Detroit radio mix show. The dj creating the mind-blowing mixes that changed both of their lives was none other Derrick May, or “Mayday,” his call-name on the radio. May along with others, inspired both Larkin, and Hawtin to pursue this new form of music.
When Hawtin formed +8 with John Acquaviva, Larkin released his first two singles. But, it wasn’t until 1992, when he founded his own label, Art of Dance, that he came into his signature sound. Under his “Dark Comedy” moniker, Larkin created ‘War of the Worlds,’ which went on to become a seminal dance floor techno classic for Derrick May’s Transmat Records, of which Larkin licensed the project to. After contributing the exquisitely beautiful and sublime tracks ‘Serena X’ (under the name Yennek) for the compilation Panic in Detroit and 'Tedra' on the hugely innovative Virtual Sex (Buzz) compilation, Kenny was pushed to the forefront of techno's soulful elite.
In 1994, Larkin shrewdly carved out his own classic sound when he signed to Warp Records, and released his first album, entitled Azimuth. The album was hailed by European and U.S. press as one of the most original techno albums to date
|
