Ghosts in the Machine - Kid Koala at the LA Amp Show
"It's like they add ghosts to your machine," says Kid Koala.
We met up with Kid Koala (Deltron 3030, Gorillaz) at the LA Amp Show to twist some knobs and learn more about how he integrates effects pedals into DJ performances. And we got that. But we also got a lot more than that.
Equipped with a Teenage Engineering OP-1 and the EarthQuaker “motherboards,” Kid gave us a guided tour of the unconventional effects pedal techniques he uses to sculpt sounds for live performance, and also showed us how he tames the unruliest of all Devices, the Rainbow Machine and Arpanoid, in the controlled studio environment of video game sound design.
Reaching for the Interstellar Orbiter, a pedal we designed in collaboration with Kid Koala himself, he coaxes a heavy, highly resonant bassline from his OP-1 that sounds like it belongs in the best retro-futuristic roller disco jam you’ve never heard. “I’ve always been very hands-on,” he says. “That human vibe. People feel that.”
We're feelin' it.
Kid Koala's latest album is called Music To Draw To: Satellite, and it's available now on Arts & Crafts.