Candy Apple Blue | The Official Website

Wikipedia, styled media entry

Candy Apple Blue[1] is an American two-piece synth-pop band and sibling songwriting duo from Pittsburgh, PA. Carly Emerick and Hoyt Emerick formed their band in late 2009. They pride themselves on being "songwriters at heart"[2] and think of their band project as a "great way to get their songs heard".[3] The songwriting team often features guest vocalists on their recordings.

The two have found success as composers penning the theme song for the Casper Andreas movie, Going Down in LA-LA Land [4], as recorded by SIRPAUL.[5] Other notable movie soundtrack credits include composing the theme song for the Logo TV broadcast feature film Between Love & Goodbye.[6][7][8] as well as the film's opening song, I Won't Say Adieu.[9]

The band frequently features outside vocal talent on their recordings, including RuPaul's Drag Race (season 5) first runner-up contestant, Alaska Thunderfuck 5000 [10], internet celebrity/comedian Daveo Falaveo[11][12], Apollo Rogers, Barry Brayleo, Ariella da Vil, Espen Kraft, Trym Killi, William Rule (of The Divys), and Christina Siravo. However, the singer that they most often record with is pop-rock vocalist Nick Bramlett.[13]

History

Beginnings

Candy Apple Blue got their musical start in New York City in 1997 when they formed their first band, The Inertia Case. They auditioned singers through an ad that they placed in The Village Voice [14] until they found a kinship with lead vocalist, Elton Lin (currently of the band, Notorious MSG). Drawing inspiration from their personal musical favorites at the time (e.g. Erasure, ABBA, Stevie Nicks, Depeche Mode & Yazoo) The Inertia Case "set forth to compose an album worth of original songs".[15] A few of the songs written at this time were placed in a couple of indie films. Their song "The Feeling Is Right Tonight"[16], for example, was used in 2004's gay romantic comedy Slutty Summer.[17]

2010-2013: Prone to Panic! and Night Tracks

Their debut studio album, Prone to Panic![18][19] was released in November 2011. The Pittsburgh City Paper called their effort "avant-garde".[20] The first single, "Graveyard", was remixed by Dutch record producer, Matt Pop. Other singles from "Prone to Panic!" include "The Bed Is Cold"[21][22], "Tricks", "David", and "You Make Me Happy" which were all released with accompanying DIY music videos.

Their follow-up sophomore album, Night Tracks[23], was released in October 2013. The first single was titled "Mistake" and its music video got praise for its bold and brash imagery.[24] "Let's Get Something Started" (featuring Alaska Thunderfuck 5000) was the second single. It gained attention due to the fact that Alaska was announced to be a contestant on RuPaul's Drag Race. The third single "You Turn Me On" features Daveo Falaveo on lead vocals. Its music video was flagged on YouTube for being too racy and is no longer online.

Compilation

In November 2012 Candy Apple Blue's indie label, Mrix Muzik Records released a 14-track hits package titled "Existential Crisis (Greatest Hits, Vol. 1)".

"Existential Crisis (Greatest Hits, Vol. 1) is a music sampler compilation of what we and our fans consider to be our best work to date. It features select tracks from our debut album, 'Prone to Panic!' along with various singles that we have released over the past two years."[26] ~ Candy Apple Blue

2014–2018: Powers Activate!

Candy Apple Blue teamed up with Pittsburgh, Pa rock-pop vocalist Nick Bramlett as well as Ariella da Vil to record tracks for their third studio album "Powers Activate!". They worked closely with outside music producers Matt Pop, Juno Dreams, and DJ Tyler Nelson. Over the course of four years, Candy Apple Blue released the singles that would ultimately become the sum of their finished album. Tracks like "Mad About You", "Awakening", "No One Ever Could Ever Love You (More Than I Do)", "Alice's Last Halloween" and "Let's Dance All Night" were all included on the band's full-length album.

This particular album got a good promotion boost because of its use in a popular YouTube technology review channel called Techmoan. Which, the compact disc of "Powers Activate!" was used to demonstrate the features of the Superscope PSD300 unit.

2019-2021: Second Sight

In February 2019, Candy Apple Blue announced that they would begin working on their fourth studio album titled Second Sight. The band said that they would continue their tradition of releasing their songs first as singles until they have enough material to comprise an album. They joined forces with Norway's Espen Kraft to help them work on the first three singles. (i.e. "It Happens All The Time", "Whispers in the Wind", and "Not a Day Goes By") These three tracks all featured lead vocals performed by Espen Kraft. They also cut tracks with newcomer vocalists Barry Brayleo ("Dancing in the Shadows") and Apollo Rogers ("Game Over", "Taking It to Heart") on original songs for the album. Additionally, the duo has stepped up to the microphone themselves and performed lead vocals on "Dance Again", "Turn on the Night", "Thank My Lucky Stars", and "Moon (Light Up My Darkness)". During the recording of this album, the band named Micah Blakeslee as their official go-to electric guitarist. Once again, Candy Apple Blue has recruited the production talents of both Matt Pop and Juno Dreams.

2022: Synthwave Instrumental Essentials

In March of 2022, Candy Apple Blue announced they were assembling an instrumentals compilation album that would be released on May 6th.

Carly Emerick of the band said, "Over the years, we've gotten many requests to release the instrumental versions of our most popular synthwave / synth-pop titles. So we thought that it was only fitting for us to finally open the vaults and put together a proper 14-track album for the synthwave community. Most synthwave enthusiasts usually favor instrumental music." She went on to thank Canadian music producer Juno Dreams whom she said; "had his hand in most of these productions in one way or another."

2022-present: Breakthrough!

Candy Apple Blue began working hard on new music for their forthcoming album, Breakthrough! They have started to release the singles that will ultimately comprise the album. The first offering, Dismissed features a guest vocal performance by Christina Siravo (aka Magenta Soulstar) and was mixed by Matt Pop. The second release, I Live 4 U, is a chilled-out mid-tempo ballad that finds the band once again reuniting with pop-rock vocalist Nick Bramlett. This track is of note because it was the first time Candy Apple Blue worked with Math Bishop. Next up is the 1980's new wave revival single, All the Will in the World (ft. Christina Siravo). The band has announced on their social media platforms other planned releases including the titles; "Baby Blue (Matt Pop Mix)", "Graphic Equalizer", "A Touch Too Much", "Moving Out of Town", "I Wanna Party", "Baby, Stay the Night", and a cover of Dead or Alive's "Special Star". The band continues to work closely with electric guitarist Micah Blakeslee to give their music some "edge" and some "street cred".

Members