Shannon Cruz Patterson answers the phone sounding a little tired, his South African drawl interspersed frequently by a heavy, infectious laugh. He sounds a lot like he’s just finished a long day at work, which is exactly the case, having just got home from a shift at the local coffee shop. He’s relaxed, chatty and above all, very normal. This all belies the fact that he’s the front man of Koi Child, the next big thing to come from the increasingly fertile Western Australia scene, who’ve just put out their debut album – produced by Kevin Parker of Tame Impala.

Koi Child were formed when two bands – a nu-jazz group called Kashikoi and a rap group called Child’s Play – joined up for a one off gig in their home town of Fremantle. That would have been it if it wasn’t for a certain Kevin Parker happening to be in the crowd and taking a liking to them. A support slot with Tame Impala and a record produced by KP later, Koi Child are one of the most exciting new voices in alternative hip hop.

AG: Can you paint us a picture of Fremantle? Is it all dudes rolling around on skateboards, smoking spliffs and drinking tinnies, wearing tie dye…
SCP: [laughs] Yeah it is kinda like that. In winter people just hibernate and wait for summer. But when summer comes there’s lots of beaches, beer, a lot of skateboarding and people going around on bikes. There’s a load of parties as well man, like, at least three parties every weekend…

I didn’t grow up in Fremantle, I’m from Johannesburg and I moved here about five years ago. Most of the group are Fremantle natives apart from Yann [the bass player] who was born in France but came out here really young. I met the Child’s Play guys as soon as I moved here which is how I got in to music actually. It wasn’t till a few years later when we met the Kashikoi guys.

“When summer hits Fremantle there’s lots of beaches, beer, a lot of skateboarding and people going around on bikes, and there’s a load of parties man…”

AG: Could you tell the story of how the two separate bands met and joined up?
SCP: We’d met Kashikoi a few times and seen each other play. Eventually we decided to do a one off gig together because we thought the styles would fit well. We got to know each other throughout the preparations for that gig. Now we see each other all the time, at least a few times a week.

AG: Do both the bands still exist as separate entities then?
SCP: Yeah we both still exist, Kashikoi still do odd gigs around the place and Child’s Play are going to record some more stuff really soon, but most of our energy is definitely directed towards Koi Child now.

AG: About the west Australia psychedelic thing that’s going on at the moment with Tame Impala, Melody’s Echo Chamber, POND etc. You guys operate alongside these groups but you’re not actually part of the scene. Is that fair?
SCP: Yeah, I think that is fair. We’re not a psych rock band, do you know what I mean? Just because people like Tame doesn’t mean they’ll like us. But we have definitely got psych elements and we love all of those bands. It’s good for us to have that link because it’s got us a load of attention which we might not have had otherwise.

AG: Obviously, we need to ask you about Kevin Parker and how that whole situation came about?
SCP: It was actually at that first gig which was at X-Wray Cafe. It was supposed to just be a one off show, we were just going to do it for a night and never see each other again. But Kevin Parker happened to be there and watched the show and then approached us to ask us to support Tame. We obviously said yes. A year later we went with them on their next tour of Australia which was pretty cool. We were first on which means that not that many people were always there but it got us used to big venues and big crowds. It got us some street cred I guess.

“Kevin Parker happened to be there and watched the show and then approached us to ask us to support Tame Impala. We obviously said yes”

AG: Could you talk about recording the album? We heard you were out on a studio on a little island?
SCP: Well kinda. It wasn’t really a studio but we kinda turned it into one and it was on a river island, so we weren’t out in the middle of the ocean or anything. It was a friend’s parent’s fishing shack. So we got in a tiny boat and rowed for about ten metres across this river. The shack had this little window which separated Kev from us, so that was all good. We only needed a few mics and it took us like ten days to do.

AG: So you rowed across a river with all your recoding gear on a tiny boat?
SCP: Nah, luckily there was this dude who lived on the island and he let us use his tug boat to drag the expensive gear across. We just rowed across with food and beer and stuff. There were definitely times where we all fell in, tinnies floating downstream etc. It was just a big party, there was so much beer. It was a crazy and surreal experience for us. It still feels like a dream that I might wake up from one day and I feel super lucky to have done it.

AG: How is it working day jobs and making music at the same time? You think you might be able to quit any time soon?
SCP: I honestly don’t know. I figure maybe in about two albums time we can just do music as a full time job. We’re still working hard every day. Jamie [alto sax] is in hospitality, Christian the other sax player does brick laying and digs holes and shit [laughs], Tom [keyboards] does web design so he’s doing pretty well – he’s like a keyboard warrior, good at both types of keys – Blake and Yann are both kinda broke, get money from the government and shit. We’re all still normal guys, people approach us at work sometimes and say things like, “Aren’t you that guy from Koi Child?”

AG: About the album. Are you happy with how it turned out? What can people expect?
SCP: Yeah, we’re pretty pedantic about music, at least with this first album which is all I’ve got to base it one. It’s not perfect but you have to finish it eventually. It’s like my art teacher used to say, “A piece of art is never finished.” I would say I’m 90% happy with it.

“I would say in present day hip hop, Kendrick is the one… He’s today’s Tu Pac”

AG: You saying you finished your album in ten days got us thinking about The Avalanches record which took sixteen years for them to finish. You listened to it yet?
SCP: Oh man I’m so bad at listening to things and I haven’t checked it out yet. I only listen to one album for about three months. It took me six months to listen to Kendrick’s album [To Pimp a Butterfly] because I was kinda scared, you know? Like, if I listen to this I’m gonna have to change my game up.

AG: Is Kendrick your guy? The one you listen to most?
SCP: I would say in present day hip hop, Kendrick is the one. I would say he’s today’s Tupac.

AG: Have you guys got plans for a proper headline tour?
SCP: We’re hitting the road next month, going over to east [Australia] again. We’re doing back to back gigs in Melbourne and Sydney, it’s gonna be wild. Then we’re playing a few local shows at Mojos [in Fremantle]. So it’s just a quick little tour but it will be great.

Koi Child’s debut self-titled album is out now via Pilerats Records / Warner Music Australia.