On Kid Koala's new tour, every audience member has the chance to be a turntable artist
The DJ is reaching new levels of intimacy with his latest album and live show
We already know Kid Koala is prolific. Last year, filmmaker Marco Libretti visited him in Toronto and followed along while the turntable artist was involved in three shows at once: the interactive 66 Bicycles/Turntable Tour and Music To Draw To events, plus his live-scored puppet-starring multidisciplinary performance of his own graphic novel Nufonia Must Fall. All of these included the audience directly in establishing the mood and making Kid Koala's music come alive in a particular space.
Recently — inspired by the stark Montreal winter — Kid Koala explored a new sound and a new level of intimacy with his audience. His new album Music To Draw To: Satellite is his first album to include his lyrics, sung by one of his idols, Emiliana Torrini. And on the album's tour, Kid Koala gives his audience members custom-made turntable orchestra stations with colour-coded vinyl, so that everybody can contribute to the orchestra (cued by Kid Koala's maestro, Felix). And why not? As the artist says, "The idea was, 'How do we create these songs in one take?' And that was the obvious choice: 'Well, there's all these other people here — why not put them to work?'"
CBC Arts correspondent Derek Kwan visits Kid Koala's tour and studio with filmmaker Ashley Duong in this video, and the turntable artist opens up about writing lyrics, working with Emiliana Torrini and how this record became the most personal he's shared so far in his musical career.
See Kid Koala's Nufonia Must Fall in New Orleans April 14 and 15, Abu Dhabi on May 11 and 12, or San Francisco on August 10-13, and stay tuned here for future tour dates of all his many projects. And learn how to scratch with the personal lesson he gave CBC Arts!
Derek Kwan is an actor and filmmaker based in Vancouver, BC. From eating fast food all over the world on YouTube to sharing his experiences through documentary film, Derek's passion is creative storytelling. His upcoming projects include a video series commemorating Canada 150 also with CBC.
Ashley Duong is Montreal-based filmmaker and multimedia storyteller. Her most recent projects include Land and Legends, an interactive journey into a legendary river valley in Borneo, and A Time To Swim, a feature documentary which premieres April 29th in Los Angeles.
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