“I was talking with old mate Nick Allbrook [Pond] the other day and he said he was hell proud of WA music,” Newman says. “You know that living here is fulfilling enough; there’s enough good gigs here and bars to keep us going.”
It’s just before lunch and Newman is preparing to go out and help manage his girlfriend’s pop-up store. He speaks brightly, occasionally raising his voice to include the other musicians in the house in the interview. He’s reflecting on Koi Child’s position in the cadre of bands that make up the illustrious Fremantle scene; a group spearheaded by the now world famous Tame Impala.
“Maybe it’s just tyranny of distance. You know, maybe everyone’s gotten to the point that they’re like ‘Ah fuck it, we’ll do our own thing’,” he says. “But it also comes in waves. Ten-to-15 years ago there was a big wave over here in music that exploded out.”
Koi Child’s debut, self-titled album is due for release in mid-March. Featuring the singles Black Panda and 1-5-9, the album was recorded in a home studio on a small island near the suburb of Mandurah, with production from Tame Impala’s Kevin Parker. The ten day process saw the band living in close quarters, often sleeping in the recording area.
“It sounds quite glorious – this little island – but really it was actually just in the southern suburbs of Perth,” Newman says. “It’s a beautiful little area, though, and it is actually an island, just this hidden pocket in the suburbs on the coastline.
“We went there with incomplete songs, so we wrote a lot down there. So it was kind of this big incestuous period where we all just lived and breathed together, doing crazy things and making crazy music.”
From the band’s origins as an impromptu live band, the transition to writing structured songs has been a difficult one. But Newman says they’re gradually developing a more concrete setlist. “We formed off the back of jamming. You know, going to gigs and parties and literally just jamming – improvising and stuff – rather than the pure process of active songwriting. I think now we’re moving towards actual songwriting, so we just workshop and get it all out.”
Newman admits the band has yet to settle into a solid rehearsal ethic. Despite hosting weekly rehearsals at their local bowling club, getting everyone in the same room and on the same page is a difficult task.
“The thing is we haven’t been able to write new songs for a year and a half now and the album’s not even out, so we’re going to have to play the same songs for another year, probably. So I think we’ll be pretty good at playing the songs by then, but they’ll also be pretty heavily affected by the things we do to make them more interesting and change them up. I think eventually we will start to get more structured with stuff, but we can’t help but fuck with it.”
The band’s Party in the Paddock appearance will give fans an opportunity to hear album tracks ahead of the official launch tour in March. At this stage Koi Child will be a relatively unknown quantity for most festival goers, but Newman promises a beats-heavy, hip hop jam for those that take the time out to see the band.
“You see people performing to click tracks and backing tracks because the people watching want a perfect song, but I can’t see us doing that anytime soon. I think that feels a lot better, you know, when you give it your best shot and just hope it works out.”
BY SHAUN COWE
