Hi Candy Rush! How did your journey in music begin? Was there a specific moment that sparked your passion for it?
Hannah Montana was my biggest obsession when I was a kid, I’m pretty sure that was the first spark – I have a very vivid memory of 5-year-old me singing along to Best of Both Worlds in my living room. My parents saw how passionate I was and they decided to sign me up for singing lessons but it didn’t go according to plan at first because my singing teacher at the time was forcing me to study the piano first, which I absolutely despised. I still remember shouting “I want to sing on the microphone!!”. No one could get me to sit still at the piano for more than 10 seconds, I would get up and start singing and dancing and cause a scene. Then when I turned 7 I was finally disciplined enough to agree to learn both how to sing and play the piano.
Growing up, who were your biggest musical influences, and how have they shaped your sound today?
My dad introduced me to great music from a very young age, I grew up listening to Fleetwood Mac, Shania Twain, AC/DC, Billy Joel. At the same time I was obsessed with Disney Channel so Miley Cyrus, Demi Lovato, and Selena Gomez were my idols and I knew all their songs and music videos by heart. Then around the time I turned 14 I was introduced to The 1975, Arctic Monkeys and The Neighbourhood and that was my holy indie trinity for a couple of years. At the same time I started listening to Melanie Martinez, Billie Eilish, Kimbra, a lot of jazz, r&b and soul and a lot of rock on top of that – Led Zeppelin, Nirvana, Queen. I think growing up listening to so many different styles and genres made me really open to experimenting and not being afraid to incorporate different elements from each one into my music.
What’s the story behind the name “Candy Rush,” and what does it represent to you as an artist?
My interpretation of the literal meaning of my artist name is that of sugar rush. I think it relates to me as a person as I’m always restless and looking for something to do, I can’t just sit down and relax, that’s very rare for me. In terms of my music, I think it encapsulates the way I like to write my lyrics and things I talk about, which are very much related to either forms of escapism, vanity, self centred-ness, all of which are superficial and a way to avoid the real problem, which is just like a sugar rush, you’re using a short term distraction and high to help you temporarily feel better.
What was the first song you ever wrote, and how has your songwriting evolved since then?
I think I must’ve been 11. I remember the moment I wrote it very vividly, as well as the lyrics and melody even though I never wrote it down or recorded it, which I find very odd – I was looking out the window on my balcony and it was raining, so I wrote a song about the rain and my unrequited love for a classmate. Funnily enough, I don’t really write love songs anymore, like ever. My first EP is definitely defined by satire and metaphors, and painting a picture of our current society if you will. I really like stepping outside of myself and my own experiences when writing, and that really reflects in the songs I’ve released so far. Even though they’re written in first person, they’re only partially about me, I mainly portray the experiences of people around me. I finished writing the songs on the first EP roughly two years ago, and the songs I’ve been writing since are still satirical but most of them are much more straightforward and brutally honest, which is very scary but exciting at the same time, it probably means therapy is really doing something for me.
How would you describe your sound to someone who hasn’t heard your music yet?
If Kimbra, Melanie Martinez, and Billie Eilish had a baby, that would probably be me.
How do you overcome creative blocks when writing music, and what keeps you motivated?
I’m gonna be very annoying and say that I don’t believe in creative blocks. I think you have to go find the inspiration when it doesn’t want to find you. Writing about random objects is an amazing exercise I absolutely love and will forever keep the creative juices flowing – I once wrote a good chunk of lyrics about a red hat a lady I saw on the tube was wearing. When I have nothing exciting or interesting going on in my life, I’ll step outside of myself and look around, there’s so much going on out there, I think as a songwriter if you’re willing to look around you’ll always find something worth writing about.
What was the initial inspiration behind your latest single, “The Love Song”?
Around the time I wrote it I was having lots conversations with friends and people I knew about the dating scene and dating apps and hookup culture and all that jazz. So the song is written in first person but at the time I wrote it I hadn’t experienced 80% of the stuff I’m talking about in the song, like I hadn’t been on dating apps, I had never dated someone much older than me, never been proposed to, etc, which I find super funny, but I love writing music that’s not necessarily about me.
Can you walk us through the creative process of making “The Love Song” from start to finish?
So, it started with the top line, that’s usually how all my songs start, and the lyrics and melody come at the same time for most of them, which was also the case now. So I created the storyline in pretty much one sitting, and I was snapping my fingers to it just to keep the rhythm going. Then I probably had 2 or 3 redrafts for the top line until the whole story made total sense. When I recorded the demo, it was just lead vocal, backing vocals, bass and finger snaps for a long time until I figured out where I wanted to go with the production. For some reason every time I record a demo, the bvs come before anything else, they really help me shape my arrangements the way no other instrument does.
How did you decide on the arrangement and production style for “The Love Song”?
As a main reference arrangement and production wise I had Plain Gold Ring in mind, Kimbra’s version of it to be more specific. And I knew I also wanted a saxophone in there, and for that I had Sincerity is Scary by The 1975 and Smooth Operator by Sade in mind. So Kii, who is an amazing musician and one of my collaborators, sent me a lot of takes and ideas he had to fit what I was looking for. Then I glued together the bits and pieces he sent me and did the saxophone arrangement myself. And the production ended up being predominantly lots of vocal layers, percussion and saxophone. I guess the way it was written led me to go for the arrangement and production choices I went for. I didn’t really intend to write a sparse jazzy song with no structure, I had to listen to what the song wanted from me and I hope I did it justice.
What message or emotion do you hope listeners take away from “The Love Song”?
I don’t ever really set an intention for this when it comes to my music, the reason being that everyone’s experience is unique, which usually leads us all to have vastly different interpretations of the same work. So I believe that even if I did hope for it to be perceived in one way, people would bring themselves into it and come up with their own interpretation regardless, which I find very liberating. I think one song can have many different lives and take many different forms, even for the same person, we can come at it from different angles at different points of our lives. Once a song is out it’s not mine anymore, it’s everyone’s to use it however they want.
How do you envision your sound evolving in the years to come?
Weirdly enough, I am very happy to say that I don’t really know and I’ve decided not to plan for it too much. I am the kind of person who’s constantly changing and learning new things, and I expect that my music will reflect that. However I know for sure that I’ve decided to allow my ideas to come out the way they want to and not repress them in any way, even if that means getting out of my comfort zone and experimenting with things I’m not used to. And also lean more into collaboration, that is one thing I know for sure I want to do in the future.
Stay connected with Candy Rush on her social media platforms for updates on her future releases: Instagram – TikTok – Spotify – SoundCloud – YouTube.
