Kid Koala
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Kid Koala | ||
|---|---|---|
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| Background information | ||
| Birth name | Eric San | |
| Born | 1974 | |
| Origin | Vancouver Montreal |
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| Genre(s) | turntablism | |
| Occupation(s) | DJ | |
| Instrument(s) | turntables | |
| Label(s) | Ninja Tune | |
| Associated acts |
Deltron 3030 Bullfrog Gorillaz Lovage |
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| Website | kidkoala.com | |
Eric San (born 1974[citation needed] in Vancouver, Canada), who records under the name Kid Koala, is a Montreal, Quebec based DJ and turntablist. He is signed to the British Ninja Tune record label and also tours and performs with a jam band, Bullfrog. He has also made appearances with many other artists and has made major contributions to Deltron 3030, Gorillaz, Lovage and numerous other bands.
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[edit] Biography
San studied elementary education at McGill University. He is well known for his enigmatic style of turntablism, which uses an unusual collection of samples. He has been known to use samples of music from Charlie Brown television specials, old comedy sketch routines, people sneezing, and people reading a menu in Cantonese. He is well known for his cheerful demeanor at concerts and having a good sense of humour.
San is also an illustrator and an artist, having designed all of his album covers. A comic book drawn by him is included as the liner notes to Carpal Tunnel Syndrome and he has released a full length graphic novel, Nufonia must fall, which includes a soundtrack CD composed by himself. Some of my Best Friends are DJs includes a chess set as part of the packaging.
This album was supported by a cabaret-style tour throughout North America, Europe and Australia, known as The Short Attention Span Theatre, which featured an unpredictable opening act, 3 Djs on 8 turntables set up like a band, a bingo game at intermission, among other tremendously quirky surprises. Following this tour Kid Koala has performed DJ sets all over Asia, discovering new fans in destinations such as Iceland, Eastern Europe, Russia, and South America all the while working on a fresh new book (apparently about a mosquito trying to play a clarinet) and a unique puppet show set to take place in 2008.
San popularized a method of playing the turntable like a melodic instrument, where a long, single note is dragged under the needle at different speeds, creating different pitches. Since this method of adjusting pitch is imprecise, the resulting notes waver and bend. Thus, in the song Drunk Trumpet, San uses this method with a trumpet note to simulate a drunken trumpet player, interspersing drunken vocals to complete the effect.
San released a new Kid Koala album, entitled "Your Mom’s Favourite DJ" (ZENCD127), on 25 September 2006.
As of October of 2006, San is married, and has just embarked on a 90-city tour.
[edit] Discography
- Carpal Tunnel Syndrome (ZENCD34, Ninja Tune, 2000)
- Some of my Best Friends are DJs (ZENCD82, Ninja Tune, 2003)
- Your Mom's Favorite DJ (ZENCD127, Ninja Tune, 2006)
[edit] Other notable releases
- Scratchappyland - early-years mix tape
- Scratchcratchratchatch - demo album, limited to 500 copies and released on cassette only (CS001, 1996)
- Nufonia Must Fall - Graphic novel with accompanying 17 minute audio CD (ECW Press, 2003)
- Live from the Short Attention Span Audio Theater Tour!! - 5 track live EP with accompanying DVD containing the video of the live performance plus 4 Music videos (ZENCD101, Ninja Tune, 2005)
[edit] See also
- Lovage (band)
- List of Quebec musicians
- Music of Quebec
- Culture of Quebec
- Peeping Tom (album)
- Gorillaz
- Deltron 3030
