Graham James Candy (born 1 April 1991) is a singer-songwriter and actor from New Zealand. In 2013 he moved to Berlin, Germany to begin his music career. Candy’s first collaboration with German DJ and producer

Alle Farben Frans Zimmer (born 5 June 1985), better known by his stage name Alle Farben (meaning ''All Colours'' in German) is a German DJ and producer. Since 2014 Zimmer is signed to the record label Guesstimate/b1 Recordings and the publishing house Budde ...

, "She Moves" (2014), gained him quick popularity with his quirky, high-range vocals, as well as his first gold single. He is currently signed with BMG Rights Management and the Berlin-based label Crazy Planet Records. In 2014, Candy also made his feature-film debut with a lead role in '' Queen of Carthage'', alongside

Keisha Castle-Hughes Keisha Castle-Hughes (born 24 March 1990) is an Australian-born New Zealand actress who rose to prominence for playing Paikea "Pai" Apirana in the film '' Whale Rider''. She was nominated for several awards, including the Academy Award for Bes ...

and

Shiloh Fernandez Shiloh Thomas Fernandez (born February 26, 1985) is an American actor. He is known for his roles in the television series '' Jericho'' and ''United States of Tara'', and the films '' Deadgirl'', ''Red Riding Hood'', and the 2013 remake of '' Evil ...

History

Early life

Born and raised in

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The most populous urban area in the country and the fifth largest city in Oceania, Auckland has an urban population of about ...

, Candy is the youngest of four children. His artistic career was established at a young age through a combination of music, dance and acting. Candy started Ballroom and Latin dancing at the age of 6 and with his dance partner, went on to gain titles as juvenile, junior and youth champion in both

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

and Australia. At age 12, Candy was introduced to the film industry as the photo double for the character "Edmund" in The Chronicles of Narnia – The Lion The Witch and The Wardrobe. Candy attended

Rangitoto College Rangitoto College is a state coeducational secondary school, located on the North Shore of Auckland, New Zealand. Serving years 9 to 13, Rangitoto has a school roll of as of making it the largest "brick-and-mortar" school in New Zealand (on ...

where his love of the arts was cultivated. He was part of the school's winning team at the National Stage Challenge competition, a member of the National Champions barbershop choir, and winner of AMI Showdowns "best supporting actor" for his role in the high school production "Seussical". At aged 17, Candy went on a school exchange to Saint Ann's School, Brooklyn to further develop his creative talents. In 2007 Candy played Troy in NYTC's production of Disney's High School Musical - which became the fastest selling locally produced show in Auckland to that date. In 2008, Candy gave songwriting a go, and entered the Play It Strange songwriting competition for secondary school students. His song "Lasts Forever" was awarded 7th place.

Mike Chunn Jonathan Michael Chunn (born 8 June 1952 in London) is a former member of the New Zealand bands Split Enz and Citizen Band. He performed alongside his brother Geoff Chunn in both bands. His musical performing career was cut short due to agoraph ...

– the founder of Play it Strange has helped direct Candy's music career ever since.

2009–2012

In 2009, Candy stopped dancing to study acting, but at the end of the year he left to pursue music with band "The Lost Boys". In the 2009 New Zealand Battle of the Bands, they reached the top ten with their song "Hot Air Balloon". After accepting a role in the short film ''Go the Dogs'', directed by

Jackie van Beek Jackie van Beek (born 10 May 1976) is a New Zealand film and television director, writer and actress. Early life Van Beek was born and raised in Wellington and attended Onslow College. She studied contemporary dance at the Wellington Performi ...

, Candy returned to film and the stage gaining two NAPTA "best supporting actor" awards for his roles in the stage production of ''Footloose'' and ''Spring Awakening''. Shortly after,

('' Evil Dead'', ''

Red Riding Hood "Little Red Riding Hood" is a European fairy tale about a young girl and a sly wolf. Its origins can be traced back to several pre-17th century European folk tales. The two best known versions were written by Charles Perrault and the Brothe ...

'') was introduced to Candy and he was signed for his first lead role in a feature film as Candy in '' Queen of Carthage'', directed by Mardana Mayginnes. Candy commenced his solo music career in 2012 by playing in

's bars and pubs. He helped establish live music venue, The Portland Public House as the in-house musician and event manager. Candy immersed himself in the local music community and was given this opportunity to play for audiences that included the likes of Everclear and the

Black Keys Black is a color which results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without hue, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness. Black and white ha ...

, and play with musicians including

Mumford and Sons Mumford may refer to: *Amazing Mumford, a Muppet character on ''Sesame Street'' * ''Mumford'' (film), a 1999 American comedy-drama film * Mumford procedure, also called distal clavicle excision or distal clavicle resection, an orthopedic surgical pr ...

and

Daniel Bedingfield Daniel John Bedingfield (born 3 December 1979) is a New Zealand-British singer, songwriter, record producer and actor. He is the eldest brother of fellow singers Natasha Bedingfield and Nikola Rachelle. He was a judge on '' The X Factor New Z ...

. In January 2013, Rachael Watson (Spin 33 Records) introduced Candy to Matthias Müller of Crazy Planet Records (Germany), which led to a solo career in Germany.

2013–2014

Since relocating to

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European Union by population within ci ...

, Candy has collaborated with the German indie-pop band Abby, DJ

and electro-swing musician

Parov Stelar Marcus Füreder (born 27 November 1974), better known by his stage name Parov Stelar, is an Austrian musician, composer, producer, DJ and designer. His musical style is based on a combination of jazz, house, electro, hip hop, and pop. Biog ...

. His melodies have received positive reviews with the release of his first single "13 Lords", and his featured vocals on

's "The Sun". He achieved prominence with his vocals featured on two tracks, "She Moves" and "Sometimes", on

's debut album "Synthesia". "She Moves" peaked at #9 in Germany and was moderately successful in

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

, Switzerland,

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

and

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

. The single was remixed by Bakermat and Goldfish. Candy's debut EP was released in 2014.

2015–Present

On 4 March 2016, Candy released his first single off his debut album ''Plan A'' called "Back Into It". ''Plan A'' was scheduled to be released on 6 May 2016.

Discography

Albums

* ''Plan A'' (2016)

Singles

As lead artist

* "13 Lords" (2014) * "Holding Up Balloons" (2015) * "Back Into It" (2016)

As featured artist

Other appearances

Filmography

* 2004: Photo double for the character "Edmund" in The Chronicles of Narnia — The Lion The Witch and The Wardrobe * 2011–13: Shorts: ''Go the Dogs'' / ''Harrowing of Hell'' / ''Asyrinthium'' / ''Inoganic'' * 2012: '' Queen of Carthage'' as Graham * 2012: ''Cirque du Soleil: Worlds Away'' * 2013: ''Power Rangers Megaforce'' (TV Series, as a singer in the episode ''Dream Snatcher'')

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Candy, Graham 1991 births Living people New Zealand male singer-songwriters New Zealand male actors People from Auckland 21st-century New Zealand male singers Saint Ann's School (Brooklyn) alumni New Zealand expatriates in Germany