With 1 in 2 men and 1 in 3 women will be diagnosed with skin cancer in our country, it’s no secret that skin cancer is Australia’s biggest killer.

In the fight against skin cancer, DJ/producer Kid Kenobi has teamed up with Pretty Shady, the social awareness campaign encouraging young Australians to help stop skin cancer one summer at a time, to create a track for summer entitled Sunshine. As part of the campaign, Kid Kenobi worked alongside Pretty Shady to document the creative process, unveiling the writing process via his social channels, with regular updates to his fans and followers throughout each stage of the track’s production. Kid Kenobi’s fans were even privy to a behind-the-scenes photo shoot of him working on the track in his sun-drenched studio in the Northern Beaches of Sydney, NSW.

To create the artwork for the release, the campaign ran a social media competition calling out to the general public to share an original design, image or photo around the theme of ‘summer’ or ‘sunshine’, with the winning entry being used for the final design.

Featuring Australian vocalist Andrea Kirwin, Sunshine is available initially as a free download via SoundCloud and Bandcamp, before it will be officially released on Kid Kenobi’s record label Klub Kids. As the track is now freely available, Kid Kenobi is running an exclusive remix competition. The competition offers the chance for the best submission or submissions to be released on Klub Kids as an official remix pack – alongside some of the biggest names in Australian dance music. Peep the download link for Sunshine and our feature interview with Kid Kenobi below.

Kid Kenobi, you’re a legend in the Australian dance music scene. After almost 20 years leading the industry, how have you managed to maintain such a strong energy and output?

To be honest I often ask myself the same question! Ha ha. I think at the end of the day it just comes down to having a passion for music. I’ve had that passion since before I was a DJ and I’ll have it long after I stop DJing so in some ways I guess it’s just a part of me and it will never die. I’ve also got an addiction to ‘new ideas’ in music which makes it pretty hard to ever shut off and not get excited when you hear something fresh. Because of this I think your whole headspace is in a constant state of rejuvenation and you don’t ever feel like you are getting old or that you’ve been doing it for ‘ages’.

You’ve just launched your new Original Rude Boy alias, can you tell us more about that and any other projects in store for 2016?

Original Rude Boy is a return to 90’s rave breakbeats via contemporary influences and production. I noticed a lot of UK and European producers starting to experiment with those sounds again and I kinda became addicted. Also those sounds were actually what got me into rave music back in 1992 so to have a chance to play and experiment with them as a producer in 2016 was just too hard to resist! Plus it’s nice switch up from the current state of things in electronic dance music I feel which makes ORB part nostalgia, part freshness! I have two other side projects on the go also but they are super top secret for now! Stay tuned!

Having teamed up with Pretty Shady to create your new track ‘Sunshine’, can you tell us why you got involved in the project and why staying sun safe is so important to you?

I’m always keen to use my music for a good cause. It’s not often you get the chance to do so and it’s really good to be able to step out of yourself and think about the world at large for a change (especially as dance music can be so hedonistic). I live on Sydney’s Northern Beaches too so my family and I (including my two little girls aged 5 and 1) spend a lot of time by the water, on the water, and at the beach. Needless to say you become really aware of the dangers of the sun when you have two little kids running out and about in it almost all of the time!

Have you or anybody else you know ever been affected by skin cancer?

Yeah my Mum has had skin cancers removed and ironically the day after I started ’Sunshine’ I met a fellow DJ who had just had skin cancers removed also!

On the new track you work with Queensland-based vocalist Andrea Kirwin. How did you both connect and why did you choose her for the project?

She’s worked with one of the artists on my label (Klub Kids) named Magnifik. Magnifik has a knack for choosing amazing vocalists and I have a knack for stealing them ha ha. The track needed a bit of a soul vibe – that 90’s rave touch – and Andrea had the perfect voice!

‘Sunshine’ will be released on Klub Kids this year. Having already run a competition to design the artwork for the release, what else is in store for the Pretty Shady project?

A bunch of great remixes plus a fresh club mix from me! I’m hoping to do some ‘behind the scenes’ footage too explaining how I made the track!

Lastly, where can we hear more of you and your music?

My two favourite haunts are: https://soundcloud.com/kidkenobi and https://soundcloud.com/original-rude-boy-146533804