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Kenny smiling - which he does alot!

If Kenny Carpenter had never happened it's a fair bet that disco and house music, would still have been a really good idea that nobody ever had.

Of all the people instrumental in creating the current scene, he is the one; agreed by peers and fans alike, to be the embodiment of clubbing.

Kenny started out in the 70's, but not as a DJ. His first job was as a lighting technician, as he told Debbie Troops in this exclusive interview.

Listen to the interview - part 1

"I was working in some of the biggest New York clubs and I liked my job, doing the lighting, but then, when I stood and watched some of these guys having a really great time I thought hey I can do that." He could do 'that' so well that he soon became the main man at legendary underground clubs like The Gallery 21, The Loft and The Inferno.

Kenny Carpenter - picture courtesy of Qaraj

He got his big break in the 80s when the hallowed halls of Studio 54 came calling and from then on it was sheer hedonism.

"They were great times, the clubs were really fantastic, the people were really amazing and there was alot of drugs...alot of drugs, but it was the music.There was some really fabulous music around at that time and I don't think that time can ever be recreated."

Kenny's focus and passion was always the music and he admits to being disillusioned about the current house scene.

Kenny on the decks at Pascha

"No-one ever left a club singing the bass line and that's the truth.I like music, melody, a great song and there's so little of that around right now...when you think back to all the really great tracks of the 80s and early 90s...there's no comparison now," he says, "but you have to be positive...I'm so busy and now that I've based myself in Rome I'm taking some time out of New York to focus a little. My studio work is real important at the moment but I still love to DJ."

Kenny's career has now spanned over twenty years. He still travels all over the world and regularly features on radio and tv.He's busy producing music for himself and other artists and working hard to bring the house scene back to its roots. He's part of a progressive new house music agency - Qaraj - created by Ministry founder Justin Berkmann - (interview coming soon) - and he's still in demand. Despite his reservations about the production quality of the music he's playing, he's far from hanging up his playbox just yet. "Oh no I want to keep going until I have to stop," (laughs) "and besides I think that you have to do something about it if you don't like what's happening and not become part of the problem...you have to become part of the solution."

Listen to the interview - part 2