The Candace Brooks Band: PRESS

"There are some bands who employ every recording trick at their disposal to cover up for a lack of heart, soul, and spirit. And you know something..... IT NEVER SEEMS TO WORK! If anything, the sonic over-adornment only serves to accentuate an absence of substance. Nobody ever says "You know what makes that song great? The Gate Compressor Limiter they used!" Now listen up youngsters, it's time for Uncle Don's Rock & RoD Life Lesson 34. Ready? Let's begin. If you don't have substantial lyrics and a memorable melody, buying a 64-channel digital soundboard isn't gonna help. Did you write that down Kenny? And that is why I have a great deal of respect for The Candace Brooks Band and their latest CD release "Life After Me". They use few bells & whistles, and even fewer prefabricated engineering chicanery. Some might even describe the overall vibe of the record as minimalist. Me, I describe it as pure, honest rock & roll. This youthful quartet is comprised of Allen Furtado (bass), Neal Christolini (guitar), Brian Deconteaux (drums), and the evocative, dread-locked Candace Brooks herself on lead vocals and guitars. Clearly, they have a collective musical understanding, and this vision is laid out quite effectively throughout the album's eight tracks. From the first notes pouring out of the speakers, Candace and company spread out their unique blueprint for stripped-down rock with the kickoff track "Out of Your Mind". "I got your heart tied up, I got your soul locked down - Am I breaking your stride, as I spin you around — Are you out of your mind yet? ". As with many of the songs herein, Ms. Brooks' vocal delivery provides context for the lyrics that would otherwise be lost had someone else been singing. Her timbre is contradictory in many ways - sweet yet dirty - soft yet aggressive -immaculate yet lustful. She's also easy on the eyes. But back to the music. More contradictions are evident throughout another song "Jaded". "Why you gotta be so complicated? Why you gotta be so J@ing jaded? Why you gotta be so beautiful? " Yes, we all know by know how much I dig when chicks swear in song. That aside, Brook's vocal elocution takes a good song, and makes it much, much better. I'm particularly fond of their use of a live track "Strategy". The song itself is not the strongest offering in the set. In fact, sound-wise the recording doesn't sit well while surrounded by the other studio tracks. But the charming aspect of its inclusion is that The Candace Brooks Band once again doesn't rely on tired worn-out concepts of what belongs and doesn't belong. One gets the feeling the band had something to say and chose that particular song to say it. Isn't that what rock & roll was supposed to be about in the first place? The Candace Brooks Band is pure, unadulterated rock. Some classify them as alternative. If by alternative they mean in opposition to cliche, over-the-top, predictable, guitar-driven, hormone angst pabulum., then yes, firmly place them in the alternative category. Me, I describe it as pure, honest rock & roll."

 

"As they sit around a big table for an interview with a writer, Candace Brooks just sits back and lets a lot of the other members of her band do the talking. She's the lead singer and the band is named after her, but she does not want the spotlight just shining on her. She wants to give credit to everyone in the band for the exhilarating performances that The Candace Brooks Band gives every night. "My name is the band, but I like to give my fellas a voice," Brooks said. "I let them talk over the mikes. I don't want the attention to be on me. The Candace Brooks Band has been getting some airplay on 94.1 WHJY Radio in Providence with its upbeat, catchy song called "Beautiful Deception" off its addictive "Life After Me" EP. "It's almost kind of punky," said bassist Allan Furtado of the song. "I would say that was our first true rock song." Before this electric lineup was formed, Brooks was playing acoustic guitar and singing some gigs. She had an electric guitar player with her. Brooks has a brother who told Furtado he should stop by to see her play at The Pulse in Providence. Furtado asked Brian Decoteaux to come to the show with him. They liked what they saw and decided to join the band. Allan stole Decoteaux's drums and sat in with Brooks at a practice. Then he told her he didn't really play drums, but was a bass player. They played with Brooks for about a year before the electric guitar player was let go. That was when Neal Chistolini joined the band to fill that spot. Brooks posted an ad on MySpace for the spot in the band and Chistolini responded. Neal, who lived five minutes down the street from Brooks, called and she said to come on down for an audition. They gave him 10 songs to learn, from bands like The Rolling Stones and Sublime, and told him to come back two days later. The current lineup has been together for a year. They rehearse in the basement of the house where Brooks's mother lives. "Basically, as a band, we have a really good thing going," Brooks said. "We hang out, outside of the band. We're like best friends. We're friends first and bandmates second. When you collaborate, that helps to have that respect." Before Chistolini joined the band, they were getting a few gigs here and there. But after he joined the band, they started playing out regularly at Providence metro clubs, such as Club Gallery and Mardi Gras, and recorded an EP. The band plays both original music and cover tunes. Brooks says the songs may be sad sometimes, but she is smiling when she is singing them and the audience is tapping their feet. "I want our original music to be something that people listen to and they identify with," Brooks said. "We love shows when people are dancing and moving. We just want to be a household name and for people to like us for who we are." Brooks writes the lyrics and melodies for the song with her acoustic guitar and then the other members of the band transform them in rock songs. Using the slogan "Life imitates art and art imitates life," Brooks writes about situations she experiences around her in her life. She writes about matters of the heart and problems people experience. There are a lot of relationship songs. The Candace Brooks Band is working on some new material. "Candace does a good job of seeing both sides of a complicated situation and expressing that," Chistolini said. "It really cuts to the heart if you listen to what she says. It's profound." All of the members of the band live in Rhode Island. Brooks lives in Johnston and is originally from Cranston, Furtado and Decoteaux, who went to Warwick Veterans High School together, are from Warwick, and Christolini lives in Providence. The band has planned a tour for this August. They will start in Pennsylvania and work their way North toward Maine for 16 days. Brooks, who went to Cranston West High School, started playing guitar when she was 15 years old. "My brother brought home a guitar and told me not to touch it, so I did," Brooks said. Brooks took some guitar lessons and when she was 23 years old, started to play at open mics. Decoteaux started playing drums in the fifth grade. He was in school bands growing up and when he was a senior high school, starting getting into rock bands. Furtado and Decoteaux had a mutual friend who played guitar. That friend had a girlfriend who played bass. The friend stole his girlfriend's bass and gave it to Furtado to try. When they broke up, Furtado had to get his own bass. Furtado and Decoteaux played in a band together their senior year in high school and both have been in other bands as sit ins. Chistolini, who went to Westfield High School and studied psychology and business at Providence College, started playing guitar around the age of 13 years old. Before that time, he had played viola and French horn. He played bass for a band called Kill, Switch and Guage and was also in a motown band. "That's how I got my style," Chistolini said. "I'm a rhythm first player, as opposed to an electric lead player." Furtado said people will try to pigeonhole what the band's music sounds like because of its female singer. He said the band wants people's opinions about its music. Chistolini said the members of the band are all pretty versatile musicians. He said their music is influenced by new wave, inde rock. Furtado likes jam bands. Decoteaux likes classical and jazz bands. Chistolini likes jazz and new wave. "I listen to anything, as long as it has a good beat and a good rhythm," Brooks said. "I just love music." The influences of the band include Ben Folds Five, Muse, Lifehouse and some British bands. "I think, individually, we have all different tastes, as far as what we listen to on the side," Brooks said. "We all have different influences, but we play well together." Brooks is a call counselor for AAA, Furtado is a tractor trailer driver, Chistolini processes car loans and Decoteaux is a supervisor at an inventory company and is a college student. Brooks said they take their music very seriously. She said it is a "work first, play later" approach. Brooks said the band is not aspiring to be on MTV. Courtney Costa says she does not miss a show from The Candace Brooks Band. "I'm a Fall River hip hop girl and I love her," Costa said of Brooks. "Her music is sick. It makes you want to mosh. "