Article by Theo Thimo, Photo by Isaac Kau
I got to see Father Koi perform at Gonzo’s the other night. It was sooooo cool. After the set we went into a stairwell where I asked her some questions. Major love!
Theo
Okay. So yeah, okay, startup interview beginning now. Haha. I’m here with Father Koi at Gonzos, there was an awesome set. It was based. very cool set. Very cool space, very intimate type of show, I guess. Right? Would you say so?
Father Koi
Definitely. I mean I think it felt intimate because there wasn’t a stage, and the audience was like a few inches away from me, which honestly I kinda love. It was just kind of a drum kit and a couple of amps in the middle of the room next to the bar, but it did make for an intimate spot, and it felt very DIY in that sense, you know?
Theo
Yeah. And the crowd was very rowdy too, not a lot of room to move around. But everyone was very into it.
Father Koi
Yeah. For this show and for most of my shows I usually plan to step into the crowd and you know, interact with them, but it was kind of hard—there are things like picking up a guitar halfway through a song, and there was no guitar stand so it was just lying on the floor and I had to be careful not to step on it and things like that. It’s always these small things that you don’t prepare for but I think it makes for each show being special.
Theo
Yeah, no, I can see that. You’re very comfortable up there.
Father Koi
Thank you.
Theo
Yeah. Let’s just do questions. How long have you been making music?
Father Koi
Um, I guess the long answer is I’ve been playing classical piano since I was six. I’m classically trained. So I did that pretty seriously up until I was in my sophomore year of college—I stopped like when I was 21. But I started writing songs specifically when I was 17. I think I was listening to artists like Lorde, Mitski, Japanese Breakfast, artists like that at the time. And I was like, wow, what they are doing is so cool. Like…
Theo
Wow. Mitski?
Father Koi
Yeah, I remember because she opened for Lorde for her melodrama tour. And then everyone was on their phone! And I was in the audience, like, what’s going on? But yeah, I’ve always loved playing music. And I’ve always loved telling stories. So I was like, why not combine my love of music and writing into songwriting?
Theo
Yeah, because I like your lyrics. So it’s all or a lot of it is very, like, kind of like specific seeming. Would you say so?
Father Koi
Yes. My friends kind of make fun of me for my lyric writing. I’m working with one of my friends who’s also a co-producer for some of my new stuff, and he’s like, you need to be more specific with your lyrics. What are you trying to say? And I’m like, no, I need to make them vague enough that people can relate to it! I’m halfway joking, because I think I do do that – sort of stream of consciousness writing. But lyrics really can also be about anything, you know? I think that’s fun, and genuine.
Theo
Yeah. Do you always write your own music? Like when you collaborate do you like or like how much how would you… how’s your collaboration style work?
Father Koi
I think that I like to collaborate with people on things that I’m not so comfortable with doing myself, for example, like, I’m very protective of my words, so I don’t tend to collaborate on things like lyrics unless someone has a feature or something like that. I think that each song that I write is about, you know, sometimes about collective experiences in my life, but it’s usually about one person or one experience. And I feel like that’s a very personal thing, and it’s harder to let people in with that kind of thing. So I kind of just take that as my own, but…
Theo
like, what about the song? “Do you miss me?” You worked with someone else with that, right?
Father Koi
Yeah, I worked with this artist in Japan called Emma Aibara. We met while I was doing a show there and after the show we were like, we need to collaborate, like, now.
Theo
Whoaaa, that’s coooool.
Father Koi
Yeah I know, it was really fun. Like, she makes really good music. The way it worked with her was she sent me her demo and I was like okay, I’ll add onto this, working with the concepts and theme that she had in her initial lyrics. We sent stems back and forth, over SoundCloud, and that was a lot of fun. I’ve done that before with a few people.
Theo
And I want you to describe your music!
Father Koi
Currently, I feel like it’s going through a lot of genre changes, but the things that stay consistent are things I’ve described before, like nostalgia. Maybe that example is a very subjective thing, though, but I feel like for me, I’m very inspired by nostalgia and I think it shines through in the feel of my music. A couple of my songs on my last album were about a yearning for simpler times, like my song “silk”— the lyric goes, “Cause maybe this will come to pass / I just want the things I used to have.”
Theo
Yeah, there’s so I feel like when I listen to it, I would say it’s bedroom something like maybe maybe I don’t know, it’s like bedroom pop with, like the auto tune or something and I love your use of auto tune too, it’s like, I feel like I feel like it makes it makes your vocals come out, like more.
Father Koi
I feel more confident too when I use it, like I can focus less on hitting the notes and more on things like audience interaction. I mean, going back to my point about nostalgia, there was a time in the 2000s when everyone was using autotune. So it’s kind of like incorporating that into my songs brings me back into that time period.
Theo
So you would find nostalgia would be a big part of it. You think what else to ask? I’m not good at this yet.
Father Koi
Yeah you are.
Theo
So you say what, when you start a song, it’s like you start off with the concept of it more. So…
Father Koi
I think that it comes from my thoughts, like if I have a lyric pop into my head, I’ll write it down…
Theo
So, it comes lyrically!
Father Koi
Yeah, it comes lyrically first. Then when I have a concept I’ll come up with a chord progression.
photo: Caroline Friedman
Theo
What else should I ask? These are, this is a good interview so far. The last one, I did less than like an hour, but I’m not expecting an hour out of you so I’m trying to be more to the point. So we have uhm… Where’s your favorite place to play?
Father Koi
Not to be cliche, but I would say anywhere with people that love and appreciate my music. Obviously concerts where the audience is receptive and interactive are super fun, but I also love playing in a less typical setting, like if I’m over at a friend’s house with a guitar and they’re like, can you play something? Okay, now that I think about it I do get a little embarrassed so often it just turns into a jam session or something like that, but regardless I just love playing music. I play bass for a couple of my friends’ bands and I’m just happy to be there and playing music.
Theo
So you don’t care if there’s 100 people or 10 people.
Father Koi
I mean if you think about it economically, if I throw shows where there’s just 10 people there, we won’t make anything. But in a perfect world where we would all get paid then yes, I would love to put on a performance for just a few people who are really into the music.
Theo
You ended your set with Dream Girl, right?
Father Koi
Yeah.
Theo
That one’s actually my favorite of ones I’ve listened to. That one’s really good…
Theo
Hmm… What else to ask? Last few. What are you working on right now?
Father Koi
I’m working on my new EP—EP or album, I haven’t decided yet. Probably an EP. And this one’s more, like, 90s rock/alternative based, but still incorporating the electronic stuff I normally put into my tracks. I have a lot of ideas still floating around. I have a single coming out hopefully in May, so keep an eye out for it.
Theo
Hmm, anything else? Should we just end this now? How long has it been? About 8 minutes and 30 seconds?
Father Koi
I feel it’s pretty good. I also want to see Harry [Teardrop].
Theo
Yeah. Yeah. Okay. That’s been us at the Gonzo’s stairwell with Father Koi. Thanks so much for having me. I probably don’t say that.
Father Koi
Thanks for having me!
Theo
Yeah, thanks for having me! Okay.
Ok, awesome. So that was me and Father Koi. Check out her next single coming out this May. Follow her Instagram and Spotify. All praise be to god.
