Age doesn’t restrict the new band Candid!

Just a day before the release of their first album, the boys of the Orange County pop/funk band, Candid!, gathered together on a musty brown couch to discuss their music. Two members wore hats stitched with a small banana, a symbol that ties to their four-song EP “Bananas for Breakfast.”

The formation of Candid! came from a jam session. When Caleb Tischbern, the band’s drummer, heard lead vocalist/guitarist Carson Ripley playing the song “Worthy,” he knew they had potential. After deciding to record the song, Tischbern and Ripley realized that there was much more beyond that. Andrew Pham, bassist, and Royce Lundquist, keys, soon joined and Candid! was born.

When they began to write music together, they found their sound almost instantly. While they all have pretty similar tastes in music, they noticed that the differences in their taste is what really helped create the sound they were looking for.

“We all have different styles of playing. When we came together, it made something you don’t hear all the time,” said Tischbern.

They used their individual styles to create something that not all bands have. They describe their songs as pop, but they add more layers than a typical pop song. While using inspiration from funk bands, like Vulfpeck, and merging that with their own pop sound, they’re able to create a unique type of music.

“We like to dive deep with the instrumentation,” said Pham. “Sometimes it can be like Justin Timberlake walked into a funk band, and you have Candid!.”

The boys of Candid! use their personal experiences in their songs to reflect who they are as people. They don’t shy away from letting their audience in to show them what they’ve gone through, and their music is the best way to do so. In all their songs, they’re telling a story through the lyrics and instruments.

“We don’t want to put on a mask and say something we don’t mean. Our songs come from genuine experiences. We all have different personal lives, and we can use them in our writing,” said Ripley. These genuine experiences are what captures their audience, and makes their songs relatable. Audiences can use the story that these boys are trying to tell and connect it to their own lives.

Some could be shocked to realize that most of these boys are only juniors and seniors in high school; aside from Lundquist, who is a freshman in college. As young artists, their ages may cause them to face criticism or skepticism. Fortunately, they have been able to book many events that have looked past their ages and instead focused on their talent. They have found plenty of people surprised to see such young musicians as gifted as they are. Through their professional presentation on and off stage, age hasn’t been a large obstacle.

“Being a young artist is more of an advantage than anything else. You’re starting so young, and you have nowhere else to go but up from here,” said Tischbern.

The members of Candid! know they’re young, but they use that as a learning tool. Failure is inevitable, but the room they have to grow from that is ceaseless. They believe that to be true for all young artists on all platforms.

“Young artists are the future…it’s easy to be distracted by all the political things in the music industry, but we have the passion and voice to say something as we figure out ourselves and how to navigate life,” said Ripley.

The future for Candid! has no limits. Now having released a self-titled album, which was only recorded over the span of a week, playing more shows, and two members preparing themselves for graduation, there is much more in store for these boys. Regardless of where they are, they hope to continue to produce music. Through songwriting and recording, Candid! will continue to share themselves with the world, and hope others are able to create their own memories from listening.

Their album “Candid!” and their EP “Bananas For Breakfast” are available on Apple Music, Spotify, Google Play, and Amazon Music.