How do you handle music requests?
It doesn’t happen much in Berlin, thankfully. Back in the states it would happen quite often. My favorite approach was to try and convince the person that coincidentally whatever I was playing at the moment happened to be the newest release by whoever they were requesting. It worked more way than it should.
What do you do when equipment goes on strike?
Curse the gods and then quickly troubleshoot. I had a beat up Moog that would give me grief sometimes live, but a quick unplug and replug would fix it. One time my computer came to a complete halt halfway through a set and the music all just stopped. I begged forgiveness and restarted my computer. The crowd was very nice about it, but after that I completely reworked my live setup and switched daws so that wouldn’t happen again.
What are your musical influences from childhood?
Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons, especially Winter. Been an arpeggio fanatic ever since. The Beatles’ Revolver, especially Eleanor Rigby. Always been drawn to moody stuff and still a sucker for a good string arrangement. A Best of tape my Dad made of his favourite Earth, Wind, and Fire songs. No surprise I was drawn to house music soon after. And Jean Michel Jarre’s Equinox and Oxygene. My dad would put this on late at night on road trips and watching lights go past and imagining alien worlds and cities are some of my earliest preoccupations with science fiction and synth music.
Is it even possible to argue about musical tastes?
As countless hours at afterparties and bars can attest… Yes, yes it very much is.
Which track would play when you made your entrance for your boxing match?
If you’ll allow me a full album, I’d have to choose Smell The Glove by Spinal Tap.
What was the worst job you ever had?
Door to door knife salesman. For some weird reason nobody wanted to buy a knife from the stranger at their door…
Describe your sound to someone who has never heard it before.
I’m afraid I’ve never been very good at dancing about architecture.
Do you have any good tour stories from clubs or festivals?
I’ve collected too many to count over the years, everything from hilarious backroom antics, to people rushing the stage and trashing equipment, to patrolling for arsonists in the woods, to seeing ufo’s (no but for real). Like all stories they’re better heard in person. Buy me a beer sometime and I’ll talk your ear off.
What would you do if you weren’t a musician?
During lockdown I think a lot of us had to ask that question. Personally, I took up photography and it’s now competing with music for my time and affection.
Which style of music should have the most followers? And why?
Whatever my style is so I can make all the moneys.
What is the most important musical equipment invention of all time – and why?
I’m gonna go with the pipe organ. It was the first instrument with a keyboard which led to the creation of standard notation. Which I can’t read for the life of me, but it’s hard to imagine a world without it’s impact.
What would you advise to become a professional?
If you really want to become a “professional” don’t do it in the music industry! Go be an accountant or something, leave music to the weirdos.
Pictures: © Kenneth Scott
Artist: Kenneth Scott
Title: Light Blooming
Label: Circus Company
Cat #: CCS125
Format: 12″ – digital
Genre: Electro, House
Following well-received collaborative outings for us as 1/2 of the SF dynamo duo Moniker whose classic “Billy D” anthem and respective Patrice Scott remix graced the early catalog, followed by the galactic flex Straylight EP with Cali brethren Dave Aju on velvet vocoder vox b/w a stellar Kai Alcé remix on the Another offshoot imprint, and of course his indelible contributions to the arrangements/derangement of the wondrous KAMM LP Cookie Policies, Kenneth Scott is essentially an extended family household name for our camp and so we’re beyond proud to present his initial solo release for the Circus Company label proper. Schooled as always in the deepest of electronic music roots and classiest of track traditions, the three pieces that form the Light Blooming EP puzzle display all the prized synth wizardry and production ingenuity we’ve come to expect from the Berlin-based veteran.
“Firesound” kicks us off in fine form, with a glistening array of pads and tight arpeggios that give way to a soulful funk strut that any fan of Detroit-style electro flavors will enjoy to the fullest. We then move to the stylized 4/4 pulse of the aptly-titled “Lost Sonar”, an extended live set for Lost Sonar Collective skillfully condensed and finessed into a smooth-as-silk true deep house cut, where warm synth tones set the sound bed while shards of sharper percussion and angular textures flash and fizz throughout, creating an ultra-fresh contrasting feel while a rock-solid groove grinds us along faithfully. Scott then finally closes out the set with the powerful and titular “Light Blooming” which begins with a similar rising pad intro before unleashing fierce and raw overdriven drum programming, teasing us out to the two minute mark when the mighty sub bass line and multi-layered arps drop in to devastating effect, bubbling and building to a bold harmonic apex, before eventually bringing us down softly and somehow with ease after such a glorious rise. Filled with early-Warp feels and futurist sci-fi hopes in equal measure, the Light Blooming EP is three tracks of pure funk precision and expressive musical class from the man Kenneth Scott.
BIO – KENNETH SCOTT
Berlin-based polymath Kenneth Scott has been at the vanguard of personalized electronic dance music for over a decade. Whether showing synth-programming prowess as a vital force in group outfits such as KAMM and the dynamic-duo Moniker, or rolling solo with a variety of fresh releases and live performances well under his belt, Scott’s music offers exciting alternative takes on the status quo of purist dance genres.
Growing up in the hippie enclave of Fairfield Iowa, known best for its collective transcendental meditation practice and iconoclastic filmmakers, Kenneth found 90’s rave culture and its ever-alluring soundtrack as his generational ticket. Soon enough, said ticket led him to the western shores of San Francisco, where his own subversive rule-breaking takes on music, art, and life in general were welcomed with open-arms. In the bosom of the City by the Bay, these formative DJ training years turned to more sincere efforts and relationships, which finally saw him expand his sound internationally, eventually settling in his now hometown of Berlin, Germany where Scott’s multidisciplinary range has fully flourished. Whether behind the DJ booth or live PA setup charismatically rocking the floor, or deep-diving in the music studio or even more frequently, behind the photography lens looking for the perfect shot if not beat, the work of Kenneth Scott is as unique as his upbringing and personal travels, offering a refreshing melange of multi-regional stylistic influences, intelligence, and charm.
