Kanga Behind Closed Doors
Kanga Is An Electronic Artist That Brings An Independent Spirit To Her Music That Can Operate As Well On Headphones As It Does On The Dancefloor. After Playing An Intense Opening Set For Adult. And My Like With The Thrill Kill Kult, Which Pulled Mostly From Her Last Album, “You And I Will Never Die” I Got A Chance To Speak With Kanga About The Tour, Her New Record “Under Glass” And Whatever Else Came To Mind.
DR: How Are Things?
Kanga: Everything's Great, Everything Is Groovy!
DR: How Was Cleveland?
Kanga: Cleveland Was Freezing But An Amazing Crowd! We Played At The Masonic Temple That Did Not Have Any Heat So It Was Kind Of A Chaotic Night With Everyone Trying To Stay Warm. It Was Still A Lot Of Fun.
DR: Have There Been Any Weird Nights On The Tour?
Kanga: I Mean, When Have There Not Been Weird Nights! Everyday Is Weird In Its Own Way!
DR: Tomorrow Is Your Last Night Of The Tour, Overall How Has It Gone?
Kanga: It’s Been A Great Tour! All The Bands Love Each Other. We All Got Along Great. But, When You Are On The Road So Long There’s Always Going To Be Chaos At A Certain Point.
DR: Since I Saw Last You Seem To Be Getting More Comfortable Using All The Stage And Relating With The Audience…
Kanga: I Mean This Is Such An Interesting Position To Be In Because There Are Many Shows Where The Audience Is Very Lukewarm Or They Can Be Very Receptive. You Kind Of Have To Prove Yourself Up There. It Can Get Tiring Between Modes. Am I Going To Be Super Compassionate With The Crowd Or Am I Going To Be Aggressive? I Try And Find A Balance Where I Can Be Teasing And Playful With People Who Know Who You Are But You Can Also Poke At The People That Are Being More Curmudgeonly And Be Like “Open Up.” I Think I’ve Got To Where I Know How To Communicate A Little Better With The Crowd.
DR: I Could See Younger Women Up Front Really Embracing Your Show And Getting Into It.
Kanga: Yes, That Means The Most To Me. When Girls And Young Young People Look Up To Me And Identify With What I'm Trying To Say, That Means More Than Anything.
DR: Your Latest Release, “Under Glass” Just Came Out And It Feels Like A Progression, I Think It Leans A Little Into More Of A Pop Direction…
Kanga: Yeah, I Wrote It With My Collaborator For This Album, David Adrounie, And We Just Kind Of Wanted To Create A Very Textured, Full Experience. All My Other Albums Have Been More Of A Conversation With Myself. I Felt They Were Like Three Journals That I Put Out Into The World. I Really Wanted To Have A Conversation With Somebody Else And Have A More Collaborative Piece Of Art Come Out Of It. Not Because I Think It's Better, I'm Always Trying To Do Something Different. If I Do The Same Thing Too Much I Get Really Bored.
DR: I Hear More Of Your Vocal Pushed Up In The Mix.
Kanga: Yeah, I Mean It's An Instrument For Me And You Know When You're Recording You're Really In Your Own Head A Lot. I Feel Like I Almost Sing Better When I'm On Stage, I Sort Of Let Go And I Have More Emotion. Recording In A Booth Can Be Very Sterile.
DR: Did Covid And Lockdowns Have An Impact On Your Music?
Kanga: A Lot Happened For Me During Covid. A Lot Of Life Changes And I Sort Of Felt Like I Needed To Close A Chapter On A Certain Pattern I Was Falling Into. Unfortunately, Patterns Are What People Come To Expect From Artists And They Get Comfy With Those. But, I Was Feeling An Epoch (DR: I Had To Look That One Up, Good Word!) Change And I Just Went With It.
DR: October Just Ended And I Know You Love Horror Movies, What Have You Watched?
Kanga: I Like Classic Horror Movies. I Was Just Watching Martyrs And Troll 2. I Have A Whole Repertoire Of Movies I Watch.
DR: The Part In Troll 2 Where She’s Dancing In Front Of The Mirror Is Insane And Fantastic! This Year I Dared Myself To Watch Martyrs!
Kanga: I Watched Martyrs By Myself Years Ago, Just Huddled Up In My Room And I Promised Myself I Would Never Watch It Again. Then A Couple Weeks Ago I Decided I Wanted To Rewatch It, I’m Not Scared Anymore. I Had The Commercial Breaks This Time, These Help A Lot! Horror Is Just So All Over The Place And There’s Something For Everybody. Do I Want To Be Scared Out Of My Mind Or Do I Want Something Cheesy? You Can Always Find Something You're Looking For.
DR: Getting Back To “Under Glass” I Like The Song “Rehab” A Lot.
Kanga: Thank You! That Was A Song I Made As A Stem For A Sample Pack Library For A Company I Was Working For. I Had To Make A Demo For It And I Put Some Lyrics To It And Thought It Was Really Good To Use For Myself. It Seems Like Every Singer Has A Rehab Track. This One Came Very Easy For Me.
DR: You Live In LA But Now That You’ve Seen So Much Of The World, Is That Where You Want To Be?
Kanga: My Family’s From LA And I Want To Stay Near Them. I Was Born And Raised In LA But I Wouldn’t Be There If My Family Wasn’t There. I’m The Opposite Of Everyone Else, I Would Love To Leave But Family Keeps Me There.
DR: What Other Places Do You Like:
Kanga: I Mean I Love Chicago. I Love A Lot Of Midwest Cities. I Really Resonate With The Working Class But Artistic Too. You Get That A Lot In Cities Like Detroit, Cincinnati And Cleveland. I Like The UK A Lot. They Were One Of The First Global Areas To Appreciate My Music. I Loved Poland, It Was Really Fun. When You Travel A Lot You Find You Like Places That Were Unexpected.
DR: What Are Your Plans For After The Tour?
Kanga: I’m Taking A Break! I’m So Tired! But I Do Have Some Stuff Planned For Next Year. We’re Trying To Hash Out The Details For It. I’m Planning On Bringing Out More Of A Band On The Road With Me. The Plan Is To Play “Under Glass” And "Self-Titled" Together Which Will Be Cool To Bring The New Album Along With The First Because They Are Kind Of Polar Opposites But They Are More Made For A Full Band.
Mikel Pfeiffer/Digital Racket