AN INTERVIEW WITH KOALI

Inspired by Alphabeat, Ace of Base and several other Scandinavian bands, Koali are gospel singer Felicity Vivian and classical musician turned dancer Dai Carpenter. Koali write about memories, places and people, a both happy and sometimes regretful nostalgic experience! Their signature sound comprises of creative baselines, soulful organs and big drums – all driving a reverberant 80s-esque pop theme!

Koali formed in late 2019 just prior to lockdown but an inevitably slow 2020 still saw the release of “Sands Shifting” with its remix and tempo change kicking in mid-track, and the lustful “I Live In Pink” capturing Europe’s underground Latin dance scene. 2021 has seen Koali gain much more airplay with the catchy “Dreaming Spires”, and there are exciting collaborations being released in December – dueting with Exeter jazz singer Mattie James on “Roam as Lions”, and Brazilian Singer-Songerwriter Ana Clara Hayley on “Birdsong”.

I caught up with the band to find out more about the inspiration behind the music:

You have some unusual musical influences! What is it about these particular artists that resonate with you so much?

Dai: “I’ve always liked the sparse sound of Scandi pop tracks – my mates would say it’s because I can’t play a rhythm/lead guitar 😂 or you know something like that which fills the middle! But it can be both urgent or joyous in other ways – interesting rhythms, or a varied soundscape. And when we were growing up I loved how unique say Portishead were, especially the mix of beats with older soul instruments, or the distorted vocal delays. And I guess that’s what we want to do – create an interesting sound palette of the things we like, from soul to trance!”

Felicity: “Dai’s underselling himself as always! He’s very clear and knows what he’s looking for in music”

Dai: “I mean yes there are certain things I like – we push the 8th quaver of a bar rather than the downbeat a lot for example, and the baseline has to have movement and be interesting always! Maybe some of that’s from listening to stuff like Michael Jackson when we were little, it gives music a bit of urgency I think”

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How do you come up with song ideas? Are they taken from personal experience?

Felicity: “Everything’s rooted in our own life experiences; our perceptions and feelings towards emotive subjects and life stages”

Dai: “Yes it’s exactly that – whether it’s capturing people, places or things like nostalgia or regret. In fact so with this first album there’s a connecting theme of living but missing the important stuff; I’ve been lucky to travel a lot, dance in great cities – but in your 30s it’s a sense of there’s more to do but equally you won’t have this time again – and it’s that clash I suppose. “I Live In Pink” is the album title – the Pink’s the sky and it’s beautiful and you want to make the most of it but you also know it’ll end soon” – Nostalgia is very powerful I think.

With the song writing process, do you each have specific roles or is it very much a fluid technique?

Dai: “I think ‘technique’ is a generous term for us! 😂…

Felicity: “The ideas and the music is Dai really – he’ll give me options or ask what I think, and sometimes we’ll shape vocal phrases or lines, but really I just sing! I love it!”

Dai: “I think I’m just lucky in that music was all around me when I was young, and I can just think it, when I’m walking, on a train, or half asleep… We come up with hooks, and from time to time match them together to make possible song shapes. And the mood of that usually fits something in the past; the difficult part and the fun part is finding the words to talk about it in a – we hope! – artistic way. There are some rules we have too – like we like to vary parts of lines each time say a chorus comes around; and we don’t want to waste lines, or cover thoughts twice – we don’t want to be generic I suppose”

Can you tell me a little more about the airplay you have been receiving so we know where to listen out for?

Felicity: “Yes, it’s very cool. I mean we started just before lockdown and just making records for our friends really, but our local station Phonic in Exeter have been supportive, and this year we’ve found stations in Cornwall and Somerset like us – Music Eye is a great show for new music for example – and now further afield and online stations like Wigwam, AwayDay and Belter have picked us up too. It’s still all slightly surreal to be honest!… But we’re realising too that to grow you we need to be ambitious and also that means radio stations in new areas and overseas – we’re starting to realise that new music shows will often play artists from everywhere, as long as it’s good, and it means we need to be ambitious and approach more stations”.

Do you have an plans to release an album?

Dai: ” So we’ve two more songs to complete “I Live In Pink”. The first – “Roam as Lions” – comes out December 10th and we’ve been working with Exeter-based Jazz singer Mattie James on that, then the final track “Need U Miss U” comes out early 2022 completing and launching our first album! Need U Miss U is a bit of an epic, so we’re storing it up until last!”.

For the most update-to-date info please see Twitter @KoaliMusic

Article By Lauren Jayne