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Jesse Desenberg aka Kid Kenobi has emerged as the standout DJ in the booming Australian breaks scene. With his consistently strong sets that cover the full spectrum of breaks he has become an essential prerequisite for any event being successful in Sydney. A talent that consistently makes the headline acts play a poor second fiddle, Kid Kenobi is Australia's breaks drawcard, a level headed star that should soon be seen proving his worth abroad. We caught up with him in Sydney soon after been voted Australia's DJ of the Year at the Australian Dance Music Awards 2001.

Jesse explains that although he never intended to be a DJ, a mixture of strong musical forces made it (in hindsight at least) unsurprising that his career involved music.

"My dad's side of the family is very musical, he was a drummer in reggae bands, so sometimes I get a Freudian and say am I into breakbeat because my dad's a drummer[laughing] I never, ever made a decision where I said, 'Right, I'm going to be a DJ'. I accidentally bought a stereo system with a turntable attached and started buying vinyl. I thought it was awesome because the arm would go back to the beginning and play all over again. [laughing]"

Kid Kenobi's musical education spawned with the boom in Australian dance music scene in the early to mid-'90s. He explains that this was a seemingly balanced and gradually evolving process.

"I was going to raves and got fed up because of the hardcore [music], this pushed me towards acid jazz and then triphop came along. That was like a cross between them. I was like this is the perfect music for me and I really got into it.

"I was into hip hop, back in the day. Early '90s, me and Tom [DJ Q45], a lot of the hiphop then sounded very similar to a lot of the funkier breaks now, really upfront, really rocking, it was always charging like music. I was always more into the instrumental side of hiphop anyway, 'cause I never really listen to the lyrics in hiphop or the music in general. I would rather not even listen to the lyrics, I liked the sound it but I never listened to it. Anyway I guess the move from hiphop to breaks was because of the more dancefloor-orientated sound"

It's clear that the Australian dance music scene has grown up since Kid Kenobi started out. It's debatable whether Jesse found breaks at the time it began to boom in Australia, or perhaps the more likely scenario, that breaks developed in Sydney due to DJs like Jesse gradually bringing more and more punters into the breakbeat fold.

"Over the last two years there has been a massive change in things which you can't appreciate on a week to week level. We've gone from only been able to play big beat stuff with massive buildups to now, where if you do it well you can drop garage or more techier stuff. Phil K was playing a lot of nu skool breaks earlier than most, but people didn't get into it.

Breaks continues to grow solidly in Sydney, and Jesse answers clearly in response to whether he believes that the breaks scene will continue to grow.

"I hope not, once you get over a certain level of popularity kind of lose its intensity, with the people going for the scene rather than the music. I like how it is now, its healthy and we get a good crowd of people who are there for the right reasons.

"Breaks is popular at the moment because its at the cusp of the an evolution. So once it gets too popular, something else will come up and replace it".

Though now exclusively a breaks DJ, Jesse manages to avoid the closed-minded attitude that pervades the breaks scene in Australia.

"I remember one weekend I did a mainstream house gig on the Friday and a mainstream drum 'n' bass [gig] on the Saturday. I still like drum 'n' bass but I can't keep up with it. I still buy stuff I like, the deeper stuff, Certificate 18 and Polar, but its not where my heart's at. But in saying that, I would like to bring a lot of those elements into what I am playing ... I never would want to pigeonhole myself ... I am still looking for the perfect 4/4 track".

 Kid Kenobi has played the role of supporting DJ to many of the superstar UK breaks acts that have ventured south over the past couple of years. The term supporting DJ is clearly questionable when crowd response is taken into account. Plump DJ's, Freq Nasty, Tayo, Midfield General, Krafty Kuts, Adam Freeland, SOTO, Soul of Man and the Freestylers are just part of the huge entourage he has supported, along with the likes of Lee Coombes, Stanton Warriors, Meat Katie and Way Out West who have been lucky enough to have him on the supposed undercard in coming months.

During the Freestylers' recent interview they offered up the following praise:

"The DJ's here are really good. Make sure you give Kid Kenobi a wrap ... He is good!! He's got everything…Knows his oldskool, his techier stuff, his funkier hands in the air stuff ... he is really good."

High Praise from people in the know.

Jesse reciprocates the positive view, with only good things to say about the constant flow of international breaks DJ's that has hit Australian shores in the past 12 months.

"It's good for foreign DJs to be able to play next to local DJs and for the audience to go, 'Well, the locals are just as good', and of course it's good for contacts. It's only overkill if you bring out crap acts. If you continue to bring out quality acts like Stanton warriors and Koma and Bones then you can't get bored nor complain."

Koma & Bones also pop up when asked who he thinks is taking breaks forward at present. Accoding to Jesse, "their own stuff just really works on the dance floor and their new mix CD is awesome. The kind of stuff that will give breaks longevity. Stanton Warriors too. All the Plumps stuff …they have kind of dominated for the last year. In Australia, Andy Page's stuff is really good, though he doesn't make enough of it."