Groupie Candles adds ambience to aroma alongside applicable playlists

Courtesy of Jenny Lefort

Jenny Lefort has a unique love for music and candlemaking. Through her business, Groupie Candles, she found a way to combine the two, creating fragrant candles that come with a scannable playlist.

But this did not begin as a business venture for Lefort. Roughly two years ago, the style of craft-making began as merely a hobby.

“I was doing some late-night TikTok scrolling for depression and saw that pouring candles was supposed to be really therapeutic and relaxing, and I kind of jumped on that,” Lefort says. “I ordered the most ridiculous, expensive kit you could get, and was just like, ‘Alright, I’m gonna do this. I’m not gonna be depressed anymore.’”

The idea to make scannable playlist candles came from Lefort’s interest in the way that scent and sound can come together to impact memory. “Nearly everyone we meet can go back to a time or place when asked about their favorite song or moment. We wanted to capture that moment in scent and sound,” their website reads.

Lefort uses natural soy wax and vegan, cruelty-free ingredients in each candle, and packages the candles in recyclable steel vessels. 

Each candle burns for about 60 hours, and the average playlist length is around 30 hours currently. The goal, eventually, is for each playlist to be 60 hours long, in order to be collaborative with the candle burn length—so Lefort is always adding more songs to the playlists, even taking suggestions via direct message through the Groupie Candles’ Instagram. 

Courtesy of Jenny Lefort

Ideas for new candles come to Lefort rather randomly, whether through conversations, a specific song they like, or a show that they went to. 

One of the newest additions to the playlist candles collection is the “Love Letter to Kansas City” candle. The candle—of course—has to smell like barbecue, so Lefort used fragrances of sandalwood, violet resin, and smoked cedar to imitate this scent. Notes of iris—the official flower of KC—are also apparent in the candle. The playlist includes songs by Tech N9ne, Janelle Monáe, Waxahatchee, and a plethora of other local bands and musicians, with a little bit of each genre, making it easy for everyone to enjoy.

Another line of candles that Lefort particularly enjoyed working on was the Scent, Sound & Sense collection. This collection is a group of three cause-related candles: Melt the Guns, Liberation, and Queer, Trans & Drag Is Not A Crime.

“I feel really proud to be able to take what I know how to do, and use that as a vehicle to amplify causes and things that are important to me, and kind of fight back with wax,” Lefort says.

The other playlist candles are either focused on a specific genre, such as ‘90s Grunge or Hip Hop Jams, or encompass a certain theme, such as Nostalgia or Love Songs. The themed candles include a wide variety of genres to make them accessible to all music lovers.

Sad Songs has the longest playlist, with around 1000 songs and counting. 

With each candle sale, Lefort donates $1 to a cause—regularly donating to both local and global causes—and she’s vocal about mental health and LGBTQ+ issues on social media.

Currently, every dollar is going to Palestine. Lefort has been following Palestinian journalists who share lists of GoFundMe pages and Venmo accounts of Palestinians in need, such as those who are having a child or those trying to leave, whom she donates directly to. 

Courtesy of Jenny Lefort

On top of it all, Lefort also offers blacklight tarot readings through their business. The readings can take place online through a video call, in person at their studio in Lawrence, or as a service at pop-ups for Groupie Candles that take place around the region. Lefort has been practicing tarot since high school—and of course—how they got their current UV tarot deck, created by artist thevioletaveline, relates to music as well—She picked it up at a Modest Mouse show at the merch table, and it’s been her go-to deck ever since. 

At first, Groupie Candles was just a side gig for Lefort. However, since they got laid off from their corporate job back in November, it’s quickly had to pivot into a full-time gig, as they started offering wholesale services. 

“It’s terrifying,” she says. “But it’s going well. People seem really receptive and into the idea.”

Lefort says that community has been especially important to their business’s success, creating one of the most positive aspects of fruition from Groupie Candles.

“The best, just the most supportive community of makers and small business,” Lefort says. “So many people have really read the message of giving back and being very open about struggles, and being honest about mental health and that the world is a shitshow—I think that’s resonated with a lot of people. I think a lot of small businesses are afraid to put their politics first and foremost.”

Groupie Candles are available online at their website or in-person at Fetch, 12th Street Post, and Raygun—whom they recently did a collab with, creating a playlist candle to pair with their ‘“Places You Can Be Shot In America” shirt. 

They also pop up regularly around KC and Lawrence and will be making an appearance at Boulevardia and the Just For Her Event in June.