They’re hard as a rock and sweet as candy, play a mean tune and have a devoted boy-fan following.
They’re Rock Candy, the almost-all girl band (their drummer is male) that captivates local audiences by evoking the essence of classic girl bands of the past.
Whether it’s their rich and sassy vocals, deft electric guitar riffs or blues-harp licks, they’ve got the skills to pay the bills, as they say.
Just ask audience members from last week’s Battle of the Bands at Trees Lounge in Waipouli, who got up out of their seats to take notice.
The band that’s been together almost 12 years recently took on a new vocalist in December, 20-year-old Alessia Sanchez, just out of high school and ready to rock.
The throaty singer who seems to channel the energy and legginess of Tina Turner said she had been playing as part of a duo at the former Shaka Tacos when she heard of an opening for a singer role from a friend.
“I tried out and we just kinda knew I was going to be in the band,” Sanchez said of the immediate chemistry she felt when auditioning.
And it’s that kind of understood communication that the band relies upon still, Sanchez said, as when it comes down to it, one of the band’s strengths is the ability to communicate without words while performing.
“We feel it when we’re playing — whether it’s giving a look or communicating directly to another person—when we’re into that mode,” Sanchez said. “And when we’re all in it, we forget about everything else. And it feels really good.”
Besides communication, the band’s performance strength seems to be classic rock, as their set’s lineup included highlights such as the Rolling Stones’ “Paint it Black,” and AC/DC’s “Sin City.”
“I’d definitely say as far as classic rock goes, hands down, we nail it,” Sanchez said. “That’s one of my favorite genres of music. We play it good and we original-ize it and make it our own little deal.”
Though she said she looks up to Tina Turner, favorite music idols for Sanchez are Etta James, Janis Joplin and Christina Aguilera.
“I used to think of Aguilera as a sellout, but I realized she’s all talent,” Sanchez said.
Original band member Pamela Anderson, also the lead guitarist, has helped see the band through over the past 12 years, as it’s evolved in membership and theme.
Formerly “Lips on the Move, as far back as 1983, the band names have morphed over the years, Anderson said.
“It was sort of last minute,” Anderson said of coming up with the name Rock Candy. “We had just regrouped. Carlene came up with ‘Stiletto,’ I came with up with ‘Quila,’ and wild, red-headed Meredith came up with ‘Snatch Pudding.’”
Anderson said former band member Gail Little came up with the less-risqué name, “Rock Candy,” and the rest was history.
As for other current band members, they include Carlene Hughes on blues harp (harmonica,) bassist Laura Christine and male drummer “Injun.”
Part old-school and new-school rock, R&B and straight-up blues, the band is a little bit hard to pigeonhole.
Though a typical set has included covers of classic rock greats like Led Zeppelin and the Stones, they’re just as likely to be heard playing “These Boots” by Nancy Sinatra, or anything by Susan Tedeschi, Injun said, adding, “We always try and mix things up.”
But it doesn’t stop with covers, as they’ve got some originals in the mix, too.
Two originals in particular that Anderson is proud of are “Up and Go,” a song about her long-time friend moving off-island, and “Lonely Old Lady,” which she describes as a song about a “little old lady in a big old house, having a ball.”
Anderson got her musical start as a teenager, and her first big gig was opening for Taj Mahal in Po‘ipu in 1986 when she was three months pregnant with her son, she said. It was quite the concert, she added.
“There were a bunch of shirtless surfer guys screaming their heads off,” Anderson said of the audience at the time.
As for her dream gig, Anderson said opening for the Stones at Aloha Stadium would take the cake, though she seems perfectly content to be getting “small-kine” gigs on-island.
