Extension _ Interview with Inigo Kennedy

You mentioned in your biography that you were interested in obscure and industrial music..  if you had to choose, what would be your favourite track of each of the following genres and why; synth pop, experimental, Industrial, acoustic and techno?

Deciding on one is pretty tough but I’ll give it a go…

Synth Pop : It has to be ‘Into The Groove’ by Madonna.  Utterly timeless, although distinctly of a time.

Experimental : ‘War, Track & Field’ by 70 Gwen Party. This sums up John Peel to me perfectly. I ended up tracking down a series of obscure 7″ singles in folder A4 paper sleeves by this band after hearing them on Peel’s show. Though different tracks, this is their Peel Session from 1992.

Industrial : On the EBM side I’d say ‘Welcome To Paradise’ by Front 242 and on the more industrial side I’d say ‘Brainfuck’ by Painslut on Steinklang Industries.

Here’s some Painslut live

Acoustic : ‘Can’t Be Sure’ by The Sundays. Funnily enough another Peel gem and I ended up seeing them play so many times after hearing them on the radio that first time. Rarely did they, or any other band, beat the goose-bump simplicity of this first single.

Techno : ‘Polynomial-C’ by Aphex Twin. Quite how it manages to be melodic, timeless, break-beat, hardcore, mellow and simply unique is what makes it something special .

To what extent do you think Aphex Twin has influenced your work and how do you rate the term IDM?

A timely question!

I’d say pretty I’ve been influenced pretty highly and for a lot of the reasons I’ve just listed. It’s inspiring to see how boundaries can be crossed, ignored or smashed to bits. RDJ shows that accidents and not following the herd are no hurdle to be even thought about. Occasionally I see comparisons drawn with my music and his which is totally unwarranted in my book but nice to read all the same; it makes me feel like I’m going in the right direction at least!

As for IDM, I’ve no problem with the term per se; I don’t think it’s derogatory any more than another term. Historically I’d say also that it wasn’t a term created by a marketing department so that’s a good start. I tend to just say electronic music. Although that’s how I’d describe techno too.

Now, EDM, well that’s a different story!