There's been a lot of buzz, buzzing about Koko Von Napoo lately, a lot of lip-licking anticipation at the news of a new EP and mini-tour from the Parisian punk-pop quartet. But for those of you who don’t know of la Napoo, you needn't fret; Connected are here to give you a little leg up in your quest for musical knowledge (basically we've done the digging for you! You're welcome!).
We managed to track down Koko Von Napoo in the middle of their travels (speeding along on the Eurostar approaching the Channel Tunnel).

KVN could well be mistaken, on looks alone, for a group of rascally rockers a la ' les bébé rockeurs' scene, but once you've fed your eager ears with a KVN track you'll realise that they couldn't be further removed from that scene. The reasons are two-fold, for one thing they don't do rock 'n' roll; they're a synth-pop outfit comprising of three girls and a guy. 'Yawn!', I hear you say, ' another synth pop band, I should be impressed by'. Well you should be impressed, KVN don't use synths as a form of 80s revival aural torture. Secondly; up until they recently signed with titans of taste, Trouble Records, KVN employed a DIY ethic and made their music exist outside the realms of the studio themselves.

They're currently touring to promote the release of their debut EP, 'June', which was ironically launched in July! So what's been the highlight of Koko Von Napoo's tour so far?  “We're just beginning a small tour but we're excited to play at the Secret Garden Party festival with Phoenix”.

It’s the simple things that bring joy to KVN. Playing gigs alongside the likes of Phoenix and the Teenagers is something certainly worth a squeal of excitement, but KVN already have a number of high profile shows under their fashionable belts. Their most surreal gig memory to date “was seeing people moshing in the middle of Saint-Eustache, a huge church in Paris”. The image of KVN causing moshing mayhem in a church seems fitting, there's a certain air of edgy new-wave naughtiness about their synth-tinged melodies that would definitely induce en-masse mosh-ery rather than solemn and reflective naval-gazing!

Undeniably, singer Toupie's vocals lend a visceral post-punk slant to the bands sound, setting them apart from the myriad of indie-electro bands already saturating the scene. Vocally Toupie has had a slew of comparisons to Claire Grogan (Altered Images' one-time front woman) and Stereolab's Laetitia Sadier. Does she ever get tired of these endless comparisons, or is she flattered? “Well, it's not as if I had been compared to them for ages and it's quite an honour in a way”, a cool response if ever there was one.

KVN was formed three years ago, born out of a friendship between Toupie and drummer Kiddo, while they were in a band together; with Toupie on guitar and Kiddo on vocals. After a stint in sunny Brighton, Toupie returned to form KVN with Kiddo who ditched singing in favour of drums. They were later joined by Renarde, who also learned to play keyboards, along the way and Kokoboy on guitar.

Toupie is behind the songwriting process in the main, but a collaborative tweaking takes place when the band plays the material. On her approach to songwriting, Toupie says “Sometimes I already know what I want to talk about before I start writing the music, sometimes the music inspires the lyrics I write”.

The June EP showcases some fantastically trippy lyrics and skittering, chirrupping vocals dripping with both new-wave punk influences and Gallic breathiness, scintillating synths and knock-your-knee-socks-off drums. KVN's debut single 'Polly' (who 'should behave like a real horse'!) features on the EP in a remixed format, courtesy of Modular and Kitsuné, making it more dance-floor friendly. Altered Images meets Kraftwerk track 'Rocky' and the insoucient sounding 'Baden Baden', both mixed by Julien Delfaud (of Phoenix's 2005 'It's Never Been Like That' fame), are sheer delights. But the track that's got everyone across the channel excited is title track 'June', mixed by none other than Joe Mount of Metronomy.

The synth supremo has brought an 'English friendly' vibe to the track. We cheekily asked how KVN found working with Monsieur Mount, “Working with Monsieur Mount was really easy, he even allowed us to simply call him Joseph”.

With 'Polly' translating both as an anthemic live track and dance-floor filler, the success of the EP must surely mean an album is on it's way soon. So, do KVN test out new material thoroughly before recording or develop their live act after? “So far we've been working on perfecting our live performances. We'll have to work on the songs again to record them”.

Naming themselves after a pre-war gang from Manchester and citing Manchester Factory Records as one of their influences, it seems that KVN have a certain fondness for all things Mancunian. Is there a leaning toward British influences or is a super-melding of British and French styles taking place in KVN's sound? The answer is quite succinct, “Our influences are mainly English and American, but we also listen to loads of French stuff; from Eli & Jacno to Sebastien Tellier. This is not premeditated, that’s just what we like, and one can feel it in our music. We'd love to be boundary pushers. But having a dream and making it real is quite different. Maybe we are boundary pushers?”

Perhaps they are, the June EP launch in Buffalo Bar, Islington last month featuring Metronomy and Your Twenties DJ sets, sent rave reviews rippling across the UK and Ireland. Et voila, French fancies they ain't but they may well prove to be champions of the Champs-Elysses!

Answering the age old lion vs tiger conundrum, KVN impishly responded, “The tiger would [win], because he can pull the lion's hair!”. Meeeoooww!

Koko Von Napoo will open for Metronomy in Paris in September and are due to play UK dates from October.  Check out myspace.com/kokovonnapoo for details of upcoming shows.
The 'June' EP is available now on Trouble Records.

Words: Niamh Doolan

Connected interview archives

Only registered users can write comments.
Please login or register.