Music
Kenny Larkin
born 1968 · techno producer, DJ
Detroit-born second-wave techno producer whose soulful, melodic records on Plus 8 and Warp made him a major influence in Europe.
- Born
Detroit, Michigan- Also known as
- Dark Comedy
- Detroit years
- 1968–1990s
- Field
- Music
01 / The Detroit story
The Detroit story
Kenny Larkin was born in 1968 and raised in Detroit. He missed the first years of the techno scene because he was serving in the US military, but on returning home he began producing, inspired by Juan Atkins, Derrick May and Chicago house. His first singles, “We Shall Overcome” and “Integration”, came out on Plus 8, the label Richie Hawtin and John Acquaviva had just founded across the river in Windsor; “We Shall Overcome” was among the label's very first releases in 1990. Later records appeared on Buzz and on Britain's Warp, whose Artificial Intelligence series helped define “listening techno”, and he also recorded jazzier material as Dark Comedy. Like many Detroit producers of his generation, he found larger audiences in Germany, the Netherlands and Britain than at home. AllMusic describes him as massively influential on American, British and German techno.
Highlights
- “We Shall Overcome” was one of Plus 8's first two releases (May 1990).
- Released on Warp and Buzz as well as Plus 8.
- Records jazz-leaning techno under the alias Dark Comedy.
- AllMusic calls him “massively influential” on transatlantic techno.