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DJ Kensei



I’d spent the 80s and 90s totally absorbed in DJing, but as the year 2000 rolled around, thoughts like “Do I really want to keep doing this?” and “Can I ever move forward if I’m not in a place or situation where I can genuinely enjoy myself?” began to pop into my mind. That then led into constantly wondering if there were other settings where I could DJ besides clubs, if there were places where I could play this kind of sound. Then a Korean friend of mine who had told me about Ko Lanta invited me over since he was opening a beach bar called Omlette Dub.
And then you started spinning there every day?
I stayed for around a month while I DJ’d at the bar. Ko Lanta hadn’t seen much investment yet back then, so all they had on the island were a few hotels and a village with some local shops. Omlette Dub was a half-outdoor space right on the beach. It was also the inspiration for my Om-Lette Dub mix.



Outerlimits Inc.presents DJ KeNsEi in OM-Lette Dub
Cold Chillin' In The Spot Side
 DJ KeNsEi

(XAOM-0002)
KSR
2003



Taiyo from Sound Channel came over from Japan, and I was spinning with lots of other folks like Nicky, who’d been DJing in Bangkok for decades, Goro, BetaLand, and other guys from Germany and the UK. There were tons of backpackers and tourists, too, so it was a real all nationalities/no nationalities type of place (laughs).
My days were spent exploring the island then playing music while watching the sea and sunset. Some days I’d make a kind of groove, on others I’d try and turn up the energy a bit, and on others I’d play only songs I liked that fit the vibe. It wasn’t the type of place where people cared who the DJ was anyway, so I had freedom to experiment, seeing what kind of sound worked best in relaxed settings or figuring out what the feel was different emotions. I’d select from songs I’d found while there, tracks that the other people and I vibed on together, basically anything that genuinely felt good to me in that time. I also picked up lots of bootleg CDs on Khaosan Road in Bangkok (laughs). I’m sure I could’ve played some of the same stuff I did in the clubs back in Tokyo, but in the end I didn’t feel that would be the right fit for that space. Overall it was a great experience for me as a DJ in how it expanded my horizons and most importantly keyed me in to lots of new insights. I became a fan of traditional mor lam music when I went to see some shadow pictures and started putting together beats with recordings I made, and went out recording other sounds from the island, too. Not just samples from nature, but also snake flutes, the instruments used for Muay Thai, hidden recordings of the bar crowds and people chatting—just all kinds of stuff with a vibe that I’d try layering over the music. Time wasn’t an issue, so I was free to try out any little idea that came along.
The only issue was that as a guy coming from the city, I felt a little antsy until I got used to the way time worked there.