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Kendachi - Beats from da 'burbs
'Chink'. The sound of two glasses accidentally bumped together at last Friday's 33 1/3, while Cut La Roc drops Daft Punk 'Da Phunk' with frenzied scratching. I make a quick joke to the smiling stranger relating to the 'chink' being like 'the sound of violence'. A chuckle is shared. As the night progresses, I learn the other glass chinkee is Ducky, a local DJ who regularly plays around Melbourne will be creating another kind of soundclash with Melbourne's quickly emerging young gun of breaks - Kendachi.
Kendachi has risen to prominence through delivering his low-hung dancefloor wares at War of the Worlds and the ever-absolving Revolver. His recent snaring of a slot at Two Tribes 2003 is further testament to the man's dedication in getting his breaks out there, even though at this stage everyone seems to be calling him. Good sign.
While Kendachi ('Jim' to his posse) has no releases yet, the word is spreading about how tight his production skills are. This all sits perfectly, with Melbourne and the rest of Australia's ever-increasing penchant for da fractured beats. Kendachi and Ducky get their opportunity to
expose their talents to us all at 9pm in the indoors breaks stage at Two Tribes on the changeover from the Day to Night. No, I'm not talking about cold and flu tablets.
Kendachi's music will benefit too. It's always a remarkable phenomenon to observe the attitude adjustment in when the sun goes to sleep. The lack of light brings out the let-your-hair-and-hips-hang-down vibe. And truly, this will be beats for those wearing evening wear. Shadow breaks.
Your shows with Duck at Seven have been well received - how does his style interpolate into yours smoothly?
"Basically, Ducky brings the funk. We've been best mates for a long time. He has a party vibe, whereas my stuff can be a bit darker . and nastier. It's not a 100 percent versus set - he'll drop a record on top of what I'm doing,
then I might chuck a vocal loop onto what he's doing. It's not 100 percent cohesive at the moment but it's getting there. Similar to the way the Stanton Warriors play but a bit darker."
You have come thus far bringing your breaks ammunition with grinding, mechanifunk into the live domain. It seems the basis of your sound is on steady stream of danceable sonics...
"The stuff we'll be playing at Two Tribes will be big, driving almost tek basslines and teky breakloops. It can almost get dancefloor trance over the top. Breaks is going in all different directions at the moment. I like working to the dancefloor with big builds."
A friend of mine commented he was amazed to see you rip through your live set with a 505. Tell me about your spanky equipment inventory...
"Yeah - I use a Yamaha SU 700 Sampler, nice and light set-up. I just fill it with samplers from stuff I've got at home. I like to travel light (like a breaks ninja perhaps?) I got a nice new Behringer mixer. That pumps up the sound a fair bit. I haven't got any recently because I'm planning on going overseas and spending all my money over there on equipment. Hopefully I'm not over there too long because I love Melbourne. I'm going to the UK and then Japan. I'll be taking my gear with me too - can't live without it. At home I've got Calico Four Synths. Doctor Ryhthm drum machine and I use Cakewalk and Sound Forge to roll out all the samples."
On the last Plump DJs Fabric Live mix they recorded samples of bacon cooking and the rustling of a cigarette packet. Do you get into that form of sampling?
"I'm almost incestuous with my own stuff. I use sounds I've already got and continue fucking with them. You can always get fresh new sounds by giving it a fair bit of tweak and it goes there. I found that means I don't go too far off the track. I have friends that look over the internet and find it hard to get their sound."
When you're meshing it together do you have a tried-and-tasted formula? Do you work from a keyboard line or drill with a kickdrum? How many hours do you clock in each week?
"Sometimes I'll start off with a synth sound or a lead or a bass even. I tend not to have a starting point. It's just what I feel sounds good. In between working and women and everything else, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday after work for five and six hours each night. Weekends, if I'm not playing.. y'know. It's about 25 hours a week."
What was the first dance track that tickled your shuffling senses?
"Probably KLF, '3am Eternal' I lived up in the hills and I'd never heard anything like it. We listened to a lot of blues growing up but since I heard KLF i was hooked."
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Published / Saturday, 08 March 2003
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