Meet KAANG

We were lucky to catch up with KAANG recently and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, so we’re so thrilled to have KAANG with us today – welcome and maybe we can jump right into it with a question about one of your qualities that we most admire. How did you develop your work ethic? Where do you think you get it from?

My work ethic came from understanding everything I do– seen or unseen– is an exercise. For exmaple in my music, I write and record everything as if it were to be performed. I practice where the breathes are going to be, where the pauses are, all of it. When I create, I geniuely see everything liek that. Now there are such things as exercising incorrectly, building bad habits, and thats where mentors and outside opinion come into play. Once I can bounce the idea of a friend or trusted mentor or collaborator– that will be honest with me– I can go back in and understand where things need to change.

I came to this method once I realized I wasn’t finishing enough, or I was overthinking how the final product would look or sound. I genuinely had to let that go to discover that everything is practice. Practice to complete, practice to performe, practice in pace. My output creatively jumped after I adopted that mindset. If I just work out this creative muscle enough, I can do anything at any time and from there I can hone and ‘perfect’ the outcome.

Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?

I am an artist from Los Angeles. I was born in SF, and raised all around LA. I started out as a visual artist with inklings of music bouncing around. I played the djembe, then the violin and tried out the piano. Nothing really stuck musically till highschool. The whole time I was drawing and painting. I got into competitive programs, eventually got into artschool. Things were working out till they didn’t. So I pursued music more seriously. I had a friend in highschool that should me Ableton Live, and after things fell apart for artschool, I started producing. I just took it super seriously. Everything was ass at first, but I knew I’d get better.

Years later, I’m 27, I’m in my career. I still draw and paint and do art shows here and there, while still focusing on albums and live performance. I went back to school to get a formal understanding of music–the same way I got a formal understainding of visual art– and to build stronger, healthier connections. I think the thing that feels the most exciting is finding a new audience for all of the work I create. Learning that all those years of trying wasn’t a failure, but building my understanding of the industry through trial and error.

Right now I’m finalizing an album called STARING AT MY HANDS. It is a very intimate and emotional project about the death of a friend and my grandmother. I produced most of the album, exculding 3 tracks. I’m very excited to put it out. It’s been in the vault since 2023, I’ve just been building the strength back up to finally release it. A lot of my music is about life, and my mistakes living it, so getting back into that mode after a major life change is extremely difficult and easy at the same time. Yes there is stuff to write about, but at the same time I have to work through it.

There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?

An important quality I think all creatives should have is knowing when to be around.

Hang out with the people you want to be around, and get to know the people doing similar things as you, but also know when it’s time to retreat and work. Working all the time isn’t necessarily healthy, but hanging out all the time keeps you under prepared for opprotunity.

I learned kicking it with cats that always seemed like they had something happening in their career, that the time I spent over hanging out could have been time to build my portfolio, or learn something new about my craft. Becuase while I was at their studio or workshop, they were working. They were still grinding. I was just there. I learned the hard way that kicking it in that fashion was holding me back. Suddenly when opprotunity came to them and they wanted to share with me, I wasn’t ready because I was to busy doing nothing. So I think it is important to know th balance of knowing when to be around, and when not to be.

Another quality is having solid plan for studio sessions. This goes for Muscial and Visual Artists. I have been in so many wasted sessions growing up. People wanna invite hella randoms, add all these extra distractions and barely get anything started let alone finished. Come into the space with a plan.

I’m not saying it needs to be Ironclad, just something to work off of. Something to refer back to in order to stay on topic. I do it a lot for my studio sessions and painting sessions. As a Painter my style is very emotional burst at the canvas, but what I do is set aside the number of canvases I feel like using, set a time of the day and amount of time and just go at it. When I’m recording in the studio, I bring reference tracks for all the songs, I have itinerary of the songs I want to hit, and when we’re going to mix them. I have a structure. So I emplore many artists to just have a structure.

My last quality is don’t be over serious. Have some levity, life is already difficult for a lot of us. Have a good time. Find beauty in the process. Find beauty in creating.

All the wisdom you’ve shared today is sincerely appreciated. Before we go, can you tell us about the main challenge you are currently facing?

The number 1 challenge I’m facing in my life and career is me. I have a horribile critic in my head. It comes from working and learning in the Arts world. I over critique myself. I’ve been practicing to let things breathe, not be over analytical about everything I do and everything I release. It’s difficult, but it’s been working.

When I am finishing a beat, or working on a song, I have to remove myself from it for a while before I can find what I like about it. The time frame of seperation varries, but it’s a necessary step for me when I am creating. On a deeper level, I am working to love myself and come to terms with a lot of my own doubts that cause these feelings, that incite this critic. I know I can get there, it’ll just take time.

Contact Info:

Image Credits

All Photos Shot and Edited by KAANG

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