Meet the band: Koala Fires

Indie-rock outfit Koala Fires is a lucky band. In the space of five days, the group gets to play two awesome gigs: one with the impossibly-cooly-named Natalie Portman's Shaved Head and the Guitar-Hero-famous Freezepop, and one as part of a lineup of dozens of local acts.

Koala Fires has a spot at Cincypunk Fest VIII, two nights of sonic philanthropy, glory and booze-charged mayhem at Southgate House. (Bring your camera.) This year's fest benefits the no-kill, nonprofit Animal Adoption Foundation - and bands are considering the fest the most non-punk Cincypunk Fest yet.

YEAR ONE

Almost a year has passed since Koala Fires assembled, and it already has an impressive following (including 1,200-plus followers on Twitter!), and part of that success can be attributed to singer/guitarist Kendall Bruns' work as a local filmmaker and drummer Mike Paolucci's 14-year stint with pop-rock band Fizzgig.

"Our third show was on Fountain Square with The Pomegranates and Bad Veins," Bruns says of the now-signed local indie groups. Bruns is sitting at the band's practice space in Finneytown with Paolucci, bassist Dan Johnson, and lead singer/guitarist Matt Mooney.

Koala Fires can trace its origins to Mooney, the main singer-songwriter, who had taken a two-year hiatus from bands - Super77 being his last - until the group formed.

"He gave us the 30-some songs and ..." Bruns says.

"Don't say 'whittled them down' or I'm going to punch you in the face," Mooney laughs.

"OK," Bruns says, "he gave us the 30-some songs, and all of us on our own picked 10 we liked the most, and then there was some type of system that was used."

"Every song got a vote," Mooney says.

"It was a complex formula," Paolucci deadpans.

Adds Bruns: "Matt's really prolific, so he comes to us with CDs of demos every month - seven or eight songs or something. Then they join the rotation of the songs we're going to learn."

YEAR TWO

Koala Fires' followers will be happy to know the group is demo-ing songs for a new album. It's a way to cut down on confusion and anxiety that Bruns says played into the recordings of Koala Fires' Sleep Tight, Lucky Grills, a three-song EP released in 2008.

"There were lots of times when we were recording the EP, and I was like, 'Oh, I didn't know Dan played that,' or 'I didn't know (Matt) even sang that part,' " he says.