Jul 26, 2026 · 59 min · 14 segments
Send us Fan Mail This week on Danny Rants, I'm joined by Australian dance music pioneer **Kid Kenobi**. We dive into the rise of Sydney's club scene…
Kid KenobiGuestDanny GrantHostWas breaks originally what you got into? Was there something else? Like, how did you fall in love with dance?
Um, discovered raves early '90s, so went to my first rave in 1992 as a 15-year-old.
I was like, "No, I, I'm not gonna listen to this rave music." It's, y- you know, I, I'm trying to shut it out.
Um, but it was really hard to ignore, and I think one of the main things was that, um, being into hip-hop i- in Australia was difficult, A, because I was underage, couldn't go to any of the, uh, hip-hop clubs, um, but B, because it was American culture.
So half the time when they were rapping I didn't know, understand the slang, and it was always that cultural difference that was really hard to bridge, you know? Um, and then I think when I went to my first rave, I was like, "This is so cool.
I can listen to the music at home, get pumped, and go to an event where everybody's there, everyone's enjoying the music." So I felt, for the first time, a part of the culture.
Um, but having said that, I think the way I also segued was I, um, found early sort of breakbeat hardcore in around, like, the early '90s.
Um, so it was, it, it was basically using the same breakbeats as what hip-hop was that I was into at that point in time, but just sped up.
So for me there was, like, a really strong correlation with the music in terms of the, um, the breakbeats, you know? So I guess in a sense that's always been the uniting force, you know? The hip- It, it, at th- at that stage, um, you know, hip-hop was breakbeat-based and then, you know, the same breakbeats were being used in that kind of early hardcore.
So for me, I found my little niche inside dance music and, you know, I just, I guess I just love the energy of it and, and the, um... [sighs] Look, I think in early '90s rave culture it was, like, slightly different sort of viewpoint on what dance music was, and I guess there was a slight sort of transcendent sort of spiritual aspect to it.
You know, there was a lot of different reasons why I really got into it, I think.
... interesting 'cause hip-hop seems to be, you know, one of those things that people get into.
Was breaks originally what you got into? Was there something else? Like, how did you fall in love with dance?
Um, discovered raves early '90s, so went to my first rave in 1992 as a 15-year-old.
I was like, "No, I, I'm not gonna listen to this rave music." It's, y- you know, I, I'm trying to shut it out.
Um, but it was really hard to ignore, and I think one of the main things was that, um, being into hip-hop i- in Australia was difficult, A, because I was underage, couldn't go to any of the, uh, hip-hop clubs, um, but B, because it was American culture.
So half the time when they were rapping I didn't know, understand the slang, and it was always that cultural difference that was really hard to bridge, you know? Um, and then I think when I went to my first rave, I was like, "This is so cool.
I can listen to the music at home, get pumped, and go to an event where everybody's there, everyone's enjoying the music." So I felt, for the first time, a part of the culture.
Um, but having said that, I think the way I also segued was I, um, found early sort of breakbeat hardcore in around, like, the early '90s.
Um, so it was, it, it was basically using the same breakbeats as what hip-hop was that I was into at that point in time, but just sped up.
So for me there was, like, a really strong correlation with the music in terms of the, um, the breakbeats, you know? So I guess in a sense that's always been the uniting force, you know? The hip- It, it, at th- at that stage, um, you know, hip-hop was breakbeat-based and then, you know, the same breakbeats were being used in that kind of early hardcore.
So for me, I found my little niche inside dance music and, you know, I just, I guess I just love the energy of it and, and the, um... [sighs] Look, I think in early '90s rave culture it was, like, slightly different sort of viewpoint on what dance music was, and I guess there was a slight sort of transcendent sort of spiritual aspect to it.
You know, there was a lot of different reasons why I really got into it, I think.
... interesting 'cause hip-hop seems to be, you know, one of those things that people get into.
The rest of this transcript — segmented and speaker-labeled, so you land on the exact moment something was said
Search every transcript — by keyword, by phrase, or by meaning, across every show Radar indexes
Trends — what is surging across podcasts, measured against its own baseline
Alerts — when a name you follow appears in a newly indexed episode
No account is needed to search Radar.
