CANDL; press photo
“That one has a history to it,” explains Walter Morales, AKA CANDL. “Going back to my creative art side, CANDL came from a graffiti background. A buddy of mine from way back in 2007 basically gave me the name CANDL, because he said anytime I walked into a room I would light the place up and had a good spirit… that I had a good aura and was always smiling. So, he told me, ‘I’m going to call you CANDL because you’re a bearer of light’. So that’s what it means, it came from my graffiti roots and brought it over to this whole DJing and producing thing.”
His path from graffiti artist to Producer/DJ is one that developed naturally and influenced the way in which he developed his style. “When I first started learning how to DJ, I was into more techno and tech house,” he elaborates. “It was researching those kinds of sounds that led me to like the UK brand of things, like jagged house and bassline; for me, it just hit way harder and was a lot more creative than the stuff I’d be hearing.
“A lot of the tech house is good, and so is the US bass house stuff, but the UK bass stuff was so much heavier to me and so much more creative and when it comes to the dancefloor, I just love spinning that stuff. I always told myself I’d make the kind of stuff that I would want to spin. I still make tech house stuff and other kinds of bass music, but it always has to be creative and smack.”
The track “DTF,” shows his ingenuity for creating tunes full of warbling bass lines, catchy vocal samples, and a unique sense of rhythm. The atmospherics create the dark vibe CANDL loves to employ but this is also a track that sets a dancefloor ablaze; listening to the track instantly creates a vision of a dark club filled with bodies writhing in perfect unison to the beat.
In addition to his activities as CANDL, Morales also helped found one of the most creative and original collectives currently operating in Los Angeles. “Basically, with LO FREQS, that all came into the picture when I met my buddy John (Mèlay) at the LA Recording school and we were the only two dudes making house music in class… everybody else was basically pop, trap, or dubstep,” describes Morales. “So naturally, we got together as we were doing the same thing. One day we were having a talk about doing something real, John said he had a dope name that was LO FREQS and we just took it from there.”
Darkside 2 cover art
Since then, the status and respect for everyone involved has only grown stronger. “We stayed on top of it and didn’t want to be another cookie cutter crew, so we focused on having our friends DJ and produce top quality sh**,” he adds. “I didn’t care if it was my own brother trying to get in, if he wasn’t hungry about it and doing quality material then he would have to earn his keep. We just had this idea of doing something big and different – to bring our kinds of sounds and sounds from the UK out here.”
“The Night” is a prime example of both CANDL and LO FREQS mission to fuse the UK Sound with their own original sound. Hypnotic vocal samples create a very LA kind of vibe while the specific tonalities of the bass are very reminiscent of the UK bass sound. Together, it creates a driving house track that showcases the power this specific hybrid sound possesses.
While starting out as a DJ, he eventually got involved in production due to its potential for expressing his own unique style of making music. “What got me into production?” asks Morales. “Basically, I’ve always been creative, and always been into the scene since about 2005… like house music and trance music.
“Creating music came much later, about 2015. I think what inspired me was just hearing a bunch of dope stuff and dope music from everywhere really, and the creative part of me just really wanted to create. I was an artist before that, doing drawing and painting and stuff like that. Being able to create just called to me.
“Producing is dope and it’s fun to get creative but being able to go out there and play sets/shows is an amazing part of it. Being able to go out there and influence people with sounds and ideas that you put out there, it’s a grand thing to be able to effect that kind of change and emotion… being able to take a person out of whatever drama they have going on that day and have them lose themselves in the music is a really good feeling. Studio time is just as valuable, that’s where the magic is made. You gotta be able to make that magic to bring out there.”
The Darkside EP is his newest release to date, and its inception as well as its content are landmarks in the ongoing development of CANDL. “The title of the EP resulted from the fact that the main track is called ‘Darkside’; that was the first track that got signed and the rest of the tracks came from that,” says Morales. “If anyone has ever heard my sets, I play a lot of dark/heavy kind of vibes whether it’s house or breakbeat, and it’s a style I’m known for. I’m not going to say G-House kind of dark or Bloodtone dark, but more UK bass which is darker and weirder. So, it just made complete sense with the kind of sound I have that I play on the dancefloor.”
Dark and weird is at the forefront of the sound of CANDL, and “Darkside” truly demonstrates his mastery of it. The mutated bass frequencies, glitchy synth motifs, and off-key rhythm employed throughout the tune create one that infects the brain and the muscles at the same time, thus making this a track easily enjoyed in any environment. The track is filled with ambient explorations as well as constant surges of effects that effortlessly combine the best of the studio world and the live environment.
“One of the things I’m most proud of about this is that it is my first UK label release,” he points out. “I’ve been playing UK stuff for so long so it’s only right to have those kinds of tracks come out on that label. Honestly, I wouldn’t want them anywhere else. I respect all the labels out there, and the ones out here, but it’s not really for me because of the style that I do. So, it feels more at home on Incursion Records; plus, the fact all those dudes are killing it in their own right and it just feels super right.
“I’ve got another EP dropping through LO FREQS, which is going to have five or six more tracks on it – that is just going to take the madness even further,” reveals Morales. “Also, super stoked on that release; really, the Darkside EP is my first EP release ever, as I’ve mostly been releasing singles and through compilations and stuff like that. This upcoming one on LO FREQS is going to be my first EP release on that label as well, and the fact that it’s getting released on the label I helped create just makes it that much more epic. I’m going to be able to showcase even more of that style that the Darkside EP offers.”
Out now on Incursion Records, Darkside EP by CANDL is a must-have release for any fan of bass music! And stay locked in on CANDL and LO FREQS, as things are only going to get wilder and more exciting!