Welcome to The 7–10 Split

an abstract of sorts, I suppose

Hello, whether you be weary traveler, kindred spirit, or inquisitive soul – welcome to what I call The 7–10 Split, a mighty coalescence of my varied interests. For those that don’t quite know me yet, I am Theo Kandel, an aspiring(!): songwriter, singer, writer, illustrator, and bowler. I say “aspiring(!)” because I guess I’ll never really become those things, any more than you can actually become what you eat (a terrible phrase, as if I could ever become a combo over rice with white and red sauce please-and-thank-you, despite my best attempts).

Theo feat. the bowling ball that was stolen from my car :(

So here’s the pitch: I tell you what’s on my mind about once a week (maybe more), whether that’s in the form of a semi-autobiographical short story about a Bar Mitzvah gone wrong, a song I’ve been wanting to do a full cover of but don’t want my TikTok views to tank (short form content only, please), or the backstories and processes of my songs, new and old. I’ve never been too vocal about my prose and poetry writing, but I’ve always wanted an outlet to share them. Hopefully they hold some interest to you, dear reader, but at the very least, I will enjoy seeing them online. As for the rest, perhaps it will give you a deeper view into my dark and twisted mind.

Why call this The 7–10 Split? If you’ve been following me on social media, you’ll know that I am an avid bowler (albeit with no team or tournament competition). In bowling, a 7–10 split is when one knocks down eight of the 10 pins, leaving the leftmost and rightmost pins on the base of the pyramid. You can look it up for visual reference. This is notoriously one of the most difficult shots to make in bowling, and it reeks of a particular nihilistic despair (oh gosh, how did I get here/ I’m ruined, I’ll never get it/ why does this always happen to me?). But for me, it holds the potential for great honor, similar to the Battle of Thermopylae, during which Leonidas and a small force of Greeks made their heroic last stand, finding heroism in the face of despair. As a musician trying to make it in this ever-changing, often cruel but mostly beautiful world, I find it an apt metaphor. I hope you do as well. 

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How you can support me

The vast majority of what I post on here will be free, but the reality is that I think I do some pretty cool things, and boy would I be jazzed if you wanted to support me. Think of it as your monthly iced latte (although for $5, I don’t know if you can get an iced latte these days anyway). No pressure, of course, but I promise to do everything I can to make it worth your while.

Here’s what you can expect from the paywall-specific content:

• Extremely deep dives into the songs (there will be a good amount of this already, but parts of it will be behind the paywall)

• A monthly Zoom session

• Sneak peeks of new music

And thanks again for joining me here, whether you become a paid subscriber or not. It means the world to me.