Candyland

Santa Barbara native "Candyland" began DJing in 2011.

Artist Feature

With a stage name that evokes thoughts of chocolate and peppermint and licorice, you might be surprised to hear how much Candyland loves tacos - and we mean LOVES tacos. A Californian DJ who has been hitting the road and the decks hard over the last few years, Candyland has been one of the most enthusiastic advocates of the Feed The Beat program since she joined earlier this year. We caught up with the woman behind the sweet moniker to ask about her touring habits and whether or not the limit to taco love exists:

Tell the Feed The Beat community about Candyland in one sentence: 90s kid who loves candy and music.

This year has been pretty massive for you - lots of festival stops, tour adventures - is there a particular highlight that you treasure the most? I recently played a silent disco and it was the weirdest experience. I got there and everyone had headphones on, so I could see everyone dancing and the DJs were jamming, but I couldn't hear any music, haha. So I was nervous, had no idea what the vibe would be like but it ended up being one of my favorite shows I've ever done. The energy was crazy. Such a surreal experience.

What is your biggest "must have" while out on tour? Well if it's a bus tour I would definitely need to bring my pillow. The bunks can REALLY make you miss your bed. So I bring my pillow to make it feel like home... But on a plane I definitely can't leave the house without putting some new records on my phone. I love to zone out on a plane and listen to a new record.

Your remixes are pretty awesome, but your original mixes are on point, too! What goes into creating something fresh? Thanks!! Honestly I just love to explore and find new artists that are experimenting and try to get inspired by underground talent rather than be blinded by something that's just popular at the moment.

If we were looking at a crystal ball... would would we see coming in the future for Candyland? Lots of mixes and new jams!! I've been getting back into scratching and real DJing as A-Trak would say, haha. He's a big inspiration to me along with Craze and I feel like what they do is missing in this scene so definitely expect to see some cool videos and mixes and just me exploring into different genres.. Definitely more music and OG remixes.

Bonus question: How much do you REALLY LOVE tacos? We might have seen the tacos you've had in your show visuals lately... :) I wish I could put that gif of Lindsay Lohan in Mean Girls where she says "the limit does not exist." I would survive off tacos if I could. Tacos and Baja Blast.