You know you’re doing something right when Kevin Parker (Tame Impala Guy) works with you and your seven piece band. As an experimental jazz-jam and hip-hop clan Koi Child have certainly hit the ground running.
Under the wing of Kevin Parker, Koi Child are set to be a jazz jam juggernaut. With diverse influences and mature writing the band are one to keep an eye on.
The eclectic seven piece features Blake Hart smashing on the drums, Christian Ruggiero on the tenor sax, Jamie Canny on alto sax, Sam Newman with the trombone, Shannon Cruz Patterson on MC duties, Tom Kenny playing keys and Yann Vissac on bass. Koi Child’s story represents how most great bands unite. Fremantle locals, electronic hip-hop trio Child’s Play and nu-jazz quartet Kashikoi met and decided to get together. After the blending of sounds, ideas and genres, Koi Child haven’t looked back.
Black Panda tempts fans with what will be their upcoming record and takes on a whole new level of musical production. The flow is smoother than butter and points to perhaps inspiration from early music from of The Roots. Slow One takes on a slow pace (of course) blending acid hip-hop, soul and overtones of hip-hop audacity. You can hear how hard the seven guys in the band work together. This isn’t a cheaply produced mixtape, it’s a rich and rare brand of music and family. Koi Child is easy listening and intelligent lyrically, the all way music should sound.
The team are heavily influenced by Robert Glasper, Mouse Outfit, @Peace, D’Angelo, Erykah Badu and The Roots, of course. Anything and everything that can fabricate a noise has influenced Koi Child. “From afrobeat to psych rock, from funk to dub reggae and all that jazz in-between” they explain. “We saw The Robert Glasper experiment a couple of years back and that was pretty big inspiration for our two separate bands to get together, bash out a jam and see what we could come up with.”
So, the question on everyone’s minds, what is it like having Kevin Parker on the team? “We are very lucky to have Kev, he has helped us grow up in a big way. It was originally his show of interest in us that pretty much forced us to become a band. Hearing his flavor added to our tracks excites us a lot and it has been such an experience to work with him. The man is a genius.” Koi Child do not own a guitar, yet still sound collected and mature as Marvin Gaye.
The good vibes, energy and diverse tastes in music that the seven band members are able to inject and share between one another is what makes Koi Child, Koi Child.
