CANDY have been an enigma from the beginning — a standout hardcore outfit whose sound defies the style’s typically stubborn boundaries. Each heavy and experimental, their songs maintain house for metalcore, techno, industrial, noise, and shoegaze. Having credited a spectrum of influences starting from Youth of Right now to Stone Roses, the one factor we are able to depend on from CANDY is a difficult, chugging, corporeal expertise. With 2022’s Heaven is Right here, their sophomore album, having been already deemed a rising pressure in hardcore, CANDY confirmed us simply how a lot depth and weight they have been able to. The album is sort of a punch to the throat, an intense, feral challenge seeped in anarchism, peppered with manic, anxious love songs. It’s a soundscape that sweats, spits, and bleeds just like the circle pits it has since impressed.
Learn extra: Zulu are increasing the feel and appear of hardcore
However when you have been trying to their newest album, It’s Inside You, for one more excessive pay attention identical to the final, you’ve misplaced the plot. The brand new document, which was launched earlier this month, dives into the world of digicore in full pressure, layering CANDY’s heavy, charged core with extra digital components than ever earlier than — with a bunch of options from individuals like Justice Tripp of Angel Du$t and MIRSY. It’s synthy, weaving out and in of offended, futuristic hypercore whereas by some means nonetheless drawing from the Britpop notes they’ve beforehand favored — there’s even a whisper of Linkin Park-style document scratching. The place Heaven Is Right here embraced the aggressive power of OCD and anxiousness, It’s Inside You is a lesson about embracing uncertainty, regardless of its discomforts. To be thrown for a loop creatively is a uncommon factor lately, so depart any stale hardcore expectations on the door — and lean in. It’s a present.
Each evaluation of It’s Inside You to this point cites about 10 genres and sounds in describing the album. And you’ll positively hear much more experimentation on this, which feels completely different than the final launch. Slightly than attempt to patch collectively my very own string of “music phrases,” I’m curious how you’ll describe the challenge yourselves.
ZAK QUIRAM: A big affect on this document was Atari Teenage Riot and the label they began, Digital Hardcore. They have been seamlessly in a position to mix so many types of music — hardcore, punk, techno, pace steel, and so on. — all whereas sustaining excessive power and pleasure. This band is very underrated throughout any style they contact. For the reason that inception of CANDY, we’ve needed to attempt to craft our personal model of the mix of these types, primarily by means of the hardcore lens. Wanting to maintain it excessive power and unpredictable. It looks like It’s Inside You is the document we’ve been engaged on making for the reason that starting.
What have been the elements, sonically, and what references, inspirations? What was occurring between the final album and this that led to the shift? How would you describe it to somebody who hasn’t heard it but — each to a fan and to somebody unfamiliar with CANDY?
MICHAEL QUICK: We needed to focus on a number of various things, considered one of them being the kind of elements — mosh elements, heavy riffs, tempos, vocal moments, and so on. — that basically energize individuals at our reveals. One other factor was the incorporation of digital components that haven’t been carried out to demise in heavy music. Folks name us industrial typically, however that isn’t what we glance to. We actually needed to include drum-and-bass-style breakbeats, EBM-style synths a la Nitzer Ebb or DAF, and DJ scratching simply to offer individuals a way of unpredictability as a result of to us that’s… enjoyable. We have been trying to mix issues that on paper don’t make sense collectively or haven’t traditionally been mixed.
What do you suppose makes considered one of your initiatives inherently yours? What’s the ethos or genetic make-up of a CANDY music that units it aside — whether or not it’s extra melodic, industrial, or brutal, heavy hardcore?
QUICK: One factor that basically alerts that one thing is accomplished for us is after we really feel like every part could possibly be a reference to a number of various things. The music “eXistenZ,” for instance, clearly references Cronenberg, but it surely began with Zak’s lyrics that have been deciphering Sartre. The music of that observe has Napalm Loss of life-style riffs and time adjustments however AFX-style breakbeats layered on prime. So stylistically including layers to any factor is necessary to us.
How did you determine on this challenge’s identify? What’s the which means behind that? And the way do you are feeling like that which means is carried by means of every observe?
QUIRAM: We needed this document to be motivational after a darkish few years everybody skilled. It felt like that’s what we wanted personally in our lives and needed to attempt to share some gentle with anybody who listened to the document. A number of the working titles felt very “youth crew throughout America.” In that very same vein, we needed to channel one thing that everybody might faucet into. It’s Inside You is solely that. The whole lot it is advisable to push ahead and conquer comes from inside. Positively needed that theme woven into the DNA of the document, but it surely’s extremely touched on in “Religion 91.” Whereas a few of the different songs deliver you thru the downsides and low factors in life — these songs aren’t about dwelling on the negatives however about pushing by means of these moments. “You Will By no means Get Me” is a little bit of a double entendre about feeling misunderstood and bodily not letting anybody opposing break you down.
There are such a lot of nice options on this album — one being Justice Tripp. How and the place did you first meet Justice? What drew you to him for this challenge?
QUICK: I met Justice a very long time in the past at a tattoo store in Richmond. He in all probability doesn’t bear in mind, however I used to be getting tattooed, and the tattooer, our pal Marina, gave me this rubber ducky to squeeze, and Justice was there ready for an appointment, and he thought it was hilarious. I later joined Angel Du$t and performed in that band with him for about two years. We at all times needed to deliver Justice into the CANDY universe as a result of a lot of his work is, to me, pretty much as good as hardcore songwriting can get — and units a extremely excessive bar we at all times at the very least attempt to copy
For the reason that very starting, how would you say your sound has modified? What about your fashion of performing?
QUICK: Actually, I don’t really feel like our fashion of performing or writing has actually modified. When you can think about this challenge as a marble sculpture {that a} sculptor is carving out, each challenge and tour is only a layer of the sculpture that’s being carved away and getting nearer to the ultimate challenge that we’ve been working towards step-by-step over time. I feel there are truthfully components on the demo that have been simply ultra-rudimentary variations of what we’re doing now.
I actually love the artwork of this album. Are you able to communicate to how that happened?
QUIRAM: We needed it to really feel brighter than all of our final information, and we knew we needed Nick Atkins to do it. He’s somebody we’ve needed to work with for the reason that inception. We gave him the theme and a few concepts and let him do his factor. I actually love the way it got here out. I feel it suits the music completely. Michael and I speak store about CANDY each single day for the previous six years or so. Once we begin desirous about the total package deal of the document, we spitball for hours and hours about references, artists we keep in mind, shade scheme, and so on. One factor that at all times occurs is our visions find yourself on the similar endpoint. That at all times feels loopy to me that Michael and I’ve such a definite imaginative and prescient for the whole lot that CANDY ought to and shouldn’t be even earlier than we begin describing it. That additionally occurred with the artwork for this document.
What are you hoping listeners will get out of this challenge? What can they count on from you subsequent?
QUICK: For one factor, we hope it simply helps listeners really feel energized and inspired. For us, a variety of our favourite music offers us some type of power and drive — whether or not it’s in the most straightforward and lame methods like simply the motivation to get fired up and go on a run, and even in additional impactful methods like listening to a observe to psych your self as much as lastly achieve the boldness to confront some main downside in life.
One different factor we hope individuals can take from it’s that we hope it helps individuals understand that, whether or not it’s creatively or simply with the best way you take a look at your individual life, you don’t should hearken to or subscribe to the issues that folks say “make sense.” Nobody advised us that breakbeats over Hatebreed-style riffs would make sense, however there was a spark of an concept in our heads that excited us regardless of there being a scarcity of precedent for it, so we determined to make our personal precedent, and it was extraordinarily gratifying. I feel that precept may be utilized on a inventive, creative stage but in addition to the ways in which we take a look at the techniques of our tradition, that are woefully outdated at greatest and actively set as much as oppress us at worst.
I really feel like heavy music has a unique objective and which means for everybody. What would you say it does and means for you — as a child, and now, as an artist within the house?
QUICK: I feel for me — and in addition to lots of people, whether or not they would verbalize it this fashion or not — heavy music scratches an itch many individuals in our society search for in numerous methods. I feel that factor that lots of people crave is an outlet the place you don’t really feel like you need to maintain again and don’t really feel such as you’re being constrained by something. I feel the depth of “heavy” music, whether or not it comes from tremendous distorted guitars, yelling and mosh pits, or techno kick drums and raves, permits individuals to drop the expectations that everybody else places on them and let go in a brilliant liberating manner
What’s the largest false impression about CANDY?
QUIRAM: I feel the largest false impression is that we’re an industrial-leaning band. Once we’re involving electronics into our songs, that’s usually fairly low on the record of references we’re pulling from. “Digital hardcore”/hypercore.
QUICK: We’re a really referential band undeniably, however to Zak’s level, I feel the largest false impression about us is that we method this challenge in a manner of making an attempt to suit into any genres and classes which have been preestablished. I feel music journalists and followers and even musicians are likely to at all times be making an attempt to determine how you can slot all music into these established genres, and that’s nice. It’s useful to categorize when you’re making an attempt to determine how you can course of one thing, however our aim with the music is sort of to particularly work out methods to not match into any class. We’ll at all times say we’re a hardcore band, however that’s extra in regards to the neighborhood of individuals we really feel we’re part of.
