The South African-born and raised Patterson wasn't that excited about the concept gig, but he went to the rehearsal where drum grooves and basslines were sorted out and the tentative sounds of a seven-piece line-up were heard. A few weeks later the hybrid group sold out Perth's X-Wray Cafe, and by the time they'd finished their set with a horn section blazing, he knew something was happening on the stage. "We fitted into each other so well, but it was really different from Child's Play and really different from Kashikoi – we're exactly in between the two," Patterson says. "I would have never, ever thought that anything like this would have come out of a one-off gig." In the two years since, the subsequently dubbed Koi Child haven't stopped building on that foundation. They have become a Perth drawcard, toured nationally, and recorded their debut album, which was produced in part and mixed by Tame Impala maestro Kevin Parker, who was a member of the enthusiastic audience at that very first show and made an offer of assistance to the surprised septet.

"He's amazing. Kevin did all of this as if it was nothing," enthuses Patterson. "We even asked him if we could come on tour with Tame Impala and he just said yes, having already done so much for us." The audio link between Koi Child and Tame Impala is a psychedelic vibe: the former's jazzy, exuberantly detailed live hip-hop and the latter's dreamy acid disco-rock are heavily daubed with psychedelic trace elements. On Koi Child's self-titled debut, released on March 18, there are echoes of vintage De La Soul and the Roots brought up to date with the jazz strain that has been tapped recently by hip-hop headliners such as Kendrick Lamar. "It's inspiring for a rapper," Patterson says. "When I heard the instrumentals they were preparing for the album it was empowering. Sitting alone listen to them play is amazing, and it kind of makes it easier for me because I don't have to write as much as there are so many different options for a solo. Now I kind of see myself as one of the instruments." Five years ago, the 26-year-old was half-heartedly studying graphic design and listening to drum and bass music in Cape Town when his mother suggested he visit her in Perth.

Patterson took to the city quickly – "it's a lot friendlier for musicians," he says – and soon relocated. He started an electronic music production course, where he met Newman, and soon realised that while he was only OK at making beats, he had a yen for rapping. Like his bandmates, Koi Child has become a vehicle for his distinctive talents. "A lot of hip-hop artists just have a DJ and maybe a hype man, so for an audience it's really cool seeing seven people on stage wilding out," Patterson says. "The horn section will go crazy and we all look different. There's no set dress code and we all dance differently – Jamie has an afro, Sam has a mohawk. We don't look hip-hop, but we sound hip-hop." Koi Child is at the Newtown Social Club on March 19.