Kid Koala and Crew Came, They Saw, They Slew

Posted on Oct 2nd 2009 4:45PM by David Dacks

"We asked ourselves what would it sound like if Public Enemy's Bomb Squad had produced a Black Sabbath record," Montreal-based turntablist Kid Koala tells Spinner, describing the Slew, his hip-hop-meets-hard rock collaboration with Dynomite D.

"We wanted the hand-cut feel of the turntables but also that big overdriven sound of the old rock stuff," he says. "There's an inherent heaviness to both those kinds of music that we related to and felt that there were probably others out there who could handle hearing something like this. So far, our skater friends all really dig it."

The Slew hits the road with a hastily arranged tour to support their freely downloadable album '100%,' which stops in at Pop Montreal tonight and Toronto tomorrow and will makes its way to China by month's end.

Working six turntables with assistance from DJ P-Love, Koala has additional secret weapon: a live rhythm section composed of Chris Ross and Myles Heskett, formerly of Australian rockers Wolfmother. "Chris and Myles confirmed they could join us for this two-week run. We've got all the vocal/harmonica/guitar parts cut on 80 custom records which we will chop in live on the decks" says Koala.

Loudness has its consequences, though: "We had to make special earthquake-proof turntable stands so we can dig in and rock out without having to worry about needles skipping."

"Someone had already leaked the album and people had been passing it around, being all 'cloak and dagger' about it," Koala says of the surprise release. "Dylan [Dynomite D] and I decided to just let everyone hear it. People will have more fun at the gigs if they've heard the tunes and riffs beforehand!"

But don't take this as a reflection on the effort that went into the four-year recording process. "It was a laborious but fun way to make a record," says Koala. "For instance, we would record me playing an E chord on a Hammond organ, then we would cut that tone to a record, then bend it into all the [musical] keys [created by] the other turntables. We plugged turntables into tube amps and cranked them up to get different tones. When you're [scratching] through an amp turned way up, you scratch differently."

Beastie Boys compadre Mario Caldato Jr. brought it all into sharp focus. "We did the final mix with Mario C. in Los Angeles" enthuses Koala "We knew we wanted the tracks to be as heavy as 'So What'cha Want' and other Beasties stuff he's engineered. It was a dream come true to have him onboard."

"We've already had some offers to work with some notable rock names," Koala adds, so expect the Slew to keep on rockin' in the free world. And also China.