Growing up, I remember playing Candy Land, a board game made popular by Hasbro Gaming. I was good at it, too! Imagine my surprise when I heard there was a DJ with the same name. I wasn’t familiar with their work, so I went to Spotify and did a little digging. There I found tracks like “Pirates”, “The Freight”, and “It’s A Shark”. The sound is progressive, fun, and they are having a good time while doing it. They are a newer act, but are already making a name for themselves on a pretty impressive tour. Listen to “It’s A Shark”. It’s a fun track. Like I said, they haven’t been together long, but it was fun finding them and meeting them! They were in Scottsdale a couple of weeks ago, and I got the chance to interview them for Relentless Beats, an electronic music blog that I write for. Enough about them. It is my pleasure to introduce you to Candyland. (Yes, the name is spelled different. I am sure there would be some legal battles with Hasbro Gaming if they spelled it the same!)
I remember playing Candy Land growing up. It would be great if that is where your name came from! Tell me, where did the name Candyland come from?
We tried a few different names, but we stopped for a while and when we decided to start DJing again we decided that we were going to start making music as well. So we said we needed a new name to with the new group. We started shouting out names, and Ethan yelled, “Candyland,” and it was my mom’s favorite, so we went with that!
Kill Paris just released a new EP. Your remix of “Slap Me” appeared on that release. How do you guys know Kill Paris? What was it like working with him on this remix?
He hit us up out of the blue on SoundCloud and from there we started chatting on Twitter. He asked us to do the remix and we couldn’t be more stoked to do that for him.
You guys are headed to SXSW in a few weeks. You will be sharing the stage with 12th Planet, Baauer, Just Blaze, and a bunch of other big names. You excited for your first trip to SXSW?
Oh man, we have never been to SXSW and we’ve been hearing about it for a while. Being apart of this line up is just a dream come true, we couldn’t be more excited.
Tell me about your new single “Bring The Rain”, out now on Spinnin’ Records.
We had the track done for a while and were in the studio with Them Lost Boys finishing it up and Lexi just walked into the studio and we needed a singer so we just got her on it and she nailed it first take.
There are two of you. Does it ever get crowded in the DJ booth?
No. (Laughs.) We have a system that works.
Tell me more about your relationship with Sweet Shop Records. You also do some work with Spinnin’ Records. Do you prefer one label to the other?
We own Sweet Shop Records. So were working on it all the time, trying to grow our label, we will be releasing remixes and singles on that soon enough, Spinnin’ Records is an awesome label, we will always work with other labels, but Sweet Shop is our baby.
You haven’t been together that long. You met back in 2012. How did you two meet, and what do you attribute all your success to?
We met way before we were in a group. My first gig was at Ethan’s birthday party and that is where I met him. Our success is because of our awesome management team, our hard work, friends and family supporting us, and two individuals, Taylor Lane, and Koyote, that forced us to continue the project when we had little faith in it.
There are a lot of great artists out there. Do you find there is a lot of competition in electronic dance music?
I wouldn’t say there is “competition” in dance music. Obviously there are better producers out there and DJs that you want to be as good as, so we just work hard to be better, and up our standards constantly.
Your work has been at the top of the Electro House Top 100, the Dupstep Top 100, The Drum N Bass Top 100. What does it feel like to have this much success this early on in your career?
It’s been great to see that people like what we are doing so much; it is an awesome feeling. We have been very lucky to receive so much support early on.
I have to ask… how long does it take you to do your hair in the morning? Would be nice if you just woke up and it looked like that!
I wake up and it’s poofy, not as good as but still looks like an afro. Then I brush it for 20 minutes, and pick it out for another 20 minutes. It hurts a lot, and sucks to maintain but I do it for the fans. (Laughs.)
There aren’t a lot of big names from the United States. However, EDM is exploding right now in this country. Do you feel that helps or hurts your chances as a domestic DJ? Do you play more shows in this country, or are you traveling to Europe to perform?
I would love to go to Europe soon. I think that the more DJs/producers that come around the better that all the other DJs have to be. Everyone’s standards need to be just a bit higher to continue having a successful career.
Tell me about your experience working with Relentless Beats on the UK Thursdays show. (By the way, the Monarch Theatre is one of the best venues in the city!)
We were super excited to be apart of that show!
You won back-to-back Beatport remix contests. You won with tracks from Skrillex and Bingo Players. Have you had the chance to meet those artists yet? Have they heard your remixes?
I’ve never talked to Bingo Players, but I met Skrillex a long time ago on his first tour. I waited by his bus and gave him a hug and a handshake. (Laughs.) Im sure I’ll see him again one of these days.
What’s next for Candyland?
Lots of music. More remixes, OG ones too!
Connect with Candyland:
SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/candylanddjs
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CandylandDJs
Twitter: https://twitter.com/#!/CandylandDJs
YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/user/TheOfficialCandyland
