Theo Kandel
In anticipation of his upcoming EP and in honor of his latest single “Anaconda Hearts”, I interviewed Theo Kandel to talk about his journey so far and his new project. I first heard of Theo after hearing Romario’s remix on his song “Everybody Else”. I instantly loved Theo’s voice and his original song “Everybody Else”. I was hoping to feature him on my blog at some point. And here we are :)
Theo Kandel is an authentic artist who’s not trying to sound like anyone else. His sound is very unique, honest and refreshing. I can’t wait for everyone to hear this new EP !
Premiered on Ones To Watch, the “Anaconda Hearts” music video was directed by Gabe Drechsler and Trent Millspaugh.
“Anaconda Hearts” is the second single of his upcoming concept EP titled Spin Cycle, to be released on June 18th.
Photo credit: Nathaniel Clayton
Introduce yourself - what's your story?
I'm Theo Kandel - the best way to describe me is an alt-pop singer-songwriter; a genre bender of sorts. I grew up in New York City and moved to Nashville to attend Vanderbilt – I stuck around Nashville for two years since graduating in 2019, and now I'm moving to Los Angeles this summer. I think my story is kind of like throwing stuff at the wall and seeing what sticks. I'm always experimenting with genres, and in the last two years I've released anything from pop to rock to electro-folk to Americana, with as many micro-genres as you can think of filling in the gaps. I never really wanted to get tied down to one genre. The best artists and songwriters can't ever be pigeonholed, and that's a good thing – then people just appreciate their work as just good music. That's what it's all about for me at the end of the day – making plain old good music that people can find a little bit of themselves in.
You're getting ready to release your new project Spin Cycle - what's the inspiration behind this EP?
Spin Cycle is, in most ways, a breakup EP – a snapshot of where I've been at this last year. It's kind of like an anthology in that way, with each song functioning as a kind of short film or vignette that builds into a bigger whole. The EP loosely follows a chronology of sorts, tracing the timeline of a relationship.
When did you start working on this EP?
The songs have come together over the last year or so – I wasn't even thinking of putting them all in the same project, but as they developed, so did the idea of the EP. From there, it was a process of filling in the gaps and finding a kind of glue to put them all together.
Could you describe the songwriting/production process for this project? Who helped you create it?
It's funny – until this EP, I haven't put out any songs that were co written. I'm not exactly sure why – maybe it's the part of me that wants to do everything myself – but that definitely changed when it came to making Spin Cycle. Some of my best inspiration comes from working with other people, whether that's in the songwriting process or the production process. For "I'm Not Happy Now (Either)," my good buddy Jarren Blair (who's an awesome awesome artist based in Nashville) was actually just chilling in our house and we kind of had this impromptu writing session. I had had the title in my notes for a couple weeks, and we just decided to write to it. The whole song was written in probably an hour – the kind of song that just comes out easily.
I wrote "Spin Cycle" with Claire Flynt (another great songwriter in Nashville), and for that one, we wanted to capture the essence of what the EP is about, hence the title. Getting caught in the same loop, the same kind of circular thinking that can feel so destructive to your life.
For the production process, I worked with my roommate and longtime friend Ben Pleasant (Beep) and my really good friend Justin Johnson, who has produced most of my music so far. Justin works with some other amazing artists in Nashville, and his work with country artist Priscilla Block has made him the "youngest producer on country radio." With both Justin and Ben, the production process is a collaborative effort, with each of us bringing our own thoughts and inspirations to the table. "I'm Not Happy Now (Either)" and "Anaconda Hearts" are the first songs that Ben has produced with me, and it was such a cool process to finally be able to put our minds together and make some of the coolest music that I've released so far. Justin is a wizard – and absolutely lit DJ – and can really make any sound that you could ask for.
The best part of the process for this project has been the collaboration – it's so much more fun to make music with your friends than on your own, and you never know how much someone can add until you try.
What different topics are you talking about on this EP?
Heartbreak, baby! I was in a sad place when I wrote these songs, but that’s the way it goes, I guess. Trying to capture a feeling or a moment is most of what drives my writing, and hopefully I did a good enough job so that other people can catch a glimpse of that as well.
What did you feel when writing "Good Guy"?
“Good Guy” is about regret – or maybe more accepting regret. It’s that feeling when you know you can’t change what you did, and maybe you shouldn’t want to, or maybe it’s just acknowledging the way things went. There’s a kind of peace that comes after the doubt.
What can you tell us about the visuals for the project?
I made all the videos with Trent Millspaugh and Gabe Drechsler – two unbelievably talented filmmakers in Nashville – and our goal was to create a visual companion to the EP that didn’t just recreate what the songs are about. Some of them are a little on the nose, namely “I’m Not Happy (Either)” and “Spin Cycle,” which I think works for those songs, but as a whole, the Spin Cycle Visual EP is an amalgamation of moments, kind of like how the songs are but with different moments. Most of the videos have some of my best friends in them, and I like that energy. So much of the EP is about feeling alone, but the videos are the counter to that in some ways – even if you feel alone, you’ve always got your friends when you need them.
Trent and Gabe really headed up the aesthetic of the visual project. Gabe has this real VHS cam, so most of the videos cut back and forth between the super crisp, high-quality digital shots and the grainier, more raw VHS footage. They’re really masters at what they do, so if you have the chance, check out more of their work!
What made you want to name your EP Spin Cycle?
I was actually texting some of my friends and someone had been MIA for a bit – I think I said “where have you been” and he replied “the spin cycle.” It’s such a perfect way to describe the feelings you have after a breakup – that circular thinking – and I think everyone knows how that feels. You get so caught up in your own thoughts and misgivings and doubts and regrets, etc. and you end up spinning around in your own head. Maybe over time you feel that less and less, but I think it also could be the spirals getting longer and longer, further and further apart. You might not ever actually leave the spin cycle, but you learn to live with it, to accept it, and to keep moving forward.
What did you learn about yourself after finishing this EP?
I’ve learned that you need some real endurance to put out a whole project. For a while, all I’ve been doing is singles (or double singles like the Love & Other Complaints project) and that’s fun, but it’s less of a cohesive idea, something that you have to really push through to the end. The crazy thing is that I wrote a bunch of these songs almost a full year ago (some even more) and there’s so much that has to happen before the writing process turns into an actual release. You gotta have endurance, man.
What's your goal for this EP?
I’d love for this to lead to more collaborations with more awesome people! My music is kind of my business card in a way, and with every release I feel like I’m putting more of myself out into the world. Hopefully, that resonates with some awesome artists, writers, and producers, and that could be the jumping off point to some sweet creative energy with people I don’t know yet.
For those who don't know, what different steps an artist needs to take before releasing a project like this EP?
Hmm – well the first part is writing songs that you’re psyched about. Then you gotta produce! My production process is fairly eclectic, and I pull in a bunch of different people to get the sound that I’m looking for. Then you pick a date to release, submit your music to a distribution company (they send everything to all of the DSPs) and then promote it. Usually people will put out a few singles first before the big project releases, but every project is different and requires a different strategy.
What's the hardest part about being an artist? And what is the best part?
It’s tough to be in a career where there’s no clear path to success, nor is there a way to measure that success. I guess I feel lost a lot of the time – no road map, no rubric to base anything off of – and that can be scary. But it’s also incredibly liberating – I can shape the way I want things to be, whether that’s my music, my brand, my message. I think the best part of being an artist is connecting with people, as cheesy as that sounds. I think that’s what music is all about, right? Just a bunch of people listening to the same song, participating in a kind of individualist collectivism.
What are your thoughts on today's music industry? If you could change one thing, what would it be?
Despite a lot of the negativity directed at the industry itself these days, I actually think that now more than ever, people hold the power to dictate what music we actually like, rather than what has been forced down our throats in the past. There’s a really cool kind of agency that has come in the digital age of music, and now the younger generation is telling the industry what to listen to, rather than the other way around. I think that’s a positive thing!
In your opinion, what would make the world a better place?
Honestly, if everyone took themselves less seriously. No one is as important as they think they are, and the more we recognize how small each of us is, maybe we can get some shit done.
What message do you want to deliver to the world?
If you wanna be sad, be sad; if you wanna be happy, be happy. Posi vibes baby.
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