Kan Wakan

Kan Wakan

Kan Wakan is a United States-based music project led by composer and producer Crooked Waters, who emerges in early 2012 after spending time in 2010 writing orchestral music for film and making bedroom demos while also performing in groups around Los Angeles. The project begins as an instrumental idea shaped by Waters’ interest in classical minimalism, then develops into a collaborative act centred on songs and vocal contributions from other musicians.

Style and sound

Kan Wakan’s music draws together progressive rock, rock, indie pop, indie and a Los Angeles-based alternative sensibility, with a sound that also incorporates moody soul, post-rock, electronica and noir jazz. The debut album Moving On presents a mix of orchestral writing, R&B, trip hop, jazz, folk and psychedelia, with an emphasis on cinematic arrangement and contrasting song-and-symphony structures. Waters cites Massive Attack, Air and SBTRKT among the project’s influences, and also points to the music of Bill Withers and Nina Simone as important touchstones for its hypnotic-soul character.

Formation and collaborators

Waters works with guitarist and co-producer Peter Potyondy, who joins in 2011 and helps shape the project’s early direction. The two spend much of 2012 developing the material for Moving On, searching for vocal collaborators and other musicians to perform the songs live. The project begins with a series of early recordings and is built around multiple collaborations rather than a fixed large-band lineup.

Debut release and reception

The project’s debut LP, Moving On, introduces its dark, cinematic sound and receives attention from radio stations including KCRW, WFUV and BBC Radio 6. The track “Forever Found” becomes the first fully developed song and serves as an early template for the project’s approach. It also becomes a regular play on KCRW. The album is praised by Rolling Stone, The Fader, Buzzbands LA, The Daily Mirror and Yahoo Music, and it is named Buzzbands LA’s number one album of the year. LA Weekly also includes the act in its “Artists About to Blow Up” list.

Live activity and wider exposure

After the debut album, Kan Wakan tours extensively in 2014, appearing at SXSW and CMJ and playing across the UK, including The Great Escape in Brighton. The act also supports Royal Blood and Arctic Monkeys on sold-out tours. The single “Like I Need You” is used as the theme song for HBO’s Game of Thrones spring preview, while “Why Don’t You Save Me?” appears in an episode of State of Affairs. In 2015, the project appears on CBS in a feature performance that airs during Late Night with David Letterman, and work begins on a second album.

Recognition

Waters is named by LA Weekly as one of Los Angeles’ 10 best songwriters, and the project is identified by Yahoo Music in its 2014 list of 11 best new artists of the year. The combination of radio support, festival appearances and television placements establishes Kan Wakan as a notable part of the Los Angeles indie and progressive-rock scene.