One of his latest projects, Nufonia Must Fall, is a perfect example. A story about a robot trying to impress a girl, it’s a comic book with a CD soundtrack and a mini chess set all in one. “When I was a kid, all my 7-inchers had books and pictures to go with them. So I thought it’d be fun to keep that tradition going,” ponders Eric. “If you can understand the humour in the drawing part you’ll probably get the humour in the audio part.”
His approach takes vivid imagination and geek-like dedication, not to mention a talent with the cross-fader. “Making Basin Street Blues was like doing an animated film,” he explains, referring to his turntable cut-up of Louis Armstrong’s classic number from his Some of my Best Friends are DJs album. “Every note on each instrument was found on different bits of records that had to be scratched in and bent. In the end you get music which sounds like the original but moves differently. Like when you see an animated character walking and there’s something slightly distorted about it. I like that.”
For source material Eric goes “digging in dime stores”, picking out bizarre educational and self-help monologues or “treasures” as he calls them. “I dig for those records that people are embarrassed to have, then make records documenting that they exist,” he grins. “Anthropologically speaking, it’s kind of interesting, like audio-voyeurism.”
His charms haven’t gone unnoticed either. Both Radiohead and Björk have asked him to prime their crowds. “It’s funny how making odd noises can get you into strange situations sometimes,” he says, remembering his slot at Madison Square Garden in front of 20,000 Radiohead fans.
Still, it’s obvious from his manner that success isn’t dulling his senses, and his imagination is as potent as ever. “Eventually we want to do a puppet musical with turntables in the orchestra pit.” As I said, he’s no ordinary DJ.
Strut Hear
Kid Koala Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
...
- You expect me to play this, man?
What?
What?
- That's heavy!
What?
What?
...
What?
- Yes. I believe we're about to begin.
What?
What? What? What?
The intro to Kid Koala's song "Strut Hear" is a mix of sampled dialogue and instrumental sounds. The sampled dialogue consists of a group of people talking about the music that's about to be played. In the first line, someone announces that it's time to lay down serious sound. The response from the group is a mix of confusion and excitement, as they ask if someone is really going to play what they're hearing. The repeated "What?"s and "Sheeit, man..." indicate surprise and awe at what's about to happen.
Line by Line Meaning
Time to lay down serious sound.
It's time for a heavy and serious musical performance.
You expect me to play this, man?
Are you serious about this music choice? Do you really want me to perform this song?
What? What?
The performer is surprised and confused about the musical direction and choices.
That's heavy!
The music being performed is intense and challenging.
Sheeit, man...
The performer is exclaiming shock or disbelief about the music being played.
What?
The performer is still unsure and confused about the music choices.
Yes. I believe we're about to begin.
The performer acknowledges the start of the music performance, but still carries hesitations about what the performance will entail.
What? What? What?
The performer is still expressing confusion and uncertainty about the music selections and the overall direction of the performance.
Contributed by Juliana K. Suggest a correction in the comments below.