Kandace Springs is a contemporary soul singer from Nashville, TN. Her powerful vocals and classical piano skills have quickly taken her to perform all around the world. After finishing a tour with the legendary Hall and Oates, Springs stepped out on her own headlining tour around the US to celebrate the release of her new album Indigo; the embodiment of the old soul of jazz but through the vision of a young R&B songstress.
Stream Kandace Springs Indigo
Respect My Region was lucky enough to get Kandace Springs on the phone to talk about her new album, working with Karreim Riggins, and her one true musical love, jazz.
Respect My Region Interviews Kandace Springs
With a Track by Track Breakdown of Indigo
Track One: “Don’t Need The Real Thing”
This was the first single she released and for good reason; it’s definitely the most commercially marketable song on the album. Main producer, Karreim Riggins, brings in an African inspired drum beat that uplifts your spirit from deep within your chest. Then you get Kandace singing, who has a special quality to her voice that is audibly cinematic, and it shows through this track.
The music video even got to showcase her other passion (and arguably her first love) of cars. We get to see Springs driving the old ’65 Mustang that she used to have.
Kandace: “Oh fun fact! Maybe we can get this track out, but you know “Don’t Need The Real Thing” on the album, Karreim got Common to come in and rap over it. So, we have a version we’re trying to release with Common rapping over it … You’re one of the only people to know that song even exists.”
Kandace Springs “Don’t Need The Real Thing” Music Video
RMR: You’ve released a project every couple of years since you started. Has the recording process been steady over those years? Or was the first EP something you worked on for a long time then it finally came to fruition?
Kandace: The funny thing is, it was just the opposite. The first EP the record label and Larry Klein had a lot of input as to song choice. That’s why I’m not much of a writer on it as well, but it still captures – it’s very acoustic too which I really like. It kind of laid the foundation for who I am.
The second album goes back as far as – well the last song on the record “Simple Things,” which has my father’s voice on it, we recorded that when I was 17 years old. Same thing with “Rain Falling” on the first album too [listen: Soul Eyes] was right around the same time.
Some songs like “Unsophisticated,” “Love Sucks,” and “Piece of Me,” and there might be one other, can’t remember. But, we wrote those like six years ago. The most recent being “Breakdown,” was written this Spring. So it’s kind of like a journey from the last decade of my life.
Track Two: “Breakdown”
Songs like this are the kind that I find myself dramatically lip singing in my mirror when I’m drunk in my room late at night. It’s usually paired with one too many blunts leaving me feeling way too vulnerable and a puddle of tears on the floor.
Kandace Springs “Breakdown” Music Video
Track Three: “Fix Me”
RMR: In songs like “Fix Me” you have these octave changes that are insanely well done. How often do you sit down and practice those skills?
Kandace: “Well, when I was younger I would play piano all the time, you know at least an hour to a few hours a day. These days it’s tough to even get to practice ‘cause we’re on the road. The only time we can really squeeze in practice is doing a sound check.
I love playing classical piano, so I brought that out a little more on this record. The “Fix Me” song, the piano chords you’re hearing are Chopin. I think it’s Prelude in E minor #4. It’s kind of difficult playing while singing, but it’s so cool once you got it. I like that you acknowledged that, it’s kind of my favorite part of the song, the descending chord change. It’s really good live too, the band tears it down.”
Track Four: “Indigo Pt. 1”
Even a simple intermission can send chills down someone’s spine. The fluidity of an album is heavily reliant on the track listing. Incorporating refreshers like this track in strategic spots can help to bring a more cohesive sound.
RMR: It seems like you’ve accomplished this success with your own talent, on your own accord and not having to necessarily rely on famous family members. Is that pretty accurate?
Kandace: “Yeah, I mean my dad [Scat Springs] kind of got me out there. The way I got my first record deal was through my dad doing a demo with me, years ago, he would pass that CD around to people.
It got into the hands of a mutual friend of Evan Rogers and Carl Sturken, those are the guys that found Rihanna when she was 14. They’re both married to women from Barbados so that’s how they had that connection. This was way before Jay-Z and L.A. Reid came along.
So they are artists, entrepreneurs, they are also my managers and producers! They do a lot of hip-hop, they produced “Pon De Replay,” so they are one of the biggest reasons I’m here, because my dad, then I met them. They also knew Karriem Riggins and that’s how we got that connection. Then Don Was and stuff, so yeah it’s been a good journey.”
Track Five: “Piece of Me”
I get a Spanish latin-esque vibe from this song. Her vocals take on a power that is reminiscent of Pat Benatar doing “Love is a Battlefield.”
Track Six: “6 8”
Kandace: “…If you want like smooth and sexy baby making music there’s, “6 8.”
This beautiful remake of Gabriel Garzón-Montano’s ballad is the perfect song to play when gazing out a window on a rainy day. Your soul will leave your body and kind of float around for a few minutes while you sit stuck in a trance.
Track Seven: “Indigo Pt. 2”
A refreshing palette cleanser after a seductively sedating song.
Track Eight: “People Make The World Go Round”
A very truthful rendition of the classic song by The Stylistics. Springs adds her own smokey vocal grit to the track and gives justice to the message of the song.
Track Nine: “Unsophisticated”
A throwback to the jazz era. It’s like a conversation between the instruments. The trumpet talks just as much as that bass line walks.
Track Ten: “Black Orchid”
The flute on this track is hauntingly beautiful and adds a certain mystique, and with a breathtaking acoustic guitar, this song is a standout and one of my favorites.
RMR: What’s one of your favorite songs to perform?
Kandace: Ooh that’s a tough one!
Honestly, my heart and soul is jazz. I love doing the standards. I like going back and doing like “Soul Eyes” and you see the audience receive that stuff, that’s the real shit right there. For me, that’s the grandfather of all the music.
But as far as the modern stuff, the upbeat songs like “Fix Me,” and “ People Make the World Go Round.” When it comes to the pop-y ballad type stuff, I like “Breakdown,” and “First Time.” “Unsophisticated” is a great throwback to the jazz time too. The other one too, “Black Orchid” that one kind of has a Brazilian feel to it.
RMR: What I’m hearing is that you just like to play the whole album.
Kandace: Hahaha yeah it just depends on your mood girl. That’s why the album’s called Indigo, it’s kind of a moody color.
Track Eleven: “Love Sucks”
A flashback to 60’s surfer rock and Amy Winehouse style doo-wop. Kandace’s range of influences have all blended together to break down genre barriers.
RMR: What’s been one of your favorite projects or pieces that you’ve worked on?
Kandace: Well you named “Fix Me” that’s been one of our favs. I worked on that with Evan Rogers and Carl Sturken. I play that Chopin piece. You know I learned that a little later on and they hear it and said, “That’s a dope song, let’s experiment like what would the Nina Simone of 2018 do, or like Sade or something like that.” We started writing over it and eventually passed the track along to Karreim Riggins and he kind of put his sound to it. There’s a lot of guest artists on that track. It’s definitely one of my favs…
Track Twelve: “First Time Ever I Saw Your Face”
..The other one is “First Time Ever I Saw Your Face” that’s probably my favorite track. That one’s a live take with Karreim on the drums. I love how Karreim is so diverse he goes from playing pure jazz, he plays Diana Krall’s percussion on her tours. He works with Erykah Badu, Kendrick, and Common.
Track Thirteen: “Simple Things”
RMR: “Simple Things” is a very emotional yet beautiful way to end the project. How was the process of recording with your father?
Kandace: I remember being 17 and my dad pushing me to start experimenting with my own sound. I remember writing it by myself, sitting in my room on my little electronic piano. I was working on my falsetto, and then I was like okay now I’m gonna’ take it to church and have the lower part with like descending chords and all that.
My dad would hear me record that and he’s like that’s really dope. Also, I had “Rain Falling” at the time, between both of those and – me and my dad have an album that we made that hasn’t even been released yet.
Hopefully one day it will, but there were a few songs from that album, that when I was 17 my dad came over and laid down his vocal part kind of like a little bridge on it. He just had a stroke like two years ago and it kind of affected his voice and he wasn’t able to sing when we made the second album and so that’s why it has more impact.
When we did this record we were like, well we still have his vocals from back when I was 17, so we ripped them from that and put it on this newer one. It’s emotional every time I hear him sing so it’s cool to have the world hear him now cause he’s always done music and I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for him.
