Sweet as Candye, Tough as Nails
L.A. Blues Singer Shows Superhuman Strength
Brittney Cambridge
Issue date: 3/5/10 Section: True Story
So you think you're tough?
You probably haven't met blues singer Candye Kane, an East L.A. native whose harrowing past is matched only by her bright future. Nominated for three 2010 National Blues Foundation Awards, Kane is a former punk rocker, teenage mother, sex worker and cancer survivor. Her personal strength comes out in her music, a kind of belting, crooning, growling blues that is seldom featured on mainstream radio. Though her latest record, aptly named Superhero, has won national acclaim, Kane's music derives its identity from her fan base just as much it does from her talent.
Candye Kane has created a space for the socially stigmatized, welcoming sex workers, porn actors, drag queens, bikers and hippies into her fold. As a 200+ pound former pin-up model, Kane has worked for gay rights and fair treatment of sex workers. DITZ's own Brittney Cambridge caught up with Candye Kane to talk about the blues singer's latest album, her personal experiences and what it means to be a true superhero.
Still think you're tough? Keep reading.
DITZ: First off, I want to congratulate you on your nomination for the 2010 National Blues Foundation Award. How does it feel to be nominated with your 10th album?
I'm very excited! At first, the blues community was afraid to embrace me. The socially disenfranchised - those who love fat women - kept me alive for a long time. I have had a home for a long time in the fat community. I am a colorful personality and I have a colorful background, so there was a segment of the blues community that loved me. At the same time, there were also those who were scared to embrace anyone different, because [the blues community and the blues genre can be so] marginalized.
DITZ: In a nutshell, how would you explain the feel of the new album Superhero?
Superhero is a record of triumphs. It talks a lot about my struggle with pancreatic cancer-I did not think I would be alive [today]. I was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in 2000 and during my procedure they had to cut away part of my stomach and put [me] back together again. There are also songs I wrote for myself during my healing process that are symbolic of a superhero. I have taken charge of the word [superhero] and made my life a little better. The album is so much more than a struggle to fight pancreatic cancer but relates to women who are going through similar experiences in life. It was a call to say, "I can do this!"
DITZ: But that certainly hasn't been your only struggle. Didn't you go through six different record companies? What was that experience like?
The record businesses had very specialized ideas of what blues is. To them blues is watered down and homogenized. But really most blues bands are happy and uplifting and transcend problems-it is brutally honest. An honest perspective means it is refreshing music. A lot of blues companies change a lot. While I was in Germany record companies would complain whenever a record didn't sell. But I sold enough to get by and to make a decent living.
DITZ: How have your life experiences shaped your career in the industry?
Being a battered wife and mother at 17 strengthened me into the person I am now-they prepared me for pancreatic cancer. I even lost a [record] deal because I was not playing by their rules. It was a $150,000 record deal at the time and I was pregnant with my second son. They told me not to talk about the past, told me to lose weight and marketed me as a country star. So I started out singing country and had to renounce my past as a sex worker. I encountered jobs in the adult entertainment business and was emancipated by those experiences. I was on the cover of Hustler and flown to Hawaii. I had a little celebrity column called "Candye Girl". On a personal level, this was the first time I was getting on a plane, getting off of welfare and starting my music career.
DITZ: I understand you have worked a bit in the adult porn industry. What drove you to become a stripper and porn star before getting into your music career?
I was in LA and there was an ad that read, "Make $500 from your home." I was a mom with a little baby and worked a horrible job with a pizza company. I was said to be too fat, but eventually they hired me to talk dirty to clients and send Polaroids of myself to them. I became close with other porn stars like Annie Sprinkle and got involved with more print work; it was a sleazy business. Over all I had a goal and used [the print work] temporarily for money so I could hire musicians to play music for me. I was a poor girl from East L.A. with a child and I do not believe many doors would have been open for me if it were not for my involvement in the sex business. There were crazy sex orgies in Hawaii and cocaine parties in New York, but I did not go. I wrote songs in my hotel room. I accepted my body as an asset and not a detriment. It was independent and freeing. It was a positive experience that facilitated the career I am in now.
DITZ: And it looks like you've been successful in that career-tell me more about the play that was written about your life.
"The Toughest Girl Alive" is a memoir adapted to the stage in San Diego that also ran in full in L.A. during Fall 2009 for three weeks. I had a rough childhood, dysfunctional mom and many adventures in life. It will be running again in 2010 at Moxy Theater, a prominent female theater in L.A.
DITZ: What advice would you give to people who, like you, face a lot of obstacles and are hoping for a better future?
I'd say that it is important to always take control of words. Always make a list of what you want to do immediately and first lay out, "I am very successful. I will be successful". Be specific, extremely specific. [Singing a line from a song on Superhero] "I am going to be just fine." I said it everyday during my process with pancreatic cancer. The melody and words sunk in and made me say a special private mantra, which let me detach from the outcome and become a human bullshit filter. I filter out negativity even from family members who say, "You cannot do that," or undermine my ideas, hopes and successes. Take heart from people around you. A lot of people are waiting around for external forces-god or man-but we have the power in us to change. We are given the ability of strength to transform problems. The strength is inside of you and some of us tap into that reservoir of strength.
 Media Credit: Photo Bucket Super Hero |
Candye Kane has created a space for the socially stigmatized, welcoming sex workers, porn actors, drag queens, bikers and hippies into her fold. As a 200+ pound former pin-up model, Kane has worked for gay rights and fair treatment of sex workers. DITZ's own Brittney Cambridge caught up with Candye Kane to talk about the blues singer's latest album, her personal experiences and what it means to be a true superhero.
Still think you're tough? Keep reading.
DITZ: First off, I want to congratulate you on your nomination for the 2010 National Blues Foundation Award. How does it feel to be nominated with your 10th album?
I'm very excited! At first, the blues community was afraid to embrace me. The socially disenfranchised - those who love fat women - kept me alive for a long time. I have had a home for a long time in the fat community. I am a colorful personality and I have a colorful background, so there was a segment of the blues community that loved me. At the same time, there were also those who were scared to embrace anyone different, because [the blues community and the blues genre can be so] marginalized.
DITZ: In a nutshell, how would you explain the feel of the new album Superhero?
Superhero is a record of triumphs. It talks a lot about my struggle with pancreatic cancer-I did not think I would be alive [today]. I was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in 2000 and during my procedure they had to cut away part of my stomach and put [me] back together again. There are also songs I wrote for myself during my healing process that are symbolic of a superhero. I have taken charge of the word [superhero] and made my life a little better. The album is so much more than a struggle to fight pancreatic cancer but relates to women who are going through similar experiences in life. It was a call to say, "I can do this!"
DITZ: But that certainly hasn't been your only struggle. Didn't you go through six different record companies? What was that experience like?
The record businesses had very specialized ideas of what blues is. To them blues is watered down and homogenized. But really most blues bands are happy and uplifting and transcend problems-it is brutally honest. An honest perspective means it is refreshing music. A lot of blues companies change a lot. While I was in Germany record companies would complain whenever a record didn't sell. But I sold enough to get by and to make a decent living.
DITZ: How have your life experiences shaped your career in the industry?
 Media Credit: Google Images The Toughest Girl Alive |
DITZ: I understand you have worked a bit in the adult porn industry. What drove you to become a stripper and porn star before getting into your music career?
I was in LA and there was an ad that read, "Make $500 from your home." I was a mom with a little baby and worked a horrible job with a pizza company. I was said to be too fat, but eventually they hired me to talk dirty to clients and send Polaroids of myself to them. I became close with other porn stars like Annie Sprinkle and got involved with more print work; it was a sleazy business. Over all I had a goal and used [the print work] temporarily for money so I could hire musicians to play music for me. I was a poor girl from East L.A. with a child and I do not believe many doors would have been open for me if it were not for my involvement in the sex business. There were crazy sex orgies in Hawaii and cocaine parties in New York, but I did not go. I wrote songs in my hotel room. I accepted my body as an asset and not a detriment. It was independent and freeing. It was a positive experience that facilitated the career I am in now.
DITZ: And it looks like you've been successful in that career-tell me more about the play that was written about your life.
"The Toughest Girl Alive" is a memoir adapted to the stage in San Diego that also ran in full in L.A. during Fall 2009 for three weeks. I had a rough childhood, dysfunctional mom and many adventures in life. It will be running again in 2010 at Moxy Theater, a prominent female theater in L.A.
DITZ: What advice would you give to people who, like you, face a lot of obstacles and are hoping for a better future?
I'd say that it is important to always take control of words. Always make a list of what you want to do immediately and first lay out, "I am very successful. I will be successful". Be specific, extremely specific. [Singing a line from a song on Superhero] "I am going to be just fine." I said it everyday during my process with pancreatic cancer. The melody and words sunk in and made me say a special private mantra, which let me detach from the outcome and become a human bullshit filter. I filter out negativity even from family members who say, "You cannot do that," or undermine my ideas, hopes and successes. Take heart from people around you. A lot of people are waiting around for external forces-god or man-but we have the power in us to change. We are given the ability of strength to transform problems. The strength is inside of you and some of us tap into that reservoir of strength.
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