|
Blackmore's Night West Coast Fan Club |
   
 |
||
|
Blackmore's Night Official West Coast Fan Club Latest News Tour News Contact Info Fan Clubs Street Team Photos Fan Comments |
|
|
|
Candice Night
|
||
|
In March 2006, the West Coast Fan Club interviewed Candice just after the Blackmore’s Night special “Castles and Dreams” was aired on PBS station WLIW in NY. Since then, it has been aired on many PBS stations in other locations around the USA. Their 7th release entitled “The Village Lanterne” is being released worldwide this spring, and the band will begin their first tour of the year in April. I appreciate Candice taking time out from her busy schedule for this interview:
Candice, your 7th release with Blackmore’s Night “The Village Lanterne” is being released this Spring. How does it feel to have 7 releases in your catalogue, many of which have been certified Gold ? It’s hard to believe that we’re almost in our 10th year of recording this music. Looking back on the albums and the individual songs has been sort of like looking back at a scrapbook that catalogued your steps through certain years of your life. I think each album has really been so strong in its own identity, yet each one was like a mirror of where we were at the time. I’m so happy to say that my vocal skills have expanded and now I am able to portray a stronger side of myself vocally whereas in the earlier albums I wish I could redo some of those vocals because I hear the oversensitivity on them. But they also have a great sense of innocence and I think that is endearing. It’s easier for me to listen to the CD’s as a third party, so I can have a neutral perspective. I’m still proud of everything we’ve done songwriting-wise. I’m very excited about the latest one because I think that there is a great variety of emotions portrayed, and I love the freedom of being able to expose that depth and range of emotion through our music. The Gold status is always a nice compliment, but for me the most important moment is the connection with the audience when we are onstage. Or the emails and letters we get about how the music has helped people through hard times, or inspired them to create and dream again. There is no amount of gold records that could match how I feel when we get responses like that from our fans.
Are you more comfortable now with the studio recording process than you were in the beginning ? It is difficult in the studio sometimes because people tend to get touchy in the creating process. Ritchie and I generally have the songs virtually completed when we go in to record, but because we are so music minded we are not engineers or producers, so we need to get someone in to “push the buttons”. Unfortunately that is such a tedious process. The sound of taping goes on for days at a time. So, when it is my turn to get behind the microphone, it’s always exciting for me. I still feel that I have more to offer as far as studio recording is concerned and the final product. But it will always be on ongoing learning process for me. To push my own limits and range, to voice my own opinions of how songs should be or ultimately sound. It’s a good process, but sometimes creative tensions run high. I learn more each time we go in to record.
Some find the recording process dry, stale and dull; and their end product they also find to be dry and stale. The studio music of Blackmore’s Night is so alive and full of character, one can hear your personalities woven throughout the songs. How do you keep the process fresh and full of magic ? I think it’s the excitement we get from the songs. The challenge of not just using a typical bass/guitar/keyboard/drums/vocal setup. When you have such a vast array of instruments to choose from, we really enjoy the decision making and delving into anything from organic renaissance woodwind instruments to varied percussion sounds to electric guitar. I love going into the studio with the skeleton of a song and seeing the choice of what colors you can weave into it and what kind of life you breathe into that skeleton. The audio should be powerful enough to cause an emotional reaction, even allow you to see visuals of what the songs are transporting you through. And powerful doesn’t always mean volume. A lot of bands miss that point. The music should make you feel. I really think it’s just all about the love of the songs.
The preliminary work on The Village Lanterne, from the fans that have heard it, is it is the best work, and the most versatile, that Blackmore’s Night has ever done. Some have said it may be the best release that Ritchie has ever done. Do you have a sense that You and Ritchie have done a landmark work together ? Are there any particular highlights on this release that make you sit back and think “Wow, now that knocks my socks off !” ? That is a great compliment. I do think it’s the most varied of the works that we have completed to date. I am very proud of this CD. We both are. With the work that Ritchie and I do together, we never have a sense of landmark happenings that I can speak of. We just immerse ourselves fully in each song. Everyone has a favorite song or album, just like everyone has a favorite color. Music is really all about your own personal opinion. So, it’s hard for me to choose one moment or another because my emotions change daily. Ritchie hardly listens to lyrics until years later, so we could be listening to a song five years down the line, and he’ll suddenly say that he really likes that particular lyric line that I wrote five years ago ! It used to be frustrating for me because when I write I would love an instant reaction from him. But I’ve learned to follow my own and not go for anyone’s approval. I don’t think that he would ever say the Windmills is one of his favorites on this album, because it’s a more lyric based song; though obviously he has amazing acoustic moments on it. But I feel, lyrically, that I’m very proud of the way that song came out. I think Faerie Queen really captures the true magic we were trying for. Actually, I think all the songs are very strong in their own sense. I get lost in them all….. That’s a good sign and my favorite test.
Your lyric writing has been highly acclaimed by many fans and professionals. How many songs on The Village Lanterne did you write the lyrics for ? I wrote the lyrics for 8 of the 14 songs. St. Teresa and Streets of London were covers. Obviously, Street of Dreams and Child in Time were also. The other two songs are instrumentals.
In addition to writing the lyrics so wonderfully, you also play several instruments; many of them are period instruments. Which instrument did you play on The Village Lanterne and on which songs ? On 25 years, I play the castenettes on a stick, tambourine, and the rauchepfife at the solo. Ritchie’s playing the hurdy gurdy on the intro and the solo. On I guess it Doesn’t Matter I play the bagpipe chanter. On World of Stone I play the moek shawm and the hanchett medieval shawm. On St. Teresa I play the marshall shawm. On Mond Tanz / Child in Time I play the shawms in the Mond Tanz section. On Streets of London I play the pennywhistle.
I know that each song has its own story and personality. Would you provide a brief description of the story behind each song ? Oh, these are the hardest for me to do because I often feel differently about a song weeks after I write it. I almost feel like sometimes I channel what the words are and then weave in anything from personal experience to things I’ve only heard or dreamed about, together with myths and legends and some intense visuals, in order to make the picture complete. So, I will try to simplify the ideas behind the songs; but I always feel that takes away from the full expanse of the meaning of it. And ultimately, my explanations should never detract or distract someone from having their own emotional attachment and perspective about the songs. They should be personal for each individual, no matter what my explanations are. So, having said that…….
25 years This song was inspired by a dream that I had many years ago and my fascination with the fact that we are our own worst psychological enemies. Dreams and nightmares are so incredibly powerful that when you are in your most relaxed (sleeping) state, your fears, insecurities, the people you know, and events that have really happened can all meld together and make their own storyline; and the experience can haunt you so deeply that it can scar you for years to come. I remember nightmares I’ve had when I was six years old ! The meaning behind dreams has always intrigued me. This is what the song was inspired by.
Village Lanterne This song has many different layers to it. Originally written for a film, the Legend of Siegfried, it now has a number of different meanings for me. It’s mainly about the path that fate and destiny takes you down, and what you will experience on that path. The Village Lanterne is the beacon of light and hope through the darkness of the world and the travel.
I Guess It Doesn’t Matter Anymore Inspired by the tale of Resurrection Mary, who haunts the Resurrection Cemetery in Chicago. But, her story is repeated throughout many areas of the world as their own. A ghost story of the girl who haunts her home town.
The Messenger This is Ritchie’s instrumental so I don’t know his story behind the melody, but here’s the story behind the title. When speaking with Des Geyers on tour, Thomas had told him that they didn’t have a Messenger in the band, like we did. He meant front person, I suppose, but his broken English made the words take on a new meaning. Ritchie used that meaning for his title.
World of Stone Parallels to the days of Joan of Arc. The true meaning is that I find that between the skyscrapers and CEO’s, that seemingly have no morals as everything seems to be done for shock value or monetary results, we seem to have lost ethics, innocence, and reason based on the heart and not the wallet. So I call the affliction the World of Stone, since no one seems to feel anymore and it breaks my heart. It’s the battle against this uncaring world. It’s people like you and me, the sensitive ones who sometimes feel so alone; but it was inspired by so many people writing in who feel as we do. And I thought, we are not alone, there are many of us out there ! And, we Can make a difference; but we must band together and fight the uncaring ones. So, it was my own battle cry I suppose, for a fight that I have to arm myself for everyday.
Faerie Queen Trying to capture the magic and innocent beauty of faeries. I love to believe in the possibility of everything magical. I don’t believe that because I haven’t seen it, it doesn’t exist. And this world with its sunsets, the amber flamed autumn leaves, oceans, snowflakes and fireflies, so many miracles that are ignored each day; has something so incredibly magical about it. That’s what this song is about, the essential beauty of it all……..
St. Teresa I love Joan Osborne, and Ritchie heard me singing this around the house with her CD and decided it was something we should have a go at ! It’s a fun song for us to do. I love the descriptive visual lyrical content, the story.
Village Dance This is another beautiful instrumental of Ritchie’s.
Mond Tanz/Child in Time We felt that maybe we should do Mond Tanz again, because we recorded it so slowly at the beginning in 1997. On stage it took on a whole new life and a faster tempo. We were rehearsing one day in the basement, when Ritchie went into the Child in Time part. I had always loved the song so I started singing along. At first we just did it for a joke, but Ritchie liked the way it sounded. The twins didn’t know the song, so we taught it to them, and now it breathes a whole new life.
Streets of London An Estonian friend of mine was over at our house and was feeling down & out. We were singing and playing songs around the bonfire pit when she broke into this one, which I had never heard before; and with her plight and the problems in the world it took on such a deep meaning. I fell in love with it instantly, the depth of emotion it portrays and its message, but also its ray of hope at the end of the choruses.
Just Call My Name (I’ll Be There) A Love song about your soul mate and the one who will always be there for you.
Olde Mill Inn This is a sing along tavern song about a place we go to in Mattituck, Long Island. All the people in the song are people that work at the place. It’s right on the water, with a ghost and a fireplace, and they always make us feel at home when we’re there. The song is sort of like a piano man vibe, but our style.
Windmills This is my Don Quixote tribute, but not just about him. There are people who are just other-worldly and touch the lives of selected others. They swing against the stream and see things through the eyes that most will not understand; and it’s beautiful ! They are mentioned throughout time and fairytales – everything from Don Quixote to Edward Scissorhands, and many more. But, usually the ending is tragic for them because, although they have changed a few lives simply by their presence, the masses usually stone them or destroy them because they don’t fit into the mould. Tragic Beauty.
Steet of Dreams Ritchie calls it his most commercial track. I just love this song. It was amazing having a duet now with Joe and I both on it! I Loved doing this song and loved with Joe added to it !
Once in A Garden This was a solo track that I thought was going to end up on my solo album when I get around to doing it; but the Japan release needed an additional track, so Ritchie decided to use this one of mine. I wrote it on the piano and it is everything innocent about childhood; a very serene and comforting track. I wanted to portray innocence.
One of the tracks includes an old Deep Purple song, Child in Time. Fans say you did a magnificent job on it, that you’ve taken your version and made it your own; unique to the point that there’s no need to compare it or measure it against the much loved original version sung by Ian Gillan. I’ve heard you sing it live and I agree that when I hear you sing it, I don’t think about the Deep Purple version; I’m just caught up in hearing you sing it your way. Was it difficult to come up with your own version that would have its own personality ? I’m so glad that the fans feel that way ! Actually, we started by doing it in rehearsal as a joke. I was upstairs and I heard Ritchie start playing it with the band as an instrumental, and the twins had never heard it before; so he started teaching them the vocal climbing bit. So, when I came downstairs I said “It sounds amazing, what about the verse ?” He hadn’t even thought about putting the verse part in, so when he played it next, I started singing it and he loved what I did. I think it was a real surprise for him, but I’d loved that song since I was in high school, so I was well versed in the lyrics and the melody. I think my friends and I listened to it for three days straight over prom weekend ! I was just happy to be given the chance to sing it, and to see that he liked it enough to keep that part in.
What’s in store for Blackmore’s Night in 2006, besides receiving a Gold Record for The Village Lanterne (no doubt it will be certified Gold in 2006) ? Any USA tour dates for fans to look forward to ? That would be nice ! Our concert will be carried on local PBS during fund drives, so I hope everyone in the USA has a chance to see it. If not, everyone should call up and yell at your PBS station until they play it ! J Then we will be back touring in the states around September/October this year. I’ll also be crowned Faerie Queen at a number of Faerie Festivals this spring and summer, so I’m excited about that ! And of course I’m always there at the Magiquest Park in South Carolina, on the interactive video screens in my castle.
Do you have any tips or practice exercises that you would recommend to the aspiring vocalists out there ? Any areas of study or types of vocal lessons that you would recommend ? I actually have a tape from a vocal teacher of simple scales that I do religiously when I’m on the road as warm-up exercises. I think that what I tend to do the most is to listen to people that I like and test my own vocal register by pushing my own limits. For example, trying to match the range and style of some singers that I like. But never adapt their sound, otherwise you sound like a second-rate version of someone else. You should always sound distinctively like yourself. Also, I don’t do anything crazy on the road. No partying. I drink lots of tea with lemon and honey. I have to make sure that I’m at the top of my game for you to see ! Most importantly – get lost in the song, let it take you where it wants you to go…….
Candice, Thank You for your time and thoughts. Congratulations on what is already regarded as a fantastic new release. It is hard work and a labour of love & passion; and You and Ritchie have risen to the challenge with each new release. That is inspiring to all of us, and we thank you both for the inspiration. Best Wishes for You, Ritchie, and all the members of Blackmore’s Night. Thank you so much. It is so wonderful to have your love and support. Hope to see you soon !
|
|||
Faerie Magazine Festival Queen 2006