Interview: Kenna

For eclectic artist Kenna, working on his debut album, "New Sacred Cow," was a way to free some inner demons. He tackled his self-proclaimed "authority complex" and obsessive-compulsive disorder, and completed his transition from being treated as royalty in his native Ethiopia to arriving in a country where he couldn't speak the language.

Kenna, 27, honed his musical skills in the United States by listening to U2 and R.E.M., two groups that heavily influence "New Sacred Cow." Eighties synth-pop lines the album, which also combines an artistic use of static noise, chanting and dreamy harmonies. He received noteworthy help on the album from The Neptunes' Chad Hugo and Limp Bizkit's Fred Durst, who originally signed Kenna to Interscope Records.

Kenna, who was recently nominated for two MTV Video Music Awards, is currently opening for Depeche Mode's Dave Gahan.

How's the tour going so far with Dave Gahan?

It's great. It's really amazing to watch Dave every night. I actually get to watch all the shows. I'm the fan who got the tour. You know how kids follow Phish, and the Grateful Dead? I'm the guy who gets paid to follow Dave Gahan.

Were you a Depeche Mode fan prior to the tour?

I started out mainly like a U2 and R.E.M. fan, then my friends kind of got me into [Depeche Mode]. Since then, I've collected all the records. I'm pretty much an avid fan.

Your album, "New Sacred Cow," is very influenced by Depeche Mode and U2.

It seems like the general [audience] response is, "that was a great opening act for Dave." It's been really cool. Chad [Hugo] of the Neptunes, he's much more of a Depeche Mode fan than I am. I'm definitely a fan. [Hugo] was one of those people back in the day, he got into that whole scene with the goth vibe. My record's heavily influenced by Chad being a programmer and a musician on it as well. Both of us were leaning in that direction.

How did you hook up with Chad?

Chad and I went to high school together [in Virginia]. We weren't really friends until after high school and we became reacquainted with each other right before we started doing the record. He was doing album and producing stuff. I was looking for a person to work on my album. The first day we just hit it off musically.

You said the album was heavily influenced by Chad. Was "New Sacred Cow" what you were looking for as well?

Absolutely what I wanted to do. I came to Chad, I was trying to communicate with him who I was as a person, and how I needed that to relate to my music. I couldn't have it be a cookie-cutter or any one style because I wouldn't be that person. I was explaining to him my influences. I mentioned Depeche Mode, The Cars, Talking Heads. I mentioned U2. I mentioned early Genesis. I mentioned all those things, but I need it all to flow into one--all the influences need to be in each song. I need a partner in crime to kind of make it happen. He and I got together and started writing and immediately, that's what we did. We would write something that we thought would encompass all of our influences all at once. The album is a truly collaborative effort. Lyrically, it's my life's journey.

You've lead quite a fascinating life, being born in Africa and moving here. That must have influenced your musical style.

You know, people have asked me about that and I've said, "No, it hasn't." But more recently, I've noticed that rhythmically, genetically as a person, inheritance-wise being born there, rhythms and musical enthusiasm could come from my family and from my history. Some songs on the record reflect my childhood. I really have had a beautiful life. It's been complicated, but it's a beautiful life.

How do the songs reflect your childhood?

"Hell Bent" is a song on the record that directly kind of speaks about my authority complex. [Laughs] I have a pretty glaring one. That song is really kind of a mirror of what it was that I went through as a child. I was born in Ethiopia. My parents left me when I was young to go to university [in the United States]. There was an overthrow in the government. My parents left the country and went to school at Cambridge. I was left with my grandfather, which was kind of government insurance, if you will, that they were going to come back. I was the first-born grandchild of a 22-person family--my mom and her 10 brothers and sisters, and my dad's 10 brothers and sisters--[so] I was really important and was treated that way. I had a nanny, and respect and nobody could touch me, that kind of thing.

Then I leave [Ethiopia], by way of some stuff--Kenya, London and Cincinnati, Ohio. My parents kind of transplanted themselves. My dad's working at University of Cincinnati. I moved into student housing with one bedroom. My bedroom was a closet. My parents read Curious George books to me so I would learn English. But I didn't want to learn. I think that's where my early authority complex and obsessive-compulsive nature was born in that time. The song "Hell Bent" says, "Am I the king?" That's a question I was asking myself as a child. What happened? I had all this and it was taken from me.

That would be a culture shock for somebody so young.

Absolutely. A massive one. As a kid, just to come and have to be dressed funny, and live among other people that speak a language that you don't understand, and being ridiculed because you're kind of mute. It was an early wake-up call for me.

On a different note, you worked with Fred Durst on your album?

He paid for it to happen. It's not on his label though. It just didn't work out. Everything happens for a reason. Fred believed in me, helped me make the record. He and I both realized the company wasn't paying attention to the record. We decided to let me go and I went elsewhere.

What was it like to work with him?

He was like Apple Records [in terms of a hands-off approach] and I was The Beatles. I went and did the record, he didn't bother me, didn't come by. He walked around being the champion for it. People misunderstand him. He does a lot of things to be misunderstood as well. He's got a lot of demons but he really can be an angel as well. He's been great to me.

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