Candiflyp

rett, Matt Lytkowski, and Harry Doyle lived in west halls as freshman and were invited for auditions at Sigma Nu where senior Jim Catrambone - original bass player - was able to host a practice space. Larry aka Larz was soon to join Sigma Nu while Matt joined PIKA, and Harry Phi Sig Delta Sig, which was significant for both practice space and immediate venues for future gigs. The band was a 5 piece with 2 front men, Chris and Larz for about a year. Jim soon graduated and Matt and Chris found Chombus (no one knows his full name) as a stop gap for bass who played for a few months. Meanwhile Matt and Ryan Estrada aka Janke had class together, eventually got to know each other, and once Matt learned Janke played bass he invited him to jam at Harry Doyle's fraternity basement. Concerning the name. Matt came up with it as no one had any better ideas and in 99 the rave scene was strong so the thought was people would hear the name and associate it with a wild night. Most of us thought the name was lame but like anything, it grows on you. The spelling was a result of getting a website domain and Candyflip was taken by an English/London Beatles tribute band. The early months were very very bootstrapped in every way. Vocals were coming out of a guitar amp and the guys didn't have a mixer let alone a PA system. With the line up seemingly set it was time to discover a mixing board, PA speakers, and a hints of professionalism such as a website. At this stage in the game Janke was booking the band via a payphone in Phi Delta Theta's hallway. The Nokia cell phone brick was available but still out of financial reach for Janke. Around this time is when the band parted ways with founder Chris Dilts and opted to handle vocals with Larz and Matt. Like most bands Candiflyp wrote original material and scoffed at covers, until they learned there was some money in it. Being totally broke and gentlemen of flexible values, it didn't take long until the allure of cheap thrills playing frat parties veered the band into more covers. And with 4 fraternity houses as a home base the band quickly gained some traction. So much so that the band was undercutting Philadelphia based booking agents out of sheer ignorance. So when summer gig planning was underway Janke made a phone call to Rick Green of Midnight Sun who to our surprise knew the band, likely because we were undercutting his acts. This sent us on a new adventure opening for Greengenes all summer at some of the bigger night clubs in Dewey and Jersey. Turns out our immaturity, Janke's under age prowess, and general lack of professionalism as mere rock children wasn't too appealing for Rick Green's representation. Lessons were certainly learned, like when the club owner tells your underage ass to get out of the club after your set, you do so! The band continued Penn State bars and night clubs while expanding out to areas like Pittsburg playing with the Buzz Poets. The Buzz Poets had a studio and ended up recording most of our first album "Reservoir Tip" as a result. We did well in Osaka Osaka Japan we're told. We met our good friend Steve Tressnan at PSU who linked up with Larry for many acoustic gigs during this time. And there was always CK our Penn State friend who helped as a sound tech and played with us on occasion. We had a brief stint with Rob Monte of STARS over in North Jersey but not being from the area wasn't helpful gaining a following. Eventually we made our way to West Chester PA where Larz was grew up. It was an open mic night at 15 N sometime around 2003 where we met Mike Dempsey who immediately referred us to Eli Sentman of Apollo Artists Attractions. Mike was instrumental in helping us mature a bit and providing some general guidance. Eli went to work booking us steady and we did our best to not make him look bad with off stage nonsense. From 2004 to 2006 we were on the grind. Vermont to Key West, constantly gigging. Matt and Harry depart - Avery, Bobby, Mike, Lukas, Jared come through

Around 2006 it was time for some change. Harry Doyle couldn't keep up the grind with a big boy job and Matt was looking for some new opportunities and went to play with the Pop Tart Monkeys. Our good friend Avery Coffee filled in for a few months on guitar and introduced us to Bobby Lepor, both from an original project Staydown. A few months later we decided to take a general break as a band. Bobby and Janke played with Last Man Standing for a couple months. After realizing that wasn't working we reformed with Mike Patterson from Last Man on guitar. We were back on the grind for a bit. Somewhere around 2009 we wanted to play more reggae and figured it'd be better for week day lounge type of gigs as well. Mike not being much of a reggae player, we brought in Lukas Pelliccio or Lukas JP. He had an original project The Nomad Clientele so we agreed to be his original band and he'd play covers under Candiflyp. The Nomad material was a nice change up but similar in nature and landed us a few cool opening gigs. Bobby eventually got sick of the grind so being in need of a drummer Lukas led us to Jared Lerew who played with the flyp for a couple years. Mike Patterson came back full time and Lukas ended up playing drums for a bit once Jared moved on. Eventually Lukas left the area for Detroit to finish his graduate studies as a doctorate in communications, which makes us proud but also hilarious at the same time, knowing Lukas in the younger years. At this stage in the game all the guys are older, married, or somewhat settled with work and life. Slowing up a bit was a welcomed transition. Aspirations of making it "big time" have long since been a priority but putting on a good show was and will always be paramount. Then suddenly Harry Doyle comes storming back like a golden knight ready to rip. Too much exposure to open mic blues jams and loads of classic rock sets left him wanting. Now with our work life balance all somewhat aligned we are more than content playing a handful of shows a month being sure not to over extend ourselves. And as it turns out, its good this way. Its more appealing playing less. And here we are, ready celebrate 25 years as a band doing band things. It brings us great joy to get people together, those that look forward to a nice, loud, rock show. There's even a handful of couples that met at a show, married, reproduced, then followed up with divorce. Full circle! That might be an indicator as to why we don't do many weddings. We're content being slightly un polished without keys, samples, or bells whistles for that matter. Although our "heyday" may be in the past, who knows what's to come. We're lucky to have found guys into the same music, living at the same time, and enjoy playing together live for all these years. As we get ready to celebrate 25 years we'd like to give a shout out to Eli Sentman, RIP, for your help getting us on the map. We've lost a few friends and family over the years who've influenced us tremendously. The list is growing naturally but you're all remembered fondly. We're lucky to be around long enough to now see the next generation of family and players taking shape and for that we are forever grateful. Rock steady people