Dulfer says, “I also like to surround myself with good musicians, because it makes me play better as well. You need that. You need other people to grab onto and climb up the ladder with. When I play with someone like Prince, it really makes a difference in my playing, and it makes me want to go so much higher. He is so good with his instruments and the stuff that he does, that he has time to look around, to see what is happening while he is playing. That is a sign of greatness when people are so good that they can communicate well, while playing their complicated stuff. I just finished playing with Marcus Miller a couple of days ago and it is the same thing with him. These people are so great that when you play with them you get an energy boost and feel like you can do so much more.”  Dulfer toured with Prince on three occasions, 1998, 2002 and 2004.  She says she finds the same type of energy while performing with long-time boyfriend and bandmate Thomas Bank (keyboard player).

Listeners will hear lots of energy coming from Dulfer’s new CD Candy Store, recently released in Europe and North America. “One of the great effects of music is it gives (concertgoers) energy and makes them want to dance. Just the right combination of notes can make people jump up and go crazy. (The ability to) make people cry or laugh is such a beautiful thing.  To me those emotions are important. I love to give people joy. I like to get them up and dancing,” says Dulfer.

Although she never faced any real barriers to her onstage performances which began at age six (not that is not a typo!), with her father Hans Dulfer, an accomplished tenor saxophone player, she has at times as an adult had to deal with the fact that she is a woman saxophonist. “Sometimes I come in, people don’t really know me and they see a blonde girl, dressed like a woman and looking nice so they make the assumption that I can’t play.  It gets a bit tiresome to have people ask you (she makes her voice deeper like a man’s), ‘Are you carrying the saxophone for your husband?’ When I do play, most of the time I surprise them, and they go, ‘You blow my mind.’ It is a lot of fun to prove people wrong,” she says.

Candy Store would not be a true reflection of Dulfer’s personality or her music had she not taken some risks. She says, “There are many different styles of music on the album. I just mixed them together. I hate purists who put music into boxes. I really think that is bad and I have always felt that way. This is the way that I grew up. I am the daughter of a jazz musician, but we would go to pop concerts, listen to ska, house and disco. It was all good to me. That is what I also want the audience to find out.”

Another aspect of her music that Dulfer feels distinguishes her from others is, “I try to make instrumental songs that linger a little longer, than people just liking to listen to them. A lot of instrumental songs are difficult to remember, because they are not really songs, just cute little lines. I would rather have people remember my melody and the ideas behind the songs. I can always take them (the songs) live, and stretch them out or do whatever I want with them.”

Although at the time of our interview Candy Store had only been out in Europe for a couple of weeks, audiences had already settled on some favourite tunes. While early indications were that “Summertime” was the favourite tune, “La Cabana” was also receiving a lot of fan support. The tune “Music = Love,” is a song Dulfer has played in concert for a few years but only recorded on Candy Store and it is also a fan favourite (US release Sept. 18th).

The song “11:58” from Candy Store appears to have brought Dulfer a lot of pleasure, “I was just noodling on a Wurlitzer and that line (she vocalizes from the song) kept coming through. We thought it sounded pretty good so we made a whole song out of it. It made me so proud that finally I could write something without the saxophone (as the instrument of composition). It wasn’t preconceived, it was just a beautiful melody, but I thought it was one that I could get without compromising myself. It is really from the heart. “

When she was still a teenager and recording the song and video “Lily Was Here” with Dave Stewart, she remembers him saying, ‘It is going to be a big hit, just watch and see.’ She also recalls thinking at the time, ‘Ya, sure.’  “I thought it was a joke, but it was a big hit. Different elements made that song a big hit. I believe it was the right time, the right place and the right moment,” she says.

‘Lily Was Here” was a big hit, and despite the humble opinion she has of herself there is no doubting that legions of fans, musicians and producers would eagerly line up to tell you that Candy Dulfer is still a big hit today.

Click here to read the CD review for Candy Store.

Photos by:  Carin Verbruggen ©

Interview by Joe Montague

July 2007 

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