BIO
Kenneth Estrada y Santiago was born in Schwerin, Germany, in 1989. His life is a tapestry woven from the vibrant threads of Cuban heritage and the unique backdrop of post-reunification Germany. The grandson of Cuban journalist Rubén Darío Estrada y Santiago, whose pen captured the intensity of the Cuban Missile Crisis, and the son of two East German army officers, Kenneth inherited a legacy of adaptability and determination. His childhood was spent near Magdeburg, where he and his half-brother Phillipp Estrada y Santiago explored the boundless realms of imagination, drawn to alien worlds, mythologies, and the electrifying pull of music.
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From an early age, Kenneth displayed an uncanny aptitude for musical instruments. At the age of 8, he deciphered and confidently performed radio pop songs on the piano by ear, but his true passion emerged through self-taught mastery of bass, guitar, drums, and vocals. These formative years were steeped in the sounds of alternative rock, with distorted guitars and infectious melodies igniting his artistic spark.
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In 2003, he befriended twins Bill and Tom Kaulitz at Kurfürst-Joachim-Friedrich-Gymnasium in Wolmirstedt and joined their band Devilish (later known as Tokio Hotel) as a bassist for a few months. However, his path soon diverged as he pursued his own musical vision.
Reuniting with his brother Philipp in 2005 after being separated for three years due to their parents' divorce, the duo formed the band DARIO, a creative force that, just a year later, would DIY-produce the album 'EGAL' and go on to win accolades such as the SWM MusiCids Band Contest and the Audience Award of the European biggest noncommercial band contest Local Heroes. Sharing stages with iconic acts like Ton Steine Scherben, Silbermond, The Bosshoss, and Die Prinzen, DARIO became a fixture in the German music scene, playing around 350 shows in Germany, Bosnia, and Poland.
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In 2008, Kenneth and the DARIO band members moved to Berlin and produced their first studio album 'Schlicht & Einfach' at the One Louder Studios in Salzwedel together with Michael "Elvis" Schulze (former Alice's Gun guitarist). There, they also recorded the hymn 'Unsere Eintracht' for the sports club SV Eintracht Salzwedel, selling 1,000 copies on the first day of its release. In 2009, their management, Planet Entertainia—headed by Falco Richter, who also managed Rammstein in their early days—introduced DARIO to producer Mic Schröder (Valicon/Eleventwenty Studios), who started recording songs for their second studio album 'Falsche Gesichter'. Diverging opinions and tastes in the Valicon Studio at the time ultimately prevented the final production of the new album. After five years of an intense band journey, the young members felt burnt out and longed for a change. As a result, the band decided to part ways, and Kenneth began working on his solo album 'stummfilm', which he released on Bandcamp in 2012 without further promotion. With this album, he concluded his work with German lyrics. Feeling creatively limited by his native language, he shifted to writing predominantly in English.​
As the 2010s dawned, Kenneth's musical journey took a more introspective turn. He formed the doom-metal-shoegaze duo Feathers and Stars, releasing the EP 'One Moment in Madness', and further honed his skills as a producer. He found inspiration in the ethereal sounds of shoegaze, which influenced his subsequent work. From 2014 to 2017, he toured Europe with the band Downhill Willows, releasing the self-titled EP 'Downhill Willows' during this period.
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Kenneth also established his YouTube channel, Shoegazer, a platform dedicated to effects pedals and music production. With over 50,000 subscribers, the channel has become a valuable resource for musicians worldwide. From 2017 to 2023, he dedicated himself to an intensive exploration of vintage and modern music gear and technology while simultaneously growing his YouTube channel. This deep dive into sound design and production techniques helped not only his viewers, but also him define his own sonic identity, culminating in the creation of two albums, 'Giant Yellow Eyes' and 'Cybergaze', which fuse shoegaze aesthetics with futuristic soundscapes.​
Beyond music, Kenneth ventured into instrument design in 2020, creating innovative guitars and effects pedals. These instruments often integrate features such as samplers, drum machines, and speakers, reflecting his inventive approach to music technology. He presented his CyberJag guitar with a built-in sample player at Berlin's Superbooth 2022 and shared his prototyping process at the Weissensee Academy of Art Berlin.
In collaboration with pedal builder Luca Engel of Summit Amplifications, he simultaniously worked on custom effect pedal designs. He created the Psychocandy Superfuzz, a The Jesus and Mary Chain-inspired artwork for Summit Amplifications’ clone of the Shin-Ei Fuzz Wah and Univox Superfuzz. This fan artwork gained significant recognition, even catching the attention of The Jesus and Mary Chain themselves, who reacted to Kenneth’s demo video and highlighted it as one of the year’s standout moments on their social media. He also combined the Devi Ever Rocket fuzz pedal circuit with one of a Univox Superfuzz and designed the Ultrablast pedal artwork, inspired by the 'Pinkshiny Ultrablast' album by Astrobrite. Highly inspired by the sound of the band, Kenneth gifted this effect pedal to lead singer and guitarist Scott Cortez, who is well known for his distorted ambient cassette productions and uses it ever since, describing it as "a monster" on his Instagram page.
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In January 2022, Kenneth and Summit Amplifications released the KatzenJammer Filter Fuzz Synth Oscillator effect pedal, a unique device designed for guitar and bass players as well as noise music enthusiasts. Featuring a distinctive design that resembles a cat face, with its knobs functioning as the eyes and ears, the pedal quickly gained attention in the underground noise music scene. Due to its popularity, Kenneth and Summit Amplifications collaborated again on a second version, the KatzenJammer II, which was released in March 2024.
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In 2023, Kenneth also expanded his artistic output to include large-scale acrylic marker paintings, showcasing his intuitively scribbled Chaos Art on his website under his initials K.E.Y.S.
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Kenneth Estrada y Santiago continues to live and work in Berlin, navigating the intersections of music, technology, and visual art with a commitment to creative exploration and innovation.