Frequently Asked Questions

last updated March 12, 2004

Does lipkandy still take trades?

A: Definitely! Send your zine, tape or whatever to our p.o. box and you'll get a brand spanking new CD in the mail.

Q: What does lipkandy mean? How did you come up with the name?

A: lipkandy is swedish for breath mint. everyone seems to think it's either something obscene or something cute. so, the important question is what does lipkandy mean to you?

Q: I want to learn to play guitar. What kind of guitar should I get? What do you play?

A: everyone is different. you're going to have to find out for yourself what kind of guitar and amp work best for you. and you should know that you won't sound very good at first no matter how expensive your guitar is but stick with it! The only way to get better is to sound like crap for a while. As far as what we play, melissa s. plays a souped up gibson melody maker because she likes the neck and the chunky sound of it. I play a Fender Lead III or Lead II because they're cheap, small and can go from a deeper growl to that lovely telecaster-y twang with ease.

Q: Did you really record your CD yourself?

A: Yep. We did it all on the computer including mixing, mastering, etc except the drums which were recorded by christian cassan in his basement studio! (thank you christian!). learning as we went. Caution: this is not for everyone. A lot of angst, worry and hair-pulling was involved.

Q: Are you two a couple?

A: *cough* um, uh...a couple of what?

Q: What do your songs mean? What is rosaries about? Who is everyday smile about? Who is the sound about?

A: even the two of us interpret our songs differently and we write them all together. so they mean whatever you want. everyday smile is about you. the sound is a love song we wrote to our fans. rosaries is about the Reformation and Martin Luther.

Q: How do you write your songs?

A: it depends. sometimes melissa s. will come up with a cool idea and I'll work with her to turn it into a song or sometimes it's the other way around. And then there are those moments when we sit down to play and end up writing a song on the spot. But with only a few exceptions we write the music first and the vocals after.

Q: Where were you from 1998 and 2000? What happened to you guys?

A; We were in Kentucky, Connecticut and Brooklyn. I'm so impressionable and na•ve (I'm from kentucky after all) that I wound up in a cult and it took all of lipkandy's vast corporate resources to rescue and deprogram me.

Q: Who played drums on "this is not a love song"?

A: The amazing Brendan O'Malley from LoveChild and Sammy played drums on the EP.

Q: Which one are you? The blonde or the dark haired melissa?

A: I'm the dark-haired melissa. the blonde was involved in a traumatic temping incident and has been unable to type ever since.

Q: Is the blonde single? Is she straight?

A: ask her. what am I? chopped liver?

Q: Who are your favorite bands?

A: hmmmm, the answer to this question can change on a daily basis, but right now I'd have to say (in no particular order) the gossip *swoon*, spinanes, the moves (!!), longstocking, le tigre, the goddess kim deal in all her incarnations (the breeders, pixies, amps), go sailor, helium, and sleater-kinney. I've been listening to a lot of cheesey 80s goodness lately too (new order, pat benatar, culture club, berlin, echo and the bunnymen). and of course, there's always a place for joan jett in my CD changer.