Bad Candy

There are at least 2 groups named Bad Candy: 1. BAD CANDY: NATALIE ESTELLE JAMES (July 17th 1983) LEADVOCALS. originally hails from Glasgow (Scotland) but has been living in Holland since she joined Bad Candy. The singer was spotted by the two band members Chantal & Janneke when they were out in London doing some Xmas shopping..! The girls met Natalie at night in a club where she was performing. The girls hit it off well from the start and told her about the band..

1. BAD CANDY: NATALIE ESTELLE JAMES (July 17th 1983) LEADVOCALS. originally hails from Glasgow (Scotland) but has been living in Holland since she joined Bad Candy. The singer was spotted by the two band members Chantal & Janneke when they were out in London doing some Xmas shopping..! The girls met Natalie at night in a club where she was performing. The girls hit it off well from the start and told her about the band.. and that they were looking for a new singer. Luckily for the girls, Natalie didn't need much persuasion to leave home & country to join Bad Candy. Natalie, who describes herself as a 'very emotional girl' now enjoys her new-found family and loves being around the girls. 'Sometimes it's difficult to live in another country. You don't speak the language and mentalities are different. I'm very happy to get so much support from the girls, it creates an even stronger bond'. Being asked on the girls personalities, Chantal is described as the 'party animal' while as Stefanie is the relaxed laid back one. And Janneke.. well who could not love her?' Her favourite Bad Candy moment so far has been the show where they had to perform on a catwalk. Natalie could walk 'through' the crowd. 'It felt amazing, I was surrounded by my own audience!' 'What I want most for the band? World domination! What do you think?!' JANNEKE NIJHUIJS (March 7th, 1984) - BASS GUITAR/VOCALS. She loves it when kids sing along to their songs. 'And when they recognise you on the street! They want to know every little thing there is to know about you..' Janneke still thinks its funny how surprised people can act when finding out the girls can actually play their instruments. A music lover at heart, now given a chance to follow her life long dream; playing her bass every day. For a living! 'I have a definite click with the other girls in the band. We all work very hard and know what we want. '. We've come a long way and have improved a lot within the last 2 years. We're still developing our skills. And its funny how our different tastes in music are mixed into the songs we write. STEFANIE SALMON (July 20th, 1983) - DRUMS. Also Stefanie started out playing at a young age. 'I've played in five bands during high school. We played all kinds of styles; pop, rock, nederfolk (Dutch folkmusic!). Also played with a metal band, that was so much fun! Because of continuous practice and dedication, Stefanie has built quite some muscle! 'You won't hear complaints from me.. it looks cool!!' Stefanie loves spending time with the other girls. 'We have a lot of fun together, spending that much time on tour helped us to get to know each other so much better'.. When asked to describe the other girls her reply on Janneke; funny and sociable above all. People always find it very pleasant to be around her. Down-to-earth Chantal is being described as the fashion freak.. '...always on the lookout for new accessories, clothes, shoes. She does our styling before we go on stage, pretty cool huh?!..'. CHANTAL VAN BRUMMELEN (November 21st 1983) -GUITAR/VOCALS. Bad Candy's fashion doll. 'My two passions have always been music and fashion. After finishing high school I wasn't sure whether I wanted to join the classic music academy or the critically acclaimed Rock Academy in Tilburg. Also I was afraid that just music wouldn't be enough so I decided to attend the fashion academy instead. This way I could combine the two more easily; designing woman's wear during the day and playing my guitar at night..' Chantal is very happy with how things have been going for Bad Candy. Slowly but gradually the girls have built up from scratch. 'Bad Candy is very dear to me; I really want to make this a success. We make girly rock music, maybe its best described as pop music but with a rock n roll edge to it. Or better yet; rock music, wearing a skirt!' Ever been recognised in public? 'Yes,' Chantal grins, 'And we love it ha-ha. It's quite inevitable when you have your own soap on national TV. The kids that come up to us are so polite and shy, it's actually very cute!

2. Bad Candy , the hard rock band out of St. Louis, Missouri was originally formed in 1990 by Kevin Hauk and Troy Heigl, who had both been writing original material together since 1989. In June of 1990 they hooked up with drummer Tim McKee and shortly after aquired Dave DeGeare for vocals and Nikki Sottile for bass. The band was together a couple of months and decided to make a low cost demo of "original" songs. In comes Jeff Mueller to record the band , as he had great knowledge and experience of recording since doing so with his own band "Dirty Trixx". Jeff was a vocalist himself and was without a band , and really took a liking to the vibe going on, and made it clear if Bad Candy ever needed a vocalist, that he would be available. Shortly after, the band decided to part ways with Dave and recruit Jeff into the band. From that point on, the bands progress went full speed ahead. Bad Candy made their live debut at now defunct local rock club "Brians Rock and Metal cafe" in December 1990. A week later due to musical differences, Tim McKee left the band. A month later the band enlisted Ryan White, who had recently left St. Louis local band " Plain Jane". The addition of Ryan brought about a new attitude and a new sound to the band. Playing local clubs in the St. Louis area, Bad Candy's following was growing. In April of 1991, they recorded their debut demo release"Welcome to the Party" in Memphis , Tenn. Danny Jones, a well known producer, musician, and recording engineer,used his expertise to put the Bad Candy sound on tape. "Welcome to the Party" was released on June 1st, 1991 at a tape release party held at Brians Rock and Metal cafe. The show was a great success , having one of the largest turnouts in the clubs history. In Sept , 1991 Travis Foley Replaced Nikki on bass. The band went strong till 1992 when Jeff left the band , and shortly thereafter, Troy took over the lead vocals and the band changed the name to "Beggars Playground".