Artist on the Rise: Kan Kan Interview
Spencer Vernier recently slid into kan kan’s DM’s and asked Joseph Hoang (bass), Kellen Staninger (drums), and Cameron Rogers (guitar, vocals) about El Cajon Boulevard, their recording process, and Job 3:14.
Spencer Vernier: What influence do sense of place and spatio-temporal positioning have on the artistic production you put into the world? How do you see it continuing to influence your work going forward?
kan kan (Joe): We grew up on El Cajon Boulevard in San Diego, CA. A lot of Car Country was inspired by the things we would see there. To get from one place to another, it’s sort of a hassle, hence the album name Car Country. I spent the majority of my life biking, walking, or taking the bus, but to get anywhere in Southern California, car is king. Still, to really see the beauty of El Cajon Blvd, you really need to walk through it. There’s a lot of characters on the boulevard when I was growing up. A lot of Vietnamese refugees settled in this part of San Diego, and they go on living like it’s an extension of their homeland. There’s also a huge population of Mexicans, Somalis, and Ethiopians in City Heights. El Cajon Blvd also acts as a dividing line between some of the wealthiest neighborhoods in San Diego with some of the poorest, so it creates an interesting mix of characters and attitudes. It’s almost a self-contradictory place. Driving through it, you can see the wealth disparities and then typical suburban neighborhoods. One minute, prostitutes and then another, a really nice cafe. Anyways, I loved growing up here. There’s a wild charm to living here that I don’t know if I would get if I lived in a suburb. I believed we wrote the album because subconsciously we were scared this place would get gentrified and lose its magic, but thankfully that has yet to happen. With Car Country, I think we have yet to scratch the surface of the stories we can tell about the boulevard but we also want to cover other territories musically as well.
SV: How do you accomplish/pursue/do you even think about creating distinctness?
KK (Joe): When recording music, the normal procedure for us would be to record the backing track together on a four track (specifically a Tascam 424 mk III). Then we upload it on GarageBand and record the vocals and other instruments ourselves because we’re too poor to record it professionally. We actually prefer to record it ourselves. I think if our music is not handled correctly, it could sound stale or too stiff for my liking. So, I think the distinctness of our sound comes from us playing live together on analog tape and our complete “amateurness” in recording. A lot of bands we like record it that way, think The Clean, GBV, or The Fall. It’s the accidental magic or the feeling that it could fall apart at any moment that probably makes the music exciting. “Anything can happen and it could be right now” type vibe.
SV: Fill in the blank… If you like _____, you’ll love KAN KAN.
Cameron: If you like the Silver Jews, you’ll love KAN KAN.
Joe: If you like punishing yourself by working two jobs, you’ll love KAN KAN.
KK: If you like memorizing bible verses, you’ll love KAN KAN’s Car Country.
SV: Finally, do you guys have any musical pursuits outside of KAN KAN?
KK (Cameron): A lot of time spent in between recording our songs was spent helping our friends record their projects too. Joe used this as a school of what is possible with home recordings, and I think this lends to the sound of what kan kan is. Here are some of the things Joe had a hand in: