INTERVIEW: Brooke Candy talks brand new album 'Candyland Vol.1'

After taking something of a self-imposed hiatus from music in recent years, American pop rebel Brooke Candy makes her presence felt in a MAJOR way this week, with the unveiling of her boundary-pushing second studio album, ‘Candyland Vol.1’.

Serving as the follow up to 2019’s ’Sexorcism’, and featuring the singles ‘Safe Word’, ‘Pills’ and ‘Block’, as well as collaborations with Ariana Madix, Rickey Thompson, Lozeak, Deto Black and Only Fire, and co-writes from Chloe Angelides, Jesse St. John Geller and Charli XCX, the electrifying record sees Candy take total control of her art, to produce an addictive, and innovative collection of 16 experimental, genre-bending tracks that look set to dominate the pop landscape throughout the summer, and beyond.

Since the launch of her debut single ‘Opulence’ – along with its captivating music video directed by Steven Klein – back in 2014, Brooke Candy has become a dominant force in the worlds of music, and fashion. 

With her unique sound, rebellious style and non-conformist attitude striking a chord with millions of fellow mis-fits around the world, Candy has also found herself becoming something of a pioneer within the queer art scene.

Building upon the initial buzz of follow up releases ‘Das Me’, ‘Living Out Loud’ and ‘Happy’, Brooke has collaborated with a plethora of artists including Charli XCX, Sia, Diplo, Lizzo, Pussy Riot, Sophie, and Mykki Blanco, as well as styled music videos for David Guetta, Afrojack and French Montana.

The California native has also taught performing arts classes at New York University, and teamed up with brands international brands like MAC Cosmetics and Diesel. 

Brooke Candy SAFE WORD (Official Music Video)

To celebrate the release of ‘Candyland Vol. 1’, we caught up with Brooke to talk life in LA, self-sabotage, Britney Spears’ ‘Blackout’, collaborating with her husband, and why she finally feels seen…

Hey Brooke! How’s life in LA?

Life in LA is pretty good, thank you for asking! I’ve recently been away for my birthday, so I’m feeling super relaxed and ready to get back to work!

This is a pretty big week for you, as your brand new album ‘Candyland Vol.1’ is out NOW! What’s the vibe like in your camp right now, and how does it feel to be back in full-on pop star mode again?

Honestly, and I keep saying this to my manager, I feel like a silly goose right now, because I am genuinely so happy that we’ve made it to release day! Everything is done, the record is finally out, and I can literally feel all of my stresses and cares falling off of me with each passing minute (laughs). I’m super excited to hear what long-time fans of mine will think of these new songs; like I’m genuinely, so intrigued to see how they’re going to react!

It’s been five years since you dropped ‘Sexorcism’, and like anyone else, you will have experienced and lived a lot of life in that time, so we wonder, who is Brooke Candy today? And what version of you are we getting on this album?

I feel a whole lot clearer about things in my life now – and I know I’ve said that in the past, but I really mean it this time. I’d say I have this heightened awareness about me now, that I maybe didn’t have before, both personally and professionally, and actually musically too. It’s like I hear music differently now, it’s almost like I’ve cleaned 20 years worth of ear wax out of my ears and I can finally, properly listen to my own music for the first time, which has kind of been life-changing for me as an artist because its enabled me to become a lot more in-tune with my singing voice, as well as my wants and desires as a producer; I’m definitely more tapped into that side of things than I was before. I think this record definitely shows the evolution of the journey I’ve been since ‘Sexorcism’ came out.

You’ve spoken openly in the past about the times you felt somewhat “invisible” as a recording artist, and musician. How did manage to flip that narrative in your own mind, so that you were able to persevere and continue to battle on to get to where you are now?

You actually make a really good point there, and you’re absolutely right, I have often felt like something of an invisible entity in this industry at times. Definitely. Some of that stems from me, and how I view myself, and the rest comes from the perception of others, and how they view me, or have treated me in the past. From my end, I never thought of myself as a musician, I always considered myself to be more of a visual artist, and for whatever reason, that made me feel inferior stepping into the pop world. How did I overcome that? I’m not sure to be totally honest with you. I feel like it could have gone one of two ways I guess… it was either I come out fighting, or I completely give up and change my career path entirely. I don’t like to be beaten, and so I felt compelled almost, to prove both to myself, and those people who have doubted me, that I could do this! So I just didn’t give up, and I kept things moving and I kept on trying.

Stepping back into the studio, did you have a vision for the kind of music you wanted to make this time around? 

My initial reference was Britney Spears ‘Blackout’, which I believe to be one of the best pop albums ever made! If we look back at to time, Britney made that record at a point in her life when she was rebelling against everyone around her, and refusing to conform to who the world wanted her to be. She had this awesome, punk state of mind, where she was only going to do what she wanted to do, and I loved, and still love, that about her. So yeah, I knew I wanted to make an experimental sound pop record, reminiscent of what Britney did on ‘Blackout’. From there it was all about making sure the music was authentic, and representative of me. The people I collaborated with really helped me to do that, and I felt inspired by their energy in the studio. 

In the fast paced world we live in today, where it seems like everyone has 24 hour access to so much of what’s happening around the world, in a sense artistic inspiration can be found anywhere and everywhere! With that in mind what would you say were the main inspirations for this project? Or do you prefer to almost shut yourself off from what’s happening in pop culture, so that you don’t end up trying to chase trends or become too aligned with what everyone else is doing?

I’ll be totally honest with you, I absolutely LOVE pop culture, and I love celebrity gossip (laughs), so I always like to try to stay up to date with what the majority of people are doing! I will say however, there are certain artists that I do try to switch off from, so that I don’t produce anything that’s too similar to what they’ve already done in the past. We all have our own lanes right? But sometimes you can’t help but be inspired by what your contemporaries are doing, that’s not a bad thing, just as long as you fall into the trap of, like you said, chasing a trend. I think I’m lucky in the sense that I have Aquarius in my chart, and that helps me to keep things a little freaky and weird (laughs). 

There’s an element of freedom and liberation that runs throughout the record! You exude such confidence and bad ass energy – we love it! But on a deeper level, you also radiate this strong sense of self, which adds a deeper level of authenticity to what you’re doing. As the creator of this album, how do YOU feel on a person level when you listen back to it now?

Honestly, I feel like it’s a really good album! I’m laughing as I say that, because I am such a self-hater, like truly, I am my own biggest critic and I am so, so hard on myself!.. I literally love to hate everything I make and do (laughs). But I think making this record has helped me to push past that a little bit, because like I said, I think it’s really good, and I’m super proud of it. There are a bunch of different moods and vibes on there, so it lends itself to a variety of situations – you can listen to it whilst you chill and have a glass of wine, or you can put it on and play it loud as you’re getting ready to go out on a night out! Me personally, I like to listen to it in bed whilst having my morning coffee, or when I’m out running, so yeah, the songs are adaptable to all kinds of different brain chemistries, and mental spaces, so I’m hoping the way I feel about it, others do too, and they can play it, and take from it what they need in whatever given moment.

Musically, we dare ANYBODY to try to put you in a box and label you as being one type of artist, because it’s impossible! Yes, you’ve made a pop record, but because you explore and successfully incorporate so many other different styles, and flavours, you’re able to create a sound that is truly representative of YOU!

Oh my God, I can die after this interview (laughs) you’re making me so happy right now!

Just as you maybe come up with concepts for songs, or messages you want to try to convey, do you also set time aside to think about the genre of music you want to make, or can you not be that controlling? 

For me, this time around, it was just a case of going into the studio and seeing what happened. I was very lucky that I got to work with a bunch of different writers and producers that I admire and am a fan of, so I felt safe being in their company, and confident that we could come up with something really special. I’ve found that whenever you’re working on something creative, whether that be music or even tattooing, it’s best to just let people do what they do, and let their ideas flow. If you’re on top of somebody all the time, kind of trying to control what they do, you’re not going to get the best out of them, so it’s important to give people the freedom they need to create. 

Brooke Candy – BLOCK (Official Music Video)

Once the music is taken care of – demos are mastered, vocals recorded, and mixes are mixed, what thought goes into the visual presentation of your music, and how you’d like to showcase these new songs to the world? 

For this album cycle, I had the honour of collaborating with my husband (Kyle England) which has been a wonderful experience. If I’m being totally honest, in the beginning, he was very reluctant about us working together, because he’s a tattoo artist, so the pop world is a whole new territory for him, so I did have to beg him a little (laughs) but he’s been incredible! Right from the beginning, he’s been there to hold my hand and help me conceptualise, and bring this music to life. He came up with the idea for the ‘Safe Word’ music video and directed it, he did the single artwork for ‘Pills’, he hand drew storyboards and really pushed me to be the artist I am today. Once we had all of our ideas set, we then pulled in a group of friends, who helped us to execute our vision. 

We LOVE all of the album artwork…

It’s cool right? So the album cover image itself is from a shoot I did with the artist Jean Toir, and its based on this crazy reference I found of a picnic that was happening with a person that was made out of bread rolls. We thought it would be cool to recreate it, but this time using candy. I’d already taken that image when I decided to name the album ‘Candyland’ so using that particular photo for the front cover felt very kismet and synchronistic. 

At this point in your life and career, do you feel more confident in front of the camera?

I do. And I also feel more confident to express myself without worrying too much about what others think. The visuals for this record have more of an adult feeling to them, I wanted to look my age, but still look like a pop-star too if that makes sense? I actually texted Charli (XCX) like 5 minutes ago about the music video for ‘Block’, and she said it felt very dreamlike and authentic to me, which I was very happy to hear.

Music is so subjective, and we each interpret a song in our own way, which is what makes that connection between an artist and their fans so special. In a perfect world, if you could have some sort of say, how would like this music to resonate with your audience?

I want to bring people joy, and make them feel like sexy, bad bitches… I want this record to be their theme music for the next year! 

Download / stream ‘Candyland Vol. 1’ here

Let us know your thoughts on Brooke Candy over on ‘X’ (formerly Twitter) @CelebMix now!

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