Love and Be Loved with CHANNEL’s ‘Understand’
Formerly referred to as Kai Od, CHANNELS is a singer, rapper, guitarist, and producer creating an introspective, post-Internet fusion of rock, hip hop, and ambient electronic music. His music is typified by hard-hitting drums, melodic rock ’n’ roll guitar, ethereal and wide-ranging vocals, introspective lyrics, and ambient washes of analog synths.
CHANNEL is the executive producer of all his material. He says, “I’ve been producing. Most are done solo, some are co-produced with WHYF (@liftedaquatic), Gray Areas (@grayarea1111), or other producers I like working with.” When asked about his writing process, he shares that he goes through six steps:
1. Conceive ideas on the guitar.
2. Lay down as many synth layers/ideas as he can think of to create an atmosphere around the original lick.
3. Strip down, edit, and sound design melodic instruments.
4. Lay down drums.
5. Speak complete gibberish like a “crazy man” to come up with vocal melodies.
6. Replace the gibberish with actual lyrics so people think he’s not crazy.
CHANNEL has released a demo series entitled ‘TRANSMISSIONS’ on Soundcloud. It consists of 26 alternative-rock track snippets, including the song ‘Understand.’ This song dives into the intimate side of the demo series. CHANNEL shares that ‘Understand’ has “a delicate vocal lead complemented by a deep and layered mix defined by the interplay between guitar, dystopian-cinematic synths, and layers of echo reaching into the depths of our soul.”
The song expresses our need to love and be loved. CHANNEL acknowledges that there are a lot of obstacles that prevent us from doing so. He hopes that ‘Understand’ “helps others cut through the inner blockages that prevent that expression which uplifts us all.”
Listen to ‘Understand’ on Soundcloud.
