Meet the producer that DJ Snake, Laidback Luke, and 4B just can’t get enough of: KANDY. This New York based producer just owned Ultra 2016, his music peppering the tracklists of the weekend’s most viewed sets, and the festival even hosted the premiere of his new Flavors EP. Kevin Schuppel is the man behind the sugar-laden lollipops, and he’s on trajectory to swarm the scene this year with his own breed of main stage jungle terror.
KANDY already has an awe-inducing 25 tracks in progress for the year, making for a startling release schedule and even bigger bookings. But he’s not just about pumping heavyweight bangers to massive crowds, KANDY’s talent has started to catch the ears of pop’s most influential artists. Schuppel was recently commissioned to do a remix of Selena Gomez’s “Hands To Myself,” which is approaching 400k plays on Spotify, and after 14 days is already getting radio play on KissFM, Z100, and standard pop radio. Seeing as KANDY just got approved to do another remix for Gwen Stefani’s “Make Me Like You” for Interscope, we can tell things are beginning to take flight.
The Flavors EP boasts three tracks, offering a subtle taste of what KANDY is plotting for the year. “Weapons” is a collaboration with Funky Craig & Example, charting the territory somewhere between jungle terror and main stage anthems. “Initiator” is the most sought after of the EP, seeing interest from Party Favor and the aforementioned DJ Snake, Laidback Luke, and more. And finally, “Sugar Rush” is an effort between KANDY & Candyland. Yes, that’s a real thing, and saying the whole thing sounds like an invitation for diabetes, so we’ll just keep quiet and let you have a listen.
All branding is created by Voodoo Bownz, a key contributor to the stellar team surrounding KANDY. Here’s what Schuppel had to say about his origins and what it’s like to go from being a kandi kid to DJing Ultra:
“It’s weird for me, because of where I came from. I would go to all the shows and everything, and I’ve been running around for like 5 years. So for me being in the crowd and going from that to being behind the decks at Ultra is insane. I got my name from going to underground raves in New York City, and I used to wear kandi up to both shoulders. I’ve got pictures dressed as a Pikachu – I was that guy… But I brought that all with me into the name.”