Inigo Kennedy

In my early teens I developed a passion for electronic music - listening to anything from Jean Michel Jarre and Depeche Mode to Howard Jones and The Human League, I was always less interested in the songs but more interested in the vast arrays of equipment being used to create the music. I had aspirations of one day owning a Yamaha DX7. During the late 80s I took more than a passing interest in the first wave of hip hop as it developed into a more experimental and electronic format. Mantronix 'Bassline' remains an all time favourite. Inspired by the sound Paul Hardcastle's '19', first heard on the Radio One hip hop show and seeming to defy categorisation, there unfolded an extended period of experimenting with tape dubbing, manual and labour-intensive editing and the misuse of cheap guitar effects pedals. Next came the energy of acid house and break-beat hardcore which was for me a natural progression and firmly planted the seeds of what was to later become a great passion for techno. [photo (c) 2006 morganistik] Throughout this time I was equally fanatical for all kinds of obscure alternative, industrial and electronic music and spent much of my time trawling through record fairs for unusual material. Listening to John Peel's shows on Radio One became a regular source of inspiration and this has come full circle more recently with John Peel regularly playing my material on his shows. Manchester came next with a period of four years, between 1992 and 1996, spent at UMIST studying for a degree in Electronic Engineering - specialising in Digital Signal Processing and developing more than a casual interest in number theory. Digital equipment has since become a major focus in my studio set up - some might say this is at odds to the traditionally analogue sound sources that techno often relies on although I believe it has helped me to develop my characteristic sound and production methods. The beginnings of my studio, the acquisition of a Roland D-50 and Casio FZ-1 in 1994 and the assembly of a rudimentary home made mixer and filter unit lead to the start of techno production in ernest - and a seriously deep knowledge of how these machines could be used and misused. This period of production culminated in winning of the 1996 Fosters Ice Breaker for Techno on John Berry's Techno Show on Kiss 102 in Manchester, UK. Winning the Fosters Ice Breaker lead to my first release 'The Bond EP' in June 1996. A bright orange record that some people in Manchester at the time may have remembered appearing in their hands outside a few club nights. More here...