Dream Koala: 'It's Beautiful To Make An Everlasting Movie'

Photo: Enora Jung

“I’ve just come back from India, where I played Magnetic Fields festival. It took place close to Delhi, but was still in the middle of nowhere. We drove six hours from the airport to stay and play in a palace. It was crazy, there were camels. Different from anything I’ve ever seen before.”

Proving almost impossible to track down, 19-year-old French producer Dream Koala has been touring nomadically for months. By independently exporting his spellbinding dreamwave music across continents and riding the wave of popularity his online fanbase has built, Yndi Ferreira clocked over 24,766 miles in one year.

Playing shows in Porec, through to Luzern and Heidelberg, alongside friends and fellow artists XXYYXX, Giraffage and Andrea, Dream Koala ditched his label so he could personally interact with and then visit his audiences.

“Before touring with the music I had only been to Brazil because that’s where my family is from,” he said. “I had seen France, Germany, London but not that much of the world. I have really changed after seeing so many different countries now. My personality has really been affected by meeting so many different people from different backgrounds.

“The cultures of the world are so different, going from LA to a little town in Germany the mentality is so diverse, people don't behave the same way, you don't eat the same thing, you don't even talk about the same things. By being exposed to different cultures and habits, you learn things about yourself.”

Yndi speaks with a strong French accent, listens intently and answers questions with enthusiasm and deep thought. Straightforward and upfront, his manner matches the vibe of his sound: textured, harmonious chords that wander delicately and resonate overwhelming emotion.

“I have always been drawn to create melancholic music,” he said. “I don't know how to make anything else. It just comes naturally. Sometimes I do make happier, more positive stuff that sounds more like party music, just for fun, but it doesn't touch me as much. Making melancholic music is quite subjective. Some music I find beautiful and uplifting and that others might call suicide music but l think, why? l don't feel the same way.”

One of the rising few redefining commercial and creative success, his musical education came courtesy of Youtube and his success via Soundcloud.

“I’m proud of what l achieved,” he said. “Even if sometimes I technically don't play correctly, it’s OK. When people learn skills by the book, sometimes I think that creates borders for creativity. When you don't learn the standard way, you learn not to care. You just play. It’s fun. Criticism can take away magic and standardise creativity.”

Encouraged by his mother to experiment with music, Yndi’s life plan was unwritten. Intrigued by the power of film and mesmerised by animation, his time would be spent watching and then rewatching Spirited Away and 2001: A Space Odyssey.

“When you’re a kid you learn so many things from those films,” he said. “You see the magical aspect at a young age, then you grow up and realise the messages are so deep. Twenty years later l could watch Spirited Away again and still learn more new things, l love movies like that. It’s beautiful. The same with Space Odyssey.

“Those will never be old films, they are so deep that [their] themes are universal. In centuries human beings will still be human beings so they will still be touched by family and love and friendship, it’s in our DNA. It’s beautiful to make an everlasting movie.”

Yndi’s intentions for a good track resonate with his feelings on what constitutes a good film. Originality finds a way, regardless of age, medium or viability. Working as a writer and producer, his focus is on making his music unforgettable. Each track should add to the rich tapestry, thread by thread, to create a whole body of work that feels as beautiful as it sounds and behaves as as it is intended.

Building hype every day, his Soundcloud currently boasts over 45,000 followers, with tracks levelling half a million streams on the regular. A child of the revolution, he advocates sharing, streaming and ripping of music worldwide, commercial or otherwise.

“This is art,” he said. “It’s all about being creative and original. Even if people don't buy music, if they are touched by you, you've enriched them. If you have something to say and you really believe in it, you will find a way to communicate to people. The fans will be will be attracted, go to your shows, buy your CDs because they want you to make money.”

The material Yndi is currently working on delivers dystopian, futuristic scenarios, focused on cyborgs and humans slowly becoming machines through evolution. Concerned by the world’s infatuation with disposable celebrity headlines, his drive to bring attention back to the environmental and human issues that matter, is bold.

“We are tearing each other apart, the poor and the rich, the blacks and whites, the Christians and the Muslims,” he said. “We are all so divided. The rich could have everything; in the future they could be immortal. The poor won’t be able to afford that, so wealth can divide us all even more.

“It entrenches everything deeper in an individualist mentality, meaning the situation can only get worse. It will happen. Google has bought one of the biggest laboratories of artificial intelligence. The future scares me a lot and I think that it’s important to talk about that as an artist. People don't care anymore, they just want to watch the television and talk about Kanye West and Kim Kardashian. They don't care about building a better future or going to the streets and making a change. As an artist you have to talk about values.”

Support the future. Listen to Dream Koala. Open your eyes and listen with your heart.

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