Austin-bred, San Francisco-schooled producer, DJ and vocalist, Kevin Knapp has emerged from the ever-bustling electronic music scene of the Bay Area to become one of the most exciting up-and-coming artists in today’s houseĀ music scene.
Versatile in his productions and DJ sets, Kevin takes no prisoners with an approach that sees him always striving to get the dance floor rocking, with releases on labels such as Hot Creations,Ā Dirtybird, Poker Flat, Sanity, Lost, Viva Music and Truesoul a testament to his prowess and prolificness in the studio.Ā A man of many skills, the US born artist started out by DJing in San Francisco for notorious clubs such as Werd and Housepitality and after relocating to Berlin his career catapulted and a global touring schedule ensued.
On March 17th he is scheduled to release his next EP entitledĀ Find MeĀ and introducingĀ Baby Luck aka Brittany Ballard, who makes her first ever vocal recording for this project. Distinguished for his jacking house cuts, Kevin has a created a deeply charming EP, reinforcing his position within the dance scene. The four-track release, which is all originals, will be coming out on Rebellion, one of Damian Lazarus’ Crosstown Rebels sister labels, and includes two tracks that were premiered by Pete Tong on the same night during one of his esteemed BBC Radio 1 Friday night shows.
We caught up with KevinĀ ahead of the forthcoming release, which you can pre-order via Beatport here.
Hey Kevin, where are you right now? I ask because you’ve been so busy touring that it’s hard to pin-point your location these days!
Haha ā Yeah Iāve been bouncing around a bit for sure. Iām sitting in my cozy home studio/office on a pretty relaxed Sunday in Berlin! The sun has been making an appearance here this week for the first time in months and you can see it in peoples eyes that the unrivaled Berlin summer is approaching.
You were living in the Bay Area before relocating to Berlin, a career move mirrored by a lot of other techno and house producers from around the world. How has the change been for you so far?
Yeah itās been pretty good actually. Like with any major life change, often times the biggest challenge is getting over the fear of the unknown. Luckily for me I fell in with folks who I consider basically family now, pretty quickly. Shout out to my homie Sacha Robotti and my music brothers Matze & Johannes (Mat.Joe) for being so awesome to me when I arrived. Special gents!
What do you miss most about the States and San Francisco?
Food and wine. Bon appetite named SF the best city for food in the country a couple of years ago (an assessment they make annually) and for good reason. You canāt throw a rock in that town without hitting a chef who is gangster as fuck. Do yourself a favor, and that means all of ya, get to SF to eat, drink and dance if you havenāt already. It will deliver, trust.
Do you ever at all feel like an “outcast” as a house music producer in such a techno-heavy city as Berlin?
This is a great question to ask. Making me smile for sure. The short answer is I used to. But just like as has always been the case for me, Iām pretty empathetic I guess, so seeing and feeling dance floors, and doing my best to give them what I think they need, is kinda the way Iām wired. So most times even if my house centric style is not someoneās claim to fame, I can leave them feeling at least a bit entertained.Ā Ā Iām passionate when Iām on stage for whatever reason, and have a background in live performance, so I can be pretty animated up there. So yeah t