Upon trekking through the Peppermint Forest and sliming our way past the Gloppy Swamp, the Daily Beat team arrived at the Candy Castle otherwise known as The Yost theater for a highly anticipated show headlined by Candyland.

White Rabbit Group is renown for bringing festival quality acts to Havoc each Thursday and tonight we couldn't have been more stoked to be there. Last time Josie of Candyland stepped onto this stage she was joined by her partner-in-crime Ethan David, who has recently departed from the group. With the monstrous power of Candyland in her hands, Josie was able to tear the roof off of the club for one of the craziest nights we've witnessed at The Yost.

Before hopping behind the decks, we were able to talk a bit with Josie about her experience transitioning into a solo artist as well as her introduction to DJing in the rowdy party town of Santa Barbara.

 Last time we caught you at Space Yacht you dropped a ton of dark future house which was unexpected but perfect for the setting. Are there any new genres that have been influencing you in different ways recently?

It was super new to me so I was kinda scared but it was a fun one. Lately that Jauz and Ghastly style has been interesting me. Coming from a dubstep background, that genre of bassy house music comes naturally but also feels refreshing. I’m definitely open to testing the waters with it.

In the amateur world, unskilled producers like to “collab bro” with better artists in hopes of getting something better on their Soundcloud. What has been your experience with collaborations in the big leagues. 

At first all of the young and new producers would be hitting me up about that, but now not so much. You either have to be friends with the artist or a huge fan. This happened with Big Chocolate who’s now one of my closest friends.

Now for some deep stuff: How have your shows been now that Ethan is gone?

Haha well at first it was weird having him gone but after so long it began to feel like the right move. Although I miss having him there all the time, I was able to adjust to performing on my own throughout the Krewella tour.

Why did you choose to DJ with him in the first place?

First of all, he's very smart and really good at producing. Just as far as music is concerned he is easily my biggest inspiration and he’s the only person who was as obsessed with music as myself. We used to start ska bands out in Santa Barbara so playing in Isla Vista made us want to get into DJing.

The first party we spun together some guy threw a diet coke at us screaming “you guys suck!”, then he flipped me off and walked away. The funny thing is we did suck and I had no idea what I was doing. That guy threw me off so badly that I looped the song!

Production wise were there any gaps you had to fill in after Ethan left?

He was great at everything, especially sound design, although I wouldn’t say there was a loss of technical abilities, but rather a loss of inspiration. I was so used to bouncing ideas off of him so that’s one thing I had to get used to doing without. Not to mention he was the only dude who would listen to Taylor Swift with me!

Mat Zo has recently been shining a light on ghost producing in the music industry. What’s your opinion on him voicing his concern online?

I think everyone’s entitled to their own opinion. It’s frustrating to see people making $500,000 - $600,000 a show, and even though it’s just a marketing scheme, I understand why people would fight back. If you’re calling everyone out then they’re gonna respond. This scene used to be a community but now it’s a huge industry so things like this are bound to happen.

Four months ago you brought back the “OG Remix” title for your remix of Ludacris’s Stand Up. How did that title come about and do you have anymore classic reworks you have planned?

The title was actually a joke and we forgot to take the OG part off after uploading it to Soundcloud! As for future releases, I’ve got a new remix of a Rihanna track dropping soon and it’ll probably make the cut for an “OG” since it's old enough.

Photography by Scotch Photos.