Montreal DJ Kid Koala's new album is also a rockin' board game
The point of the game is to put together a band and make as many songs in as many styles as you can, “which is kind of what the album is," Kid Koala says of Creatures of the Late Afternoon.
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You will not be bored listening to Montreal DJ Kid Koala’s new album. But you may well find yourself playing a board game. The double-vinyl version of his latest full-length, Creatures of the Late Afternoon, contains a two- to four-player game.
It’s also a do-it-yourself arts and crafts project, complete with six 12-inch sheets of cardboard from which the playing cards, players’ pieces and even the dice can be cut out and constructed.
The point of the game is to put together a band of wild animal musicians and make as many songs in as many different styles as you can, “which is kind of what the album is,” noted Kid Koala, whose real name is Eric San.
The fun-loving scratch DJ’s new musical offering is a freewheeling grab bag of funk, dance-punk, ‘60s doo-wop, ska, space-age lounge music and Beastie Boys-inspired groove.
The gatefold album cover, a print of a painting by Kid Koala, opens up to become the playing board. Players roll the paper dice and land on different squares, which help or hinder their efforts to make a hit record. On “apartment party” squares, they receive creature-themed musician cards sporting the likes of Theodore the sea turtle or Rhonda the rhinoceros, both drummers; Eleanor the emu or Sloane the sloth, bassists; and vocalists including Simon the star-nosed mole and Carol the crayfish.
“Life experience” cards yield emotion and musical genres, while “flea market” cards provide instruments and recording devices. And there are hidden tracks on the album to play while you play the game.
We sat down at Kid Koala’s Rosemont home studio Wednesday morning for a friendly round of Creatures of the Late Afternoon. I rolled a 6 and landed on a square that said, “Broken heart: lose emotion, get life experience.”
“You don’t have an emotion card yet,” he observed. “But the life experience cards will inspire you to write songs in different genres.”
I received a “workout song” card.
“Hang on to that,” Kid Koala advised, before rolling a 7 and landing on “Snowstorm: lose instrument, get life experience.”
He drew an emotion card.
“That’s the low-key philosophical aspect of the game,” he said. “Every time something bad happens, something good comes of it; that’s where the life experience comes from. The first version of the game was kind of ruthless and we realized it wasn’t that fun — it was maybe too real.”
Fantasy is central to Kid Koala’s ever-expanding universe. He has authored and composed the soundtracks for two graphic novels: Nufonia Must Fall, about a robot who wants to write love songs but can’t sing; and Space Cadet, a wordless love story between an astrophysicist and her robot guardian. The former was turned into a touring puppet show/live film/concert, and the latter an animated feature film that is set for release in late 2024.
Then there’s The Storyville Mosquito, a 2019 puppet show/film/concert about a country mosquito who moves to the city to become a jazz clarinetist. Creatures of the Late Afternoon, the album and board game, are precursors to another such multimedia stage production.
“We’re already prototyping the puppets and designing some of the sets for the show,” Kid Koala said.
The title was inspired by Kid Koala’s lifelong love of nature shows and his nearly three-decade career as a professional musician.
“I was always joking that most of my musician friends, even if they’re awake in the morning, are not really awake until the late afternoon,” he explained, “and (it’s based on) the idea that some of these creatures are on the endangered species list — they’re in the late afternoon of their existence.”
The album will be launched Saturday with a series of 10 listening parties and mini-performances by Kid Koala and L.A. singer-songwriter Lealani, who appears on the album, every 90 minutes from 10:30 a.m. to midnight at Cabaret Vol de Nuit.
“There will be creature-themed drinks, snacks and games. People can win stuff, and there will be a photo booth with some of the creatures,” Kid Koala said. “It will be more of a celebration than a show.”
Asked how all these disparate creative projects come together, he responded: “I don’t know, I just like seeing what the next possibilities are. They all do collide in my mind.”
AT A GLANCE
Kid Koala launches Creatures of the Late Afternoon with a series of 10 listening parties, Saturday from 10:30 a.m. to midnight at Cabaret Vol de Nuit, 14 Prince-Arthur St. E. Tickets cost $10, available at kidkoala.com/product/creatures-launch-party.
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