A Chat with Never Can Tell (05.08.2022)
After years in various bands and composing his own music, John Kanding is taking us in a new direction with his musical project, Never Can Tell. Through the debut album of this project Sorry I’m Late, he taps into his extensive genre-defying style, offering a little something for everyone across the 10 tracks. The first 10 songs from a collection of 30 that he wrote over the years, is an exciting introduction to sound for anyone who hasn’t heard it before. We had the chance to talk with Kanding about Never Can Tell, the debut album, the stories of the tracks, creative processes and much more!
OSR: When did you first realise that music was something you wanted to create?
Kanding: As a kid, I started playing the singles on 78 rpm. That way the bass got clearer and the dynamic of the song increased. So that fascinated me. Early on, when I reproduced the songs in my head, I tended to change them now and then. To the better of course ?. So I realized that composing was fun and something I wanted to do, without a clue of what it actually was.
OSR: Never Can Tell is a musical project that started in the late 80’s and disbanded in the 90’s. What prompted you to restart this year?
Kanding: When I disbanded the project in the 90’s I was tired and frustrated. I have spent 7 years trying to get musicians to play the music. It was 100% my bad handling and naïve trust in them wanting to work that long for free, but I swore that I would finish it someday. Luckily the technology has worked in my favour. Luckily I also teamed up with a very skilled producer and musician that could challenge me. During the pandemic, I heard that a lot of musicians were struggling. I saw a video of Mark King of Level 42 in his basement, with a silly hat, playing a song. That kind of desperate! So I figured now’s the time. I help them, they help me. Mutual benefit.
OSR: Your album Sorry I’m Late, contains the first 10 songs from the back catalogue you have created over the years. Why did you choose these songs for the album?
Kanding: The album contains songs that are old live recordings and demos. So I had to dig down in old tapes, restore them and transfer them digitally. I chose the 10 that were in the best condition. Besides that, I also had a lot of notes during the years of what I needed in the songs. So one version might have a phrasing that I like and another had a guitar part that I like. All this had to be combined in the new. And when done, I had to go through it again, to see if it make the song better.
OSR: There are 20 other songs waiting in the wings to come out in 2 other albums. Will these albums create a trilogy of releases that have something connecting them?
Kanding: No the songs are separate songs. With few exceptions. ‘Prisoners of the Dark’ and ‘Vision of the Dark’, are Darkens parts 1 and 2. ‘You and I’ has a ‘You and I’ 2 on the next album. I have a larger composition called Private Investigations, with a complete story that goes along with it. It’s the closest to a concept I got back then. It will be on the next releases someday.
OSR: At the moment, you are the only member of the band. Are you looking to add to the project’s line-up?
Kanding: Yes. The plan is to grow the project and its awareness. Release more songs so people can hear the full catalogue. Then hire musicians and go on tour. World domination that is ?
OSR: While the project is mostly solo, you were joined by Nicklas Sonne and other artists for this album. How did you connect with them?
Kanding: Nicklas Sonne is a multi-instrumentalist as well as a producer. He is also very open-minded and isn’t afraid to get out of his comfort zone. He mostly plays Prog Metal. I contacted him and he heard the songs. So we made a deal and found mutual music interests as well. He was challenged on the songs because I’m a word o’ holic and like syncopated phrasing. The other musicians were former band members. Not just Never Can Tell, but also very early bands. For the ‘Nostradamus’ song where I needed a big choir, I had 2 singers from a theatre.
OSR: The tracks of the album take listeners through a number of different genres including rock, blues, funk and Motown, but is there a genre that you feel a particular affinity with?
Kanding: As a bass player I like the funky stuff, but I also like the prog stuff. Because I tend to work deeply with lyrics as well, I like that it all goes hand in hand. Effects, surprises and humour are big parts of the compositions, but if all compositions had that, they would lose their value. Like Groucho Marx, where people would expect to get insulted by him. Most of all I like not being restrained to just one genre. I know I might lose some listeners on that, but nowadays you sort of pick and choose the songs you like anyway.
OSR: Each track tells a different story, from cartoon characters coming to life, to voyeurism and unrequited love. Is there one song or story that holds a special place for you?
Kanding: It’s a Sophie’s choice question ?. I kinda like them all, otherwise I would have dropped them. Actually, I have more than 60 songs, but only 30 are in the same league as Sorry I’m Late! But if I have to, I would say ‘Party all Night’, just because it’s funny. ‘You and I’ still makes me sad when hearing it, but that’s just the images I have in my head about that setup.
OSR: As the songs were written over a number of years, does your creative process vary depending on the inspiration you have at the time?
Kanding: Yes. There are definitely some naïve views of the world that I don’t really buy into today. Even if I could change the lyrics, I wouldn’t do it, because it was that moment in time.
OSR: This album is just the start of your musical plan which includes releasing songs over set intervals and documenting it. Can you tell us more about what we can expect from this?
Kanding: The next 20 songs will be released continuously during the next couple of years. And I will document it along the way. To help others who might have broken dreams of the past with that band that didn’t make it. So, restore the old songs before it’s too late! I know I had some prejudices about how difficult it might be. I’m not saying that it’s easy. When I got involved and saw Nicklas working, I started doing it myself. That helped me a lot.
OSR: Are you involved in any other projects that we should all be checking out?
Kanding: I have been a self-employed entrepreneur for 20 years+, so I’ve used the creative part of me for a lot of different things. Last 5 years I’ve been running XpressU, which is an online presentation tool, that converts all your media, PowerPoints, video etc. to a web-friendly format. You then create presentations that run everywhere and don’t take up any space. So now my day consists of supporting our customers and recreating the songs for Never Can Tell’s future releases. Responding to the comments, messages etc from listeners.
Thanks to John Kanding for chatting with us! You can find more about Never Can Tell on his website, Facebook, Instagram and Spotify.
