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Get the lead outKid Koala sketches an outline of his
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“Most people I know in the arts in Montreal, I don’t even see them all winter, because they’re in sort of self-imposed art prisons—which I think makes this city great,” says Eric San, aka vinyl Vaudevillian Kid Koala. While San recognizes the worth of Montreal’s annual rhythm of creativity, he’s felt compelled to stage the occasional jailbreak while working on the forthcoming Space Cadet, his ambitious return to the graphic-novel-with-soundtrack format of 2003’s Nufonia Must Fall. “It’s a story about fatherhood, I think,” says the recent dad of Space Cadet. “It’s based in all corners of the galaxy, but the underlying theme is fatherhood, because I’m going through that myself. It’s such a new outlook on things that I have to address it somehow. I guess some people would go choreograph a dance piece or something, but my mediums of choice are still music and books.” This time around, San is exploring the painstaking but visually rewarding scratchboard medium. “It’s written, I’m just going through the time-consuming task of getting through this technique that I’m trying to learn while doing it. I’m having to think in terms of light as opposed to line and filling. I’m on page 57 today, so I’m slowly chipping away.” Scribble jamIn doing so, San has had to keep cabin fever at bay, which can be a challenge. “I personally have trouble finding public spaces to go and draw in that I can actually deal with,” he says. “People don’t appreciate you going somewhere and just setting up shop—especially if you’re not going to order anything, be there for eight hours and take their prime table by the window. Even at the library, there’s eraser dust and the smell of scratchboard, all kinds of mess going on. Plus the cafés and stuff are blasting AM radio, which I find takes you out of the zone.” San set out to not only get into that zone but open it up for others. “We were thinking of some event or evening with which we could bring people out and they could be social and antisocial at the same time, and actually get some work done. Pick a dead night of the week and see if we could pull some people out for some creativity and productivity. 
ZONE TROOPER: Kid Koala “I figured, maybe there’s a place I can play records and draw at the same time, but how am I going to do that and not have people wicked pissed at me?” Théâtre Ste-Catherine, one of San’s “favourite rooms in the city,” struck him as ideal, and the management concurred. For the next three Mondays, the space hosts Kid Koala’s Music to Draw To soirées. The idea is, bring a sketchbook (or yarn to knit with, collage materials, whatever) and create on the spot, alone or with others, while Koala lays out some very rare “quiet time” sets. “It’s all music that hopefully leaves you enough space that you can keep working, as opposed to bowling you over with so much information that you have to start dancing or driving fast or whatever it is people do to music these days. So it’s music that I actually listen to and work to all the time, but I never had the forum to share with people because of the context of what our tours have been to date. It’s quite liberating for me because I’m known for doing the 20-minute, short-attention-span set.” Less noodling, more doodling“I’m not going to be there scratching all night,” San notes. “I’m bringing some other, minimal pieces of equipment that I want to learn how to use, but it’s all in the context of the soundtrack to Space Cadet. That being said, over a five-hour set, it’s not going to just be me noodling. A lot of the time I’ll be like, this is a great record, I’m just gonna let it ride and go over and draw with everybody else.” Draw and snack as well, no doubt. San’s wife Corinne is providing baked goods for the nights. “She’s always dreamed of opening a bakery in this city, and she’s been trying a bunch of different recipes that she’ll be presenting for the first time at these events. I’ve had to taste-test a lot of the stuff already, so it’s gone through one filter, and I’m pretty picky about those things. So the baked goods will be good—let’s start at good and they’ll probably get to amazing. The one I’m liking this week is a black sesame vanilla cupcake.” AT THÉÂTRE STE-CATHERINE ON |
