Jon Kennedy

Born in Stockport, Lancashire, England, this drummer and DJ absorbed an eclectic range of sounds from his parents’ record collection, among them Peter Frampton, David Essex, Kiss and AC/DC. During his teenage years he developed a personal fascination with music that first led him to hip-hop through the work of Run-DMC and Tone-Loc. Persistent requests eventually persuaded his father to buy him a snare drum; earnings from a paper round later financed a complete kit. Formal lessons soon felt limiting, so he began teaching himself by playing along to favourite tracks—an approach that later shaped his distinctive studio methods. After playing in several local bands, he constructed a modest home studio and started producing music single-handedly. His core aim has always been to create material that works effectively in live performance, concentrating on songwriting rather than depending on banks of synthesizers or computer equipment. Onstage he is usually joined by his brother on acoustic guitar, school friend Ben Thomas on bass, Bernard Moss on flute and alto saxophone, and Naomi on keyboards. Following the restrained 2001 release We’re Just Waiting For You on the Tru Thoughts label, Kennedy moved to Grand Central Records and issued Take My Drum To England in 2003. Expanding on the relaxed, soul-infused hip-hop of his first effort, the album stood out as an impressive body of work.