Dave Kent

Real Names: Dave Kent
Music Style: Funky house and breakbeat
First Dave Kent Track: Freak Show (1999)
Other Artist Names: Dave Kent's Big Beats

Profile

Dave Kent is a sound engineer who first got involved with Toucan (then Frantik) in 1997, helping to produce a couple of tracks for a compilation called the Pink Album in a University recording studio. Dave didn't try writing any music himself until 1999, producing "Freak Show", a sample based filler track for another compilation, the Traffic Album. The track proved more popular than Dave thought it would, so he embarked on another crazy breakbeat outing in 2000 with "Monkeys Ate My Fish Tank", this time joining forces with Psychadelik Pedestrian who provided some of the synth and acid sounds.

Dave's name became more well known after his remix talents were discovered by Toucan. After remixing "Against The Grain" for Psychadelik Pedestrian and "Zero Gravity" for Redmann in 2000, bringing a unique funky house feel to the tunes, he was asked to remix "Break of Dawn" for Psychadelik Pedestrian in early 2001 which was a favourite among Toucan listeners. He also combined with Psychadelik Pedestrian on "Bass Tribe" (written under the name Online Funkstream).

Perhaps his most well known remix is still his 2001 take on Redmann's "So Sublime", and without taking any credit away from the original, maybe Dave's remix is one of the reasons the tune became the most popular that year. In 2003, Dave assisted with the production of the first of The Toucan tracks, with Psychadelik Pedestrian, and he's also collaborated with John Dalling on several Phish Funk tracks and as Online Funkstream. In 2007, Dave wrote his first solo track for several years with "Stimulation", a funky house track which featured on the re-release of his track "Pump It", and later in the year collaborated on his most unusual project to date with Prism producing two UK hardcore tracks in a funky style which Dave reckons are "funky house, just at 170bpm"!

Dave is still remixing for Toucan and has no plans to quit at this stage, saying "I'm not into doing my own music as much, I find it hard to get ideas without blatantly ripping off someone else". He adds, "I love remixing though because the ideas are already there and I can just funk it all up".

Dave works as an engineer in a recording studio in Bedfordshire, and has helped produce all kinds of music, from classical music and church choirs, to Latin American funk and metal. His career highlight is mixing rap-funk band Shakedown IV live on their 2002 European and 2006 American tours. Dave enjoys working an music of all styles, but claims he is at his best when someone a bit different comes into the studio: "I like working with bands who have a style all of their own", he says, "but they've got to be funky!".