June 2006

SURPRISE!!. One of the worlds legendary guitarists with millions of records sold -- an icon to many -- has a secret life. When the SMOKE ON THE WATER clears - Candice Night and partner Richie Blackmore entrance audiences world wide with Blackmore's Night, a wondrous, mystical, and romantic throw back to the Renaissance. Candice opens up about their alternate and New Age lifestyle, exchanging the Stratocaster and Marshall Amps, for the medieval Shawm, Hurdy Gurdy, Cornamuse, Rauschpfifeand, Nickle Harp, and a myriad of other exotic instruments.

Candice: Well, when I first met Ritchie in 1989, not a lot of people knew that when he stepped off stage after playing guitar in one of the most legendary rock bands, he would put on Renaissance music. He always listened to that to relax, to be inspired and to escape to another realm. I had never heard of that music before I met him, but when I heard it I was instantly entranced. There was so much passion. It was honest. Written by musicians in a time where they weren't creating it to be on MTV, or to be rich and famous. It was written for the sake of the song. There is such beauty in it and passion that I feel we lack in today's music. I remember a time when music used to make me feel. There were heights of elation, and depths of melancholy - It was like the great puppetmaster of emotions. Now when I turn on the radio, I only feel annoyed. It's all so synthetic, no depth, just songs fixed in a studio by a whiz of a producer and backed by millions from a corporation. Yet, there's so much music out there that we aren't being exposed to that is just amazing. I find the best songs are usually given to me by fans who make compilations of their own regional folk songs or melodies from the history of where they are from. So, basically what we do is to take the songs, whether they are songs from the renaissance time period, regional folk melodies, or classical pieces, and we add new instrumentation. We add a new arrangement and new lyrics that embody the story that the melody line depicts to us. So those who are familiar with the original melodies, will still hear them embodied in the new song we have created. Those who don't know the origins of the song will usually try to find out more about them, do their own research, and find a whole new world of music that often times they didn't know existed. Its a wonderful way to open people's minds to the music that is out there, but not being played or talked about in mainstream circles. I just find that there is such depth to the melodies, they remind me of a simpler more beautiful time. The melodies seem to lend themselves perfectly to lyrics about legends and myths, to romance and nature based words. So that's what I do - I channel those pictures painted in my head by those tunes and create the words, that hopefully run a parallel between allowing people to personalize the lyric and recognize themselves in it as well as alluding to the ages gone past and the storylines within.

Paul: The Internet is an entirely new way to reach people with ones "art" or "voice." It allows people instant access to song samples, unique radio formats, and digital downloads. Do you think this will help you reach a wider audience?

- Candice Night

With this in mind, have you thought of participating in what seems to be the biggest phenomenon on the Internet MYSPACE.COM? It is vast

Candice: Yes, actually there are 2 sites for us on there. One is Blackmore's Night and the other was made for me, Candice Night. Yes, this is a great idea. The two sites are run for us by fans because I find when I sit at the computer, hours seem to just disappear and I miss my outside time. I try to stay away from the computer as much as possible. I do monitor and update Ritchie's official Blackmore's Night site, as well as getting very personally involved in my own site by answering five chosen questions sent in by fans per month. I also give a general news update each month. Those two sites take up more time than I'd like to dedicate sitting in front of a computer as it is. I appreciate what is going on with myspace.com and it certainly brings the community closer together; but its almost like trying to search through the phone book for something. There are so many people on there that if you are looking for something specific it takes a lot of wading through to find. I don't know if people have enough time to search through so much, to find one particular thing - maybe they do.

Paul: It is obvious The Renaissance period is of great interest to the both of you. What is the main "hold" or "fascination" of this period?

Candice: For Ritchie, it is the historical accuracy. For me it is the fantasy element. I mean, would I really want to live in the 1500s? No running water, no sanitary conditions, no air conditioning? Hmmm...Not really. I like my modern day amenities. But, then think of no road rage, no ambient lighting, no bass drums coming from the guy listening to a rap song three blocks away that you can still hear in your home because its so loud. Imagine no air rage.... Interesting concept. A world lit only by candlelight, fire, the sun and moon? That's the fantasy element. The romantic visual. Bonfires with people using the old fashioned way of communication-speaking and telling stories and pondering the mysteries of the universe while playing acoustic instruments. A castle on a hilltop with a maiden waving a handkerchief to her knight who is riding off on a white mare promising to return...Forests that go on for miles without condo complexes being built on them. Meadows of fireflies. The visual of that time is bewitching for me. The good thing about living today, is you can review all the times that have come before and choose which ones you want to incorporate into your life now. So that's what I do.

- Candice Night

Paul: Ahhhh you're a romantic. Forgive me but I'm gonna harp a bit here because I love it when seemingly ambivalent things work together in harmony. How interesting can it be that these computers can actually be the tool for simple honest people to find one another - to support the old oral tradition of passing on lyric, story, and song. To further explore the reality and fantasy of myth (Interestingly, myth, fantasy is a prominent theme in the artwork of many at Myspace)

- Candice Night

Paul: Please comment more on your attraction to fantasy. Has it always held such fascination for you?

Candice: Always, always, always. Yes. When I was 4 my parents enrolled me in acting/singing lessons and I loved the fact that I could be anything, anywhere, at anytime, and slip away from my own reality and into someone else's. So I could become other people when I needed to write through their view points and their perspectives. In that other realms and visions have always been very accessible to me. I have one foot in another realm at all times. Recently I was sitting outside with a group of friends by the water front. We all were watching the sky and talking when a big shooting star shot through the sky. It was brilliant. One of my friends said- "Wow I haven't seen a shooting star like that since I was little." I thought, well, the stars haven't stopped being shooting stars so I said to him "When did you stop looking up?" A close friend of mine always relays that story about me because she thinks it describes me perfectly to others. I can just honestly say that I never stopped looking up.

" ..I can just honestly say that I never stopped looking up."

- Candice Night

Paul: Mystery is also a continuing theme for you. Do you care to comment on the "awe" of mystery and it's role on your music?

Candice: Its a very important element. It keeps people intrigued, bewitched, wondering, guessing. It draws people into your world...your realm. It fascinates people, and makes them dream. There is a beauty and a power in the essence of mystery. It captivates and makes you believe.

Paul: There is a mystery to spirituality. Care to comment on the role of spirituality in Blackmore's Night?

" .. Maybe we can help by putting a little healing and beauty into a society that so badly needs it."

- Candice Night

Paul: I think many folks will be curious about how you and Richie met, and what was the draw that lead the both of you to focus on this unique music

Paul: I see that you perform many "live" shows. Touring can be expensive, and musically you have a lot going on. Do you guys take other band members with you? If so, what other instruments do you use? How many dates do you do a year?

Candice: Yes, we usually lose money whenever we go on tour but we do it because we believe in the music and the people really love to see the show. We lose money mostly because we play specialized venues like castles or theaters and try to cap the audience at 1800, though that is getting harder to do. Now we are beginning to insist the cap be at 3,000. But, we also insure that the ticket prices not be more than $25. So we drive the agent crazy! Also, because Ritchie has been touring for over 40 years, he insists on lots of days off, we won't play more than 3 dates in a row. So, we're still paying expenses...you can imagine the costs. But that's OK. Thanks to Smoke on the Water, we can afford to do this for a while. We have an 8 piece band: a violinist/woodwind player, bass player/rhythm guitarist, percussionist/drummer, keyboardplayer/male tenor opera singer, two harmony operatic twin female singers, and Ritchie playing Mandola, Mandolin, Doubleneck Acoustic Guitar, Hurdy Gurdy, Electric and Acoustic Guitar. I play the Shawms, Cornamuse, Rauschpfife, Tambourine, Pennywhistles, Chanters, Recorders, and sing. We usually go out for about a month, come home for a month, and go back out again about 4 tours per year. Then we're recording the rest of the time.

I know the singer/woodwindplayer dilemma of not being able to sing while playing. Sometimes I think that's why he got me to play these things in the first place! I love nylon strings on a supporting instrument, and I am really pleased with the medieval tuning that he uses on some of his guitars. The sound just rings, but in a totally different scale... really nice. But I may have to go back to the oldest instrument of all for the answer. When I sing together with the two girls its like a harmony blanket, really warm and all encompassing. I love it. The Nickelharp sound is becoming a fast favorite to sing with?

- Candice Night

Candice: Sure-its also known as a Swedish Fiddle. Its a sort of an elongated violin with sympathetic strings that make it sound very melancholy and give it a ring that resonates long after the notes has been played. You use a bow, as you would with a violin, but it also has pegs like a hurdy gurdy so you need to press the pegs and use the bowing technique in order to get the sounds.

Paul: The Shawm has a double reed and can be tough to play. Do you find that reed giving you fits at times?

Candice: Of course, listen to the track Mond Tanz/Child In Time on our latest CD, The Village Lantern. At the end of the song, you will hear me break into a hysterical fit of laughter. That comes from the fact that I was playing the part on my trusty shawm and 15 times in a row, when I went for the last note, it would make a squeaking/honking sound because the reed would seize up. We tried everything! Just going for the one note, playing the whole thing, warming it, making the temperature colder, wetting the reed, drying it, squeezing it, all the tricks. It still wouldn't play that one note! All the other notes were fine! So the 15th time was my breaking point. I lost it and started hysterically laughing. Of course now, interviewers are asking em if that was a hidden meaning - me laughing because we were playing Ritchie's old song Child In Time, And I'm just thinking "you've obviously never had to deal with a double reed, have you?"

Paul: Well. to end up let me further ask about the role of spirituality in your music. You mentioned many people "running on empty". My belief is that the volume and bass utilized in music today does all the work for the listener. The listener doesn't have to do much as this sound literally, physically, and sonically, comes out and grabs you. The music you speak of definitely speaks to the listener, but it is helpful if they can just slow down and hear. It's in that willingness to hear, that allows the spiritual connection to germinate. And of coarse then your fantasy and story is more easily ingested.

- Candice Night