KENNE is a native of New York. Born to a Japanese father and an American-Jewish mother, Kenne got his start in the entertainment industry as a child actor and Off-Broadway chorus boy, to the voice behind the TV commercial jingle, "Cotton, The Fabric Of Our Lives."
Through the years, Kenne won roles in commericals, industrial films, and musical theatre, including the role of the "TIN MAN" in a national tour of "The Wizard of Oz" and a leading role in the independent film, "Kings of Zero" which won 'Best Screenplay' at several independent film festivals around the USA.
During this time, Kenne also started writing songs and making demos with other young musicians with the hopes of furthering his career in the music industry.
Through one demo tape in particular, Kenne had the chance of a lifetime to receive a reply from international record producer extraordinaire, Phil Harding, from the United Kingdom. Phil is most noted for being the man behind the successes of Kylie Minogue, Rick Astley, Gina G., and Bananarama, just to name a few!It was after a trip to London, that Phil Harding agreed to take a chance on this unknown yet very motivated artist.As a result, Kenne recorded several songs with Phil, including the pop friendly radio hit, "Take Me Back", "Touched By Love", "I Still Love You" and his most recent track entitled, "Falling In Love." The latter song was written by Phil Harding, Ian Curnow, John McDonald and Andy Caine. A bevy of remixes for the track were provided courtesy of the legendary MIKE RIZZO, FREDDY BASTONE, and GIUSEPPE D.Kenne also released several songs under his initial "K" as well as his real name "KENNE" and the name "JUKKA" which was given to him by a good friend from Paris, from FUN RADIO FRANCE. Some of the songs Kenne released were, "YOU CAN DANCE" which was written and produced with top German dance producer Doug Laurent of Culture Beat and La Bouche fame. Kenne then teamed up with Doug again in 2004 for the single "EVERYBODY HAPPY" which hit TOP 40 on the US BILLBOARD HOT DANCE CLUB PLAY CHART! The club smash boasted remixes by a veritable who's who of remix artists on the club scene today such as: ALMIGHTY, SHARP BOYS, ROC PROJECT featuring RAY ROC, PIPER, KLUBJUMPERS AND JONATHAN PETERS.
The song entered the UK POP TOP 30 chart, rose to # 12, and stayed on the chart for over 10 weeks in the United Kingdom.
The music video for this song received massive airplay on A3 TV, "America's First Dance & Progressive Lifestyle Channel," as well as VIVA PLUS TV GERMANY and hit the TOP 20 CHART on Canada's BPM TV for over 3 1/2 MONTHS!!!
In 2005, Kenne released all new mixes of a song by one of his most favorite bands of all time, NEW ORDER, entitled, "True Faith."
For this single, Kenne summoned the talents of great remix artists such as: MIKE CRUZ, MIKE RIZZO, ALMIGHTY, TOMO, and the well-respected remix artists from France, PATRICE STRIKE and RAPHAEL GARRAUD.
A music video for the song was filmed in Paris, France and was directed by one of the industry's most sought after top video directors, SEBASTIAN DOVE. Once again, Canada's BPM TV has shown Kenne support, and in March of 2006, Kenne's video went all the way to *** # 1 *** on the nationwide Canadian music channel for 2 CONSECUTIVE WEEKS!!! The video was also played on M6 TV FRANCE, M6 TV MUSIC FRANCE, MCM FRANCE, PINK TV FRANCE, several retail chains such as H&M, Macy's, and once again in the US on A3 TV. For this particular video, Kenne was credited under the name "JUKKA!"
Kenne's version of "True Faith" reached # 6 on the United Kingdom's Pop Top 30 Chart, # 7 on the French Club Chart (credited under the name "JUKKA"), and reached a very impressive *** # 12 on BILLBOARD'S DANCE MUSIC CHART *** in the USA in early 2005 (credited under Kenne's initial "K")! "True Faith (Mike Cruz Tribal Club Mix"), also credited under Kenne's initial "K," can also be found on the compilation CD, entitled, "PARTY GROOVE: BLUE BALL VOL. 4" by DJ LYDIA PRIM, available everywhere on Centaur Music.Currently Kenne is working on new material and hopes to delight audiences worldwide for many years to come!
LISTEN BELOW TO MORE TRACKS & MORE AWESOME MIXES OF KENNE'S SONGS!!
Be sure to stop the Myspace Player first before listening to the tracks and videos below! Thanks for listening!