KANDA FAULT Magazine Cover and Interview
KANDA is the artist on everyone’s mind right now. His latest single, ‘He Will Reign,’ carries a message of resilience and determination, encouraging listeners to embrace a fighting attitude and pursue their dreams relentlessly. We caught up with Kanda to discuss his new track, his influences and of course, his FAULTs.
What inspired you to incorporate Asian influence into your music?
The asian influence comes from my family, my heritage and my culture. Growing up, I was always around Indian sounds and listened to various Panjabi and also Hindi music which my Dad and Mum tended to listen to. Also, as I have been maturing more and more throughout the years, I see it as essential to never forget my roots and always contain elements of my background within my artistic career.
How has growing up in Coventry influenced your sound and style as an artist?
The local sounds of Coventry have been influenced from genres and origins all around the world, which has certainly impacted the way in which I sing and the type of music I produce. For example, one of the biggest portrayals of a massive cultural influence to me is my former music teacher, who introduced me to the sounds from the Caribbean. From physically playing instruments from such regions, I have incorporated that Caribbean style into my style, particularly within the past 2 years of my career.
Can you tell us more about your love for boxing and how it has impacted your music and life?
I’ve always been keen on watching combat sports such as boxing – the high intensity moments and the glorious finishes. That, alongside my liking towards video games and playing ‘Fight Night’, led me towards the desire to write a passionate, motivating song about an underdog proving the doubters wrong and fighting his way to the top of the mountain. I had previously written a song which included elements of my boxing passion called ‘Champion’. However, since I have matured in my age as well as my ability to sing and rap, I decided that I could write and produce a better track and so I did with ‘He Will Reign’.
What message do you hope to convey with your latest single, ‘He Will Reign’?
The prominent message throughout the whole song is that anybody can do anything as long as they possess that fighting attitude, the willpower and desire to achieve more and more. It’s a similar situation to mine within the music scene. I am aware of how many competitors they are singing and rapping wise – nevertheless that does not prevent me from trying to create my own wave and grafting until I am satisfied with where I am.
How do you approach the songwriting process and what inspires your lyrics?
I usually look to 3 sources when starting off a new song. The first is my real life scenarios: what is going on within my personal life, in relationships or any specific events that have occurred. The second source is politics: any real life events outside of my real life within the world that need to be spoken upon. And the final source of inspiration is general passions I have and general topics in which I love to write around like love, or loneliness.
Who are some of your biggest musical influences?
Earlier on in my career, I aspired to be like Bruno Mars and Ed Sheeran with a pop-style and catchy flows. Now, as I have found my voice and have found the style of which I am comfortable singing in, my influences have become artists like Rag’n’Bone Man, Giveon, Jimi Hendrix and James Brown.
Can you describe your creative process when working on a music video like ‘He Will Reign’?
I already had this vision that I wanted it to look like the Fight Night games that I used to play, the boxing fights I used to watch on TV. The story of a come-up, an underdog was the main idea and it came across perfectly. It was so fun to film!
What has been the biggest challenge you’ve faced in your music career so far?
For a few years it has been my age – a lot of gig bookers and labels wouldn’t be 100% confident to take me on because I was too young. Now I am getting to the stage of being an adult professional artist, it’s definitely starting to change – however I still feel like I have a lot more growth to experience over my career.
How has your music evolved since you first started creating music?
I’m undoubtedly leaning towards a more dominant singing career as opposed to rapping. I like to rap to showcase more of my repertoire, but as my voice has matured, it has definitely become the more stronger aspect of my musical abilities.
What can fans expect from your upcoming projects and releases?
I’ll be releasing a few more singles, performing at quite a few venues all around the UK so hopefully I’ll be able to give you some more details sooner to the time. Make sure to stay active on my insta (@officialkanda4), the place to go to find out first when I’m dropping and where I’m performing.
What is your FAULT?
My FAULT is that I am honestly so unorganised outside of music (when it comes to general cleaning I am just awful), hopefully it’ll improve the more I mature hahaha!!