photo by John Moss
story by Mackenzie Stroh
What do Charlie Brown, Monty Python, Sesame Street and Cheech & Chong
all have in common? If you answered that they all advocate marijuana
usage in ways explicit or subliminal you are correct...but probably
on something yourself as well.
The correct association for this article is that they are all programs
sampled by the DJ Kid Koala. The sounds and speech he uses are as diverse
as the projects in which he is involved. During the past several years
he has written a graphic novel, has been in the theoretical super group
Gorillaz, has been in an actual group called Bullfrog, and has even
written a video game.
However, not fronting a band like the Goo Goo Dolls or Bon Jovi -groups
with carefully crafted pop songs for every mood of the emotional spectrum
- can lead a fascinating figure to go virtually unnoticed in the eyes
of the general public. It is a testament to his skills as a DJ and his
uniqueness as an artist that the crowds flock to his performances.
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KID KOALA'S INNER VIEW
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"When I am working in the studio, it
seems perfectly normal to follow the ska track with a track
made up of coughs and sneezes."
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Eric San (Kid Koala's real name) was born in Vancouver and lived there
for about 10 years until moving to Montreal. He got into DJing in high
school and began scratching at parties for friends. Interested in music,
but also possessing an academically oriented mind, he received a degree
from McGill University in elementary education. The path of his future
lay somewhere between Jaime Escalante and DJ Jazzy Jeff.
A frown of educational ecstasy unknown must pass over the faces of
young Canadian children in the Montreal area as they learn that Eric
San will probably be involved in music - and not teaching - for the
rest of his life. Their mood is likely to be short-lived though. Hearing
the eclectic sounds of his music can cause a person to understand immediately
that Kid Koala is in the right profession indeed.
It only took a four track, 20-minute tape to convince people at the
London-based label Ninjatune that Kid Koala had an interesting way of
expressing himself on the turntable, and that they should hear more.
San made sure they heard his first tape titled Scratchcratchratchatch,
which led to the 10" titled Scratchappyland. And thus the career of
Kid Koala was born.
In 2000 he released the groundbreaking album Carpal Tunnel Syndrome
and is set for a new release in October called Some of My Best Friends
Are DJ's. Since his early days performing at parties he has barely had
a chance to do much else, playing as many as 220 shows in a given year.
San took time out of his busy schedule to answer a batch of questions
from Chicago Innerview regarding the nature of DJ culture, growing up
DJing in Canada and the ever increasing role of technology in music.
Chicago Innerview: Listening to your records, humor is such
an essential aspect of your songs. When did you figure out that Monty
Python and hip-hop could coexist so naturally?
Kid Koala: Growing up with Monty Python records and [the] Muppet
Show really effected what I would consider normal on a record. I loved
how those shows always messed around with the format of things. There
would be a musical number, followed by volleyball chickens or dead parrots,
followed by two guys in an argument clinic. I don't know, it just kind
of makes sense to me the way they put those albums together...When I
am working in the studio, it seems perfectly normal to follow the ska
track with a track made up of coughs and sneezes.
Chicago Innerview: You grew up in Vancouver and Montreal
and studied classical piano. We've all heard about jazz and rock musicians
studying classical music and their progression seems somewhat linear.
But DJing does not come across as a logical procession from Chopin,
or does it?
Kid Koala: I remember this piano recital I was playing in when
I was about five years old. I totally forgot what I was playing in the
middle of the piece and sat there stumped. The auditorium was silent.
I started to just make up a bunch of things on the keys and I am sure
my parents and my piano teacher were wondering 'what the hell is he
doing?' Oddly enough my deejaying experience is sometimes kind of similar.
I still get that 'what the hell is he doing?' thing a lot...but it's
kind of in a more encouraging way. That's what kind of drew me to turntable
music in the first place...It had its traditions as well, but one of
those traditions seemed to be 'whatever it is you are doing, try to
put your own spin on it somehow.' I don't know if that answers your
question exactly.
CI: Being constantly referred to as 'breaking ground' in
your field, what artists, of any genre, do you look at and respect today
as making significant contributions?
KK: I like what Bjork and Radiohead are doing very much.
I also like Peter Jackson's Dead Alive film...There are things that
happen in that movie that continually surprise me.
CI: Could you describe the DJ culture, in terms of one-upsmanship
and so forth? I know competition is a dominating aspect of human nature,
but two guitar players competing for the ultimate riff is not quite
as prevalent. Where did these battles come from and how did they become
so central to the idea of DJing?
KK: I think for many years it was the only opportunity for scratch
deejays to play in front of people. Most of us entering these competitions
could care less about winning new turntables. You are dealing with a
part of the population that spends all its spare time in isolation practicing
on these machines...and we'd would be doing it even if there wasn't
a competition to prepare for...At that point you have to realize it's
more about self expression than anything else. At its root it was always
about coming with something fresh...It was the only place for the deejays
to take it out of the practice rooms to test it.
CI: What was it like growing up in Canada and getting into
DJing? DJing does not receive even close to the exposure other types
of music gets, so how hard is it to get into something like that and
try to get other people to pay attention to what you're doing? How frustrating
is it that the popular media does not pay nearly as much attention to
it as other things? Or does this aspect make it better?
KK: I don't really think about things like that really...I am
just doing something I am in to. I am actually quite shocked that anyone
pays attention at all. Thanks for doing this piece by the way!
CI: With new technology always changing the face and sound
of music, especially electronic music, where do you see hip hop DJing
going in the future? Are computers going to dominate the sound if they
do not already?
KK: The turntable world has always embraced technology...I don't
think that's going to change. But the challenge has always been to somehow
find a way to put your spirit through it.