This fall 2009 issue of Dutch Felderhof magazine (by Rik Felderhof) is about inspiration. Apart from this interview Candy shows several commercial clothing (not translated). Here’s my rough translation of the full text of this Candy Dulfer interview:

HEAVEN ON EARTH
According to Candy

In September she starts her 40th fall but her nature gets warmer. She fights for solutions, comfort and courage because she has to deal with a lot of heavy stuff. “I know I’m not here just to play saxophone. My mission is to put on the light, everywhere it’s dark. I love to explore all corners of the human mind.”

“Once I did a sort of personality test, where I had to imagine my parents. First I saw my father with sunglasses, his handsome face and his saxophone. He was gone often, but when he got home, he always created a good and cosy time. After that I visualised my mum with a little pony tail, wearing a thick vest, walking against the wind… And I am half of these two. I need, just like my father, attention and applause. I got fighter’s spirit from my mother, I can hold on to people, what has to be done, needs to be done! I don’t give up easily. Not easily… no, never. I never give up.”

Halfway summer and fall, on September 19th 1969, she saw daylight. Candy Dulfer grew indeed into a child of light. Stronger than the sun or the moon (because these disappear from time to time), she tries to help every friend who’s in need with her power. People of every colour, race and nature, captains of industry and addicts, from East and West, no one excepted, can count on Candy Dulfer who calls herself ‘multiculti’. A young, blonde lady from the state North Holland, as far as her length goes you would barely notice her in a restaurant, but she’s part of the top saxophone players of the world. Tomorrow they are either in Moscow or Tokyo, in London, Los Angeles or Veendam. Top acts invite her to play during a tour or studio session. Prince, Madonna, Van Morrison, Aretha Franklin, Lionel Richie. Candy makes sure that people can relax, go on a razzle and enjoy.

“I WANT TO ENJOY ALL DAY, GOOD FOOD, CHATTING, PLAYING. I really would like to build a circus where it’s good un all day and all night.”

Even in the best world the sun sets and even in paradise there was a serpent. Can you accept that death is indissoluble with live?
I don’t accept death when it concerns children or young people. Neither do I like the thought that my parents are gone one day. There are moments that I get caught by that and living without Inge and Hans is an unbearable thought. I am at an age now, that you’re independent. You’re supposed to be on your own. There are always people who think I’m too close with my parents. At one moment I thought they were right, but now I made the conclusion that I am not on my own at all and that I don’t want to let go of that bond with my father and mother. They are a part of me, just like music, just like love, without I am not complete. I still have myself in threefold. I have my own opinion, my own advice and idea. Sometimes I hear something and I can not seem to make an opinion on it. I call my father what he thinks of it, because he knows the human character, he’s been through a lot, therefore I value his judgement. He always puts it in a historical perspective. I am from after the Second World War. Still that’s a measure point: what is good and what is bad? What does racism do? Hoe to react when people are looking for shelter at yours? Where do you stand? What happens when you have a real winter of hunger? Suppose I was born during that winter, what would I have done to get food? My grandfather got off the war without a scratch. From a sort of feeling of guilt he’d bought all Lou de Jong books. Not only that, he also brought in every publication about 1940-1945. I stayed many times over at his and I read Lou de Jong when I was nine. Those books brought me up, too. The question I ask myself is: What do you do when your neighbour is a Jew and the Germans want to interrogate you or take in. What is your strength then? Would you let them torture you or would you betray your neighbour? In all, which choices do you make in life? Very often I am afraid that I make the wrong choices. I call everyone and ask: “What would you do? Why?” And finally, I will ask my mother as well.
One day I have to part, but not yet. My father does not want to think out loud about his death. We don’t talk about it. Only every now and then he asks me to be careful with his old record collection and not throw them away.
I don’t even know what he exactly wishes for; it’ll probably be something like: “Put it on fire!” No ceremony or bullshit. But I find cremation rather violent. Someone has died and then you burn this person. In our family we only bury and most preferably we add a microphone in the coffin because one of my great-aunts was apparently dead and she recovered in the mortuary.
One’s death may give you purifying feeling. If it’s not too cruel, you’ll become a stronger and more conscious person. You realise that death of a loved one is an assignment to say beautiful things to each other even more often.

Are you convinced that death is the absolute end or do you believe in a continuation, in an eternity that some people call heaven?
I doubt, but I believe in little gestures. Like a picture frame from a grandfather who died recently. A white butterfly flying into the room and disappears accordingly. A sort of biochemical happening that tells me: the body is dead, but something is still hanging around, but what is it? I do not believe in a heaven, not in God and not in life after death. You have to create a heaven on earth. I was very aware of my grandfather’s and grandmother’s passing,

“I DO NOT BELIEVE IN A HEAVEN, NOT IN GOD AND NOT IN LIFE AFTER DEATH. YOU HAVE TO CREATE A HEAVEN ON EARTH.”

through that I have lost my fear for death. I stayed at their bedside until the last moment, because whey they felt really cold I was convinced that they passed away. How do you cope with such sorrow? Each and every pain gets a place by talking about it with others. One gets drunk, another puts a needle in his arm, but I have to talk and laugh and cry. I have played a lot with Surinam and Maluku musicians and they accept death as it is inevitable, which you have to learn to deal with. Crying out loud, screaming, kissing the deceased one, but don’t forget: your life goes on, eat good and delicious food and drink. They gave me the last bit of feeling that I missed; the openness that I’d needed to through overboard my shyness.”

What is your answer to the dark side of life?“I force myself to optimism, because I know the other side does not lead anywhere. My mum is real optimist by heart. She can go through horrible things in life, but the next morning she will enjoy life again. She did not have an easy life, but her resilience is enormous. I would stay in bed for three days and after comfort of six people I would feel overwhelmed with love and than I would get up. If you can resist depression and pessimism, you should do that, because it leads nowhere. I fight for solutions, comfort and courage, my mission is to put on the light, everywhere that it’s dark. I saw and see a lot of heavy stuff around me, people that go downhill, have sorrow, are ill of addicted. Since I was a little girl I heard stories from visiting musicians and artists about tensions and divorces. I have friends from different origins and I always want to bring them all together. In my network there are doctors, drug addicts, people from Surinam, Hungary and America, some posh people and I know many poor folks from young and very old. I was raised multiculti and I have seen that handing out fun is one of the best talents that a man has. I constantly try to show the sunny side. And therefore I invite people for a party or a performance. People then say: “Good, thanks for inviting me, otherwise I had not come and then I would have missed this night. Would never had heard of Maceo Parker, or would I have never met this nice boy.” Gradually I learned that this is my place. Before I wanted to become the best saxophone player in the world. Now I’ve learned that it’s my mission to escort people to beautiful places or to point them the way, in a way they have joy and fun. It is a privilege to perform all around and everywhere on the world. It’s also a honour to get to know all the ‘corners of the human mind.’ I get multi-emotional by all the conversations, you know. Not that I’ve gone through the valleys… And what is a low? A low from a headache may be low if you haven’t experienced something bad before. When my father got cancer, three years ago, it was not just though, but it was a deep dark low phase we had to go through all together. Last two years he’s in the clear. He’s doing well. He has more shows than I have and he plays like a devil. There are so many emotions. I keep listening to that! It’s not only a form of love, it’s also pure selfishness. I want to enjoy the whole day, I only want fun, fun, fun. Good food, chatting, playing and cosiness. I really would like to build a circus where it’s good fun all day and all night. I get terribly frightened by people who have irreversible sorrow. The scary thing is that I can not change anything in that… besides let them talk and listen myself, but I’m not a very good listener.

"There will always be people who think I’m much to close with my parents. But they belong to me, just like music, just like love.”

Dulfer nowadays is a brand in the music industry. Worldwide you and your father contributed so much to let millions of people feel better. “As far as that concerns Prince said something beautiful about my dad: “You should really consider the name Dulfer as an A Trademark. Your father started with nothing, he’d put with blood, sweat and tears the Dulfer name on the map, by his unique and fantastic saxophone playing. You have to be careful with that and you should pass that on! It is your duty to be proud on that name.” Prince’d noticed that I was too humble every now and then, when I said that I just play something unthinkingly. He said I disgraced my father with that attitude. “You are a Dulfer! A world star, daughter of the great Hans Dulfer, who started with zero records sold and now millions of records and CDs are sold.” Dulfer is also a character. My father hadn’t had an easy youth. His parents were not warm and humiliated him. There were always intrigues. At age 16 he fell in love with my mother. My father had to fight for who he is. I understand him very well that he initially did not want a child, because than he would not be able to practise saxophone at home any more and that would blew his career. But his love conquered everything. The minute I came out of Inge’s belly, he loved me. That was irreversible happiness. His love never ends, he’s been extremely patient with me – unbelievable. Thanks to him I know the meaning of unconditional love. My mum shows that too, in her way. She is the strongest woman I know, literally and figurative. When I have troubles with the car and are in the south of Limburg, I call her and she comes to get me. She carries all, cleans, organises, fights and works her ass off for me. Love never gets tired, they say. And of course I get the desire to have a Dulfer child. Yeah and later on a family orchestra (laughing). I really want to give birth to a drummer because at the moment there are not many good drummers in Holland. But see, my kid then says: “Mum , I want to become a biologist!”

“I really want to give birth to a drummer because there are not many good drummers in Holland.”

Candy in short
At age 5 Candy Dulfer (1969) starts playing drums, but only 2 years later she switches to altsaxophone. Soon she plays at young age together with her father Hans Dulfer. In 1982 she debuts on the North Sea Jazz Festival Three years later she creates her own band Funky Stuff. They have international success. In 1989 she scores a number 1 hit with Lily Was Here, together with Eurhythmics guitarist Dave Stewart. Meanwhile she appears as guest at Prince, Aretha Franklin, Living Colour, Van Morrison and Pink Floyd. In 2007 her dream comes through when she gets her own TV series Candy Meets… where she visits several musical friends and interviews them. Recently her new Deluxe Luxury double CD Funked Up & Chilled Out came out in stores. Here she shows two sides of hers: a driven stage animal and the modest seducer.













[source: Felderhof magazine fall 2009]

Now we know why Prince kicked her to the curb.