Candice Redding is a Johannesburg-born music producer and DJ, who has taken India’s EDM scene by storm. One of the fastest growing independent artistes worldwide, Redding holds the distinction of having performed over 250 shows in a calendar year. She ranks among the top DJs in the world: #48 Worldwide on FDJ list, #20 on Top DJane Asia and #3 on DJane Mag India.
Currently, she is seen on the show The Remix, an Amazon Prime Video Original alongside Nucleya, Amit Trivedi and Sunidhi Chauhan. In a conversation with Guardian 20, the young DJ talked about her experience of sharing the stage with popular Indian musicians.
“It is a great experience to work alongside these iconic musicians,” she said. “All of them have a different style of portraying their art and one can learn a lot from them.”
But what perked her interest in the show?
Redding told us, “So when I found out that I was going to be a part of The Remix, I had just finished doing a couple of shows in Australia and was on a short vacation. A few days into the vacation, I got a call from Arjun Shah, my manager, asking me to pack my stuff and get back to India.”
“At first, I was nervous. I was like a fish in deep waters, because it was my first time having to do anything with Bollywood music. But it turned out to be a thrilling experience—having shared the stage with such great musicians and performers—it was beautiful,” she continued.
Redding has shared the stage with some biggies from the music industry such as Martin Garrix, Sean Paul, Steve Aoki, Dimitri Vegas, Like Mike, Dash Berlin, Dyro, Dannic, Hardwell, Kygo and many more.
However, her “most memorable collaboration” was with Martin Garrix (a famous Dutch DJ). Why, we asked her?
She answered, “Because it was the first time that I was performing with an artiste of such a high caliber.”
Redding first thought about starting her professional music journey when her close friend pointing to her “obsession” with dance music told her that “she should just become a DJ”. “That was the day when my obsession turned into passion,” she recalled.
But the “epiphany” that drove her love for dance music hit her when her cousin took her for an Armin Van Buuren (a Dutch DJ, music producer and remixer) concert at Johannesburg.
On her early music influences, she informed us, “Some of my early influences and inspirations would be Pete Tong, Armin Van Buuren, Paul Van Dyk and Carl Cox.”
Adapting to the audience’s taste is “the top most priority” for her. Redding has been exposed to various cultures from quite early on in her life. “Throughout my life, I have travelled across various continents and have been exposed to various cultures of music and various artistes. This has made me able to adapt to the changing trends quickly.”
But how does she keep up with the shift in musical trends in different parts of the world?
“I also have a dedicated team at my management, Shark & Ink, who I work with very closely in identifying newer opportunities and transition through the changing times,” she said.
And while things are all bright for her now, her early days as aDJ, in a “male-dominated industry” were a struggle. She said, “As a woman, it is very difficult to battle it out in a male-dominated profession. My early days as a DJ were very difficult but as and when I started doing more and more shows, my value was discovered by the industry and it all became just so easy to keep moving forward.”
She also likes to listen to a lot of Hindi songs. Her favourite artistes from the music industry are A. R. Rahman, Raja Kumari, Monica Dogra, Amit Trivedi and Nakash Aziz.
Despite being on the move and engrossed in tours for the major part of the year, Redding understands the importance of a healthy
lifestyle.
“When I started out, I was just so obsessed that I would live, breath, eat music. During that period, I was so engrossed in the life that the tours brought that I didn’t take a lot of care of my health. That phase of my life has taught me a lot about how important ones well-being is.”
She continued, “I now make sure that no matter where I’m travelling, I always have a balanced diet and sufficient amount of sleep. That is the key to having a quality life and going on stage—night after night—and delivering the greatest experience I can to my followers.”
Her first Bollywood experience was with a cameo in Sutlan, opposite Salman Khan. Now, the model-turned-DJ is up for more such experiences. She said, “You’ll definitely be seeing more of me in time.”
About her future projects, she told us, “There are a lot of collaborations within and outside of the music space, in the pipeline. There’s also the fact that Arjun Shah and his team and Shark & Ink are working very hard on revamping my live shows and setting a benchmark for the rest of the industry on how a live show should actually be.”