Hemming, formerly known as Candice Martello, is an acoustic singer-songwriter hailing from suburban Philadelphia. Hemming is no stranger to music. She comes from a family of musicians and writers, so at a young age she began playing guitar and found solace in music. While most kids in middle school and high school were playing sports and hanging out at the mall, Hemming was playing in an indie-punk all-girl band. Her self-described “teen angst” and growing up feeling like an outcast led to some of her fondest memories and best material. Every Saturday she would wake up and go to her friends place at 10am and spend the entire day rehearsing. However a bad case of stage fright kept her away from the microphone — whenever Martello played new songs for her band mates, she’d insist they go into the next room and listen through the doorway, too afraid to let them actually watch her sing.
While attending college at Drexel University in Philly, she studied photography and became very involved with the singer-songwriter community. Martello discovered that the music scene in Philly was an amazing, tight-knit group that bred lots of talent and she became emboldened by this support enough to get behind the mic herself. House parties served as music venues well known by locals and where Martello played her fair share of basement shows.
Hemming draws inspiration from seasoned musicians such as Cat Power, The Breeders, Metric, and the Smiths — Patti Smith, Elliott Smith, and Robert Smith, that is. Her songs are as raw as they are vulnerable and the honesty of her music is refreshing and relatable. Her vocals have a heart-wrenching twang and each line she sings leaves you with a visceral feeling of wanting more. “When I’m sad I want to listen to the saddest songs,” she said. “I want my music to make people feel things, and be relatable and be a soundtrack to their life.”
After graduating, she began performing alongside her friend Nick Fanelli as one half of the punk duo Omar. At the time, few women were playing in Philly bands, and even fewer were fronting their own punk groups. Martello and Fanelli stood out and the rapidly developed a local fan base before an offer arrived to fly to Los Angeles in 2014 to take part in the VH1 reality series about up-and-coming musicians called Make or Break: The Linda Perry Project.
During her time on the show, Martello had an epiphany and when asked by Perry to play a new song she launched into “Vitamins”, an emotional, minor-key ballad that was much slower than Omar’s fast-paced punk. Martello’s performance brought the Grammy-winning producer to tears with her captivating vocals and raw, relatable lyrics including “swallow me whole without even thinking” which talks about someone feeling used and being someone else’s emotional crutch. Vitamins later became a viral hit, peaking at #23 on the Billboard “Trending 140” chart and #13 on the “Emerging Artist Billboard Trending 140” chart.
This distinctive performance hinted at something bigger for Martello and Perry urged her that she was not somebody else’s duo partner, but a solo artist who needed her own share of the spotlight. With Fanelli’s blessing, Martello backed out of Omar and launched her solo career under the name ‘Hemming’. To add to the happy ending, Fanelli also agreed to become Hemming’s manager going forward.
Hemming is a big advocate of saying yes to things. “Fear is good. Don’t be afraid to make scary decisions and do what you want to do. When you’re most afraid of something you should do it.” She said. “Say yes to a lot of things.”
Hemming ultimately ended up winning Make or Break, an honor that earned her a record deal with Perry’s record label, Custard Records. Songs like “Paper Crane” (a stripped-down ballad that’s equal parts lullaby and campfire song) and “Pins and Needles” (a soft, almost ghostly tribute to a lover who’s long since left the building) fill the tracklist with inanimate objects. Make no mistake; this is a biographical album, one that personifies everyday objects — from vitamin pills to origami sculptures — in order to reveal intimate details about its creator. The self-titled albumis the story of Hemming, set to a soundtrack that’s sometimes lonely, sometimes lively and consistently lovely.
The singer still has personal struggles with her recent overnight success, but this was far from overnight, as she has been creating and making music her whole life. Hemming, whose heart and soul are invariably present in each line of her song, is an introvert by nature and is still getting used to occasionally being recognized (or being insulted, for that matter). On a recent trip to LA Hemming recalls someone yelling, “I didn’t know Pat Benatar was in town!” trying to take a dig at the singer, who took it as the utmost compliment. “I’m from Philly,” she said. “I know what a real insult is.” But don’t be fooled by her punk rock attitude, Hemming’s music is heartbreakingly cathartic. Her rhythmic, folksy, room-splitting croon produces a haunting experience for her audience. With the honesty of her music, as she bares down to a song’s meat and bones, it is undeniably clear that tugging on her audience’s heart strings is exactly what she aims for.