Kid Koala Inspired By The Muppets

07/03/07 4:30pm

by Cheryl Thompson (CHARTattack)

If you grew up in the '80s, you're old enough to remember The Muppet Show. For Kid Koala, being a DJ isn't just about spinning some records, it's about taking his instrument — the turntable — to the next level, a la Jim Henson.

"The Muppet Show was perfect," Koala says. "You'd be listening to a frog, he'd be singing a ballad on a pond, and then all of a sudden you're in space and there's these pigs, and then next thing you know there are chickens flying around a kitchen. It's just one of those things where they took a format and just basically completely flipped it."

Flipping things around is exactly what Koala does every time he drops the needle.

"For me, it's all about exploring where it can go, and so from that I just try to link it all together and draw the line between all the different kinds of music and also the techniques that happen in this craft," he explains. "You know, they don't all sound the same or have the same emotive qualities."

Since October, Koala has been on a worldwide tour in support of his latest album, Your Mom's Favourite DJ, playing in front of fans he describes as "new romantics." And since he always has music in his head, he's already begun work on his next project, The Mosquito Book, which is due sometime next year.

"We're actually on our third year of working on Mosquito, but the reason why it's taking so long is because it's actually done in 3D," Koala says. "It's actually miniature models and little clay mosquitoes being photographed for each panel as opposed to just drawing them or something. It's a bit more time-consuming, so it is taking a bit longer than Nufonia was to write."

Nufonia Must Fall was a full-length graphic novel that included a CD. While Koala is still working on the music for Mosquito, he describes the project as a country mouse-city mouse story.

"A mosquito goes to a big city to try and join the jazz band and his sort of idol is an artichoke who plays clarinet and is pretty much the badass clarinet player in the city, so he goes to try and audition for his band. Then, in the meantime when he gets into the city, he meets all these different characters and this girl and they have their adventures."

Sound crazy? Koala is all about pushing the boundaries of his imagination. If you're open to something not-so-ordinary, you'll be one step closer to getting what he's trying to do.

"You know, the craft of DJing is more important to me than just playing the popular records. It's more about what you do with it, and that's when I get a kick out of it.

"For me, it's about being the personality of that instrument. It has such a wide range, I guess, so I like to push it as far as I can."

Koala will play Ottawa's Le Breton Flats on Friday and Montreal's Club Soda on Saturday.