We recently connected with Candace Randle and have shared our conversation below.

Candace, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Can you talk to us about how you learned to do what you do?

Honestly, the internet! I found sites with chord charts and songs I wanted to learn, and went crazy.

Knowing what I know now, I think I would’ve changed how impatient I was for an end result. I was so excited to have found music, so I whipped through processes just to get a song written or recorded so I could share it instantly. But it’s okay to slow down. Don’t let your or other people’s expectations drive your process. It’s so important to make what you are happy with, first. And if that takes 10 years, so be it.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers?

I am a self-taught musician, and I honestly believe I got where I am today because of pure drive. I wanted it sooo badly.

I was immediately in desparate need to play ukulele after seeing a wonderful YouTube artist, Julia Nunes, play a cover of “Build Me Up Buttercup” by the Foundations. It gave me goosebumps.

And learning the ukulele made it possible to practice anywhere and everywhere because it’s so compact, and it’s so easy to learn, even if you think that you could never learn to play an instrument.

So grab a uke! Play it all day! Effortlessly annoy your friends and family! It’s worth it.

Do you think there is something that non-creatives might struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can shed some light?

Yes! What a great question! And I have 2 big answers:

1. Being an independent artist/musician gives you total control over your sound and lyrics and processes, etc., but we cannot control everything. For example: sometimes, for reasons beyond our control, we can’t play a venue or a city/state/country people expect us to.

2. Writing/recording music is no walk in the park, babes. Loads of people tend to not understand the depth of the creative process and how time-consuming it is. I get so much anxiety when people ask “Where’s your album? When are you putting an album out? Can you record that and put it on Spotify?” like it’s a snap of the fingers, when in truth I have spent hours just trying to get one clean take of my instrument without f***ing up, or without the motorcycles/sirens/planes in the background, without the roommates talking, without the washing machine, without someone calling me, without, without, without…bah! That could be a whole day right there and you haven’t even added drums, or vocals and all the other goodies. Sometimes, the process is just thinking and writing. Sometimes, it’s finishing a song and realizing you hate it, and will never release it.

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

The most rewarding parts of it are when you happen to write something that you didn’t know you had in you, the moment you finish producing a song that you’re happy with, and -my favorite- the energy when playing to a room full of people. Ahhh, it’s just the scariest and most exciting feeling all at once. I love it. I need it.

If you’ve at all been sitting on the idea of wanting to make something, go with it. You don’t have to know where to start, just start. You’ll be so happy you did.

Contact Info:

• Website: candasse.com
• Instagram: @ukulele_candasse