q & a with kevin martin (4 of 6)

q: going back to candlebox, has there ever a time during your evolution in your career where you wanted to quit? with bands there's always ups and downs and obviously you're still together, so you didn't quit for good. in the past when there's been that desire to want to quit, if there ever has been that desire to give it up and go do something else, what is it that's kept you going...to persevere?

a: i don't...know if i can do anything else...really. i mean i do graphic designs and stuff like that and i do artwork. but i don't...i don't think there's ever been any one moment when i wanted to quit. i think that there's gonna come a point. you know my wife and i are expecting our first child in january and we wanna have more. i don't wanna be...away. you know my dad travelled a lot when i was growing up and it was real hard on me.

q: is that when he was playing in the big band?

a: no he wasn't playing any more. he was a salesman. he was a sales manager for a company called carey salt. so he traveled a lot. and i don't want...i don't want that for my child, for my children. you know? this is not a life that is easy, at all. and you get real tired. and uh...and it's not that i don't love it. it's just that there's just gonna come a point where i'm gonna say 'i don't wanna do this anymore because it's just boring the shit out of me.' but what keeps me going, really, is the music and i love...i love performing, i love writing and i love singing, and i love playing music. so...right now that's what keeps me going. but there'll come a point. i mean, there's no way i'm gonna be running around like fucking mick jagger. i just don't care that much. you know? i suppose if we were the rolling stones it'd be a different story.

q & a with kevin martin (3 of 6)

q: what's in high rotation right now on your ipod?

a: kings of leon.

q: kings of leon?

a: yeah, the new one, because of the times. fucking record is brilliant. that and tv on the radio. and uh...bloc party. their new record's...real good. um...what else am i listening to? the cinder road record, actually. the band we're on tour with. good band. good record. that's about it.

q & a with kevin martin (2 of 6)

q: in what way is candlebox the same band that it was when you got started? and i'm sure there are many. and in what way is candlebox different now? and obviously, there are many answers to that question, as well. so, how is candlebox the same as it was and how has it evolved to become a different entity?

a: well i think we all still come from the same, uh, we still come from the same musical tastes, the same approach to songwriting that we did back in the day. you know, we're still friends. still the same guys in the band...except for bardi who's passed the bar and is now practicing law in seattle. and we still have the same idiosyncrasies and the same bitches and moans. they come along with being a band.

the main differences are, uh, there's an entirely different respect for one another's musical abilities and i think that just comes from growing up. it allows us to, uh, to kind of push ourselves a bit further...push one another a bit further in our talents as musicians. and that comes from the live show and uh and the recording process and the writing process and all that stuff. we're very...we're very vocal about, you know, our likes and dislikes. and it's not what we would have done...years ago. it just...it just comes from growing up, i think, and that's the main difference, really, is that there's a newfound respect for one another. and it makes it really easy to tour. it makes it really easy to get up and play shows and get in the studio and write songs.

q & a with kevin martin (1 of 6)

this is going to be the first of six postings featuring excerpts of an interview i had with candlebox frontman, kevin martin at the plex (2390 w. aviation ave., n. charleston) on wed. july 18. i decided to break each question and answer up and post individually for readability, so here we go...

q: speaking about longevity with respect to your career, what has been one of your secrets to maintaining a loyal fanbase over the years?

a: um, i don't know if there's really...i don't know if it's really a secret. you know candlebox went from...selling, you know, whatever, 4 million records and then we took 7 years off, and then come back you know you obviously don't have 4 million fans comin' to see you play. i think it has a lot to do with the songs that candlebox wrote. um, and a constant...you know we always kind of kept a...a bit of a presence on the internet. and it was always something kinda popping up. you know? and that continued on until about 2004...or 2003, actually, or 2004 when myspace really kinda started to grow and a friend of mine said, "hey, you should start a candlebox myspace page because, you know, everybody's doin' it and you know, who knows what's gonna happen." and of course it's now well over a million some odd views and 3 million plays and 60 thousand friends and all this other bullshit. i think that that probably would be the thing that kinda kept us out there is keeping a presence in the world. and also because radio stations will play us...which is shocking. so again...i guess the songs that candlebox wrote and a web presence. i mean it's not like we were taking out ads in magazines and shit.