Tony Kenyon
What do you get when you take an Englishman and drop him in the middle of a 24/7 internet radio station in Holland? You get tight pants and some of the best live deep house sets on the planet. But what else would you expect from Tony Kenyon? He’s witty, he’s charismatic, and he knows his shit. So, it’s not surprising at all that he’s got big plans for the future on both sides of the pond.
Recently, I asked Tony Kenyon about those plans, and why seedy sets feel so right to him.
ML: So, you first got into house music in 1996. Tell me a little bit about how you became involved in house music.
Tony Kenyon: I first became involved in house music quite rightly as you've said in 1996; I was 16 at the time. This was an involvement due mostly to a pirate radio station which a collection of friends used to run. The DJs on the station played all genres of dance music, but my favourite was house. This then led me into purchasing and eventually spinning house, getting better and better all the time. I would like to thank my audience at the time, which was made up mostly of a stuffed penguin and my neighbours (not through choice, though. ha!).
ML: House music in Europe definitely has its own flavor and style. How is house music different from North American house music, and how does it vary from country to country in Europe?
Tony Kenyon: The difference is absolutely massive in some respects. I would say house was born in North America, but Europe has totally gone full speed ahead and has a massive following now. The difference, personally, I would say is in North America house is more relaxed, and in the UK most definitely more fluffy. Across Europe, especially Holland, you tend to find the bias leans towards a more electro feel (house with electro elements). Germany tends to like the house classics, where if you go right down to Slovenia you tend to get more of a vocal experience. This is my understanding of it so far.
ML: You've been spinning house for awhile, over ten years. How has your personal style changed from when you first started doing gigs?
Tony Kenyon: My personal style has changed only recently, I would say. I was living in Holland and playing there for quite some time, so instead of the fluffy stuff I'm used to, I started to enter the more electro feeling. What I like to do now is combine the two styles, blast out a more electro set and drop a nice vocal track which really stands out like a sore thumb to give the clubber something to sing along to. I feel the same style constant can get very mono-tone, so you need to bounce around different things to keep the listener happy. So the answer to the question is, yes it changes but to be honest my style is forever evolving depending on the feedback I get from the audience.
ML: The first time I heard you do a set was live on Deep FM. I know you don’t work there anymore, but do you want to talk a bit about why you left? (If you don't want to talk about that, it's fine).
Tony Kenyon: I left Deep FM because the demands were getting too high. The boss of the station wanted me to do all the shows from his house, which is fine, but he wanted me to wear tight pants and was even requesting I wear a mini-skirt. Well, actually, strictly that's not true; I basically moved to Holland and didn't have any time for radio with the active life I had over there. However I've got a few radio plans coming up in the very close future.
ML: About a year or so back, you had been planning to do a very long and extended non-stop set. I remember you doing long sets at Deep FM for practice. I think you even were trying to get into the Guinness Book of World Records. Whatever happened with that?
Tony Kenyon: Well the wheels are in motion, as I've mentioned about the radio work coming up. I'm going to use that as a backing to enable me to do it. I am going out to New York in around July to have a chat with some people regarding this; hopefully I can do the long-live set from the States.
ML: Where's your favorite place in the world to do a gig and why?
Tony Kenyon: Well I'm not going to name a place specifically, but I think the ultimate atmosphere for me would be a dark place, low ceiling, lots of smoke machines and lasers firing through the crowd, playing a dirty electro set. Maybe like a disused nuclear war bunker or something. I think I get this idea from the UK underground rave scene with illegal parties. Yes, it's nice to play in clubs but I just love things out of the ordinary.
ML: So, what's up next for you? Where can we catch you doing a set?
Tony Kenyon: Well, as I mentioned before, I will be doing a commercial radio gig, doing the evening show 7-10pm on 106.5 Carnival FM, which is based in my home city Preston, Lancashire.You can actually check out the website on http://www.carnivalfm.net.
