When you guys first started, did you have any idea that you’d still be here 30 years later making music, touring, and picking up new fans along the way?
No I mean honestly, I think when we started Candlebox, we all thought, well, this is, you know, either going to work or it’s not. And Seattle was just so overwhelmed at the time musically that we just thought we weren’t even going to get a chance to play in the city. It was kind of an overcrowded playground, if you will. So it’s like, we’re waiting for the swings, you know, and then the first record came out and I mean, it just took off. And I think that was the point where we realized that we may have something here that’s just going to give us a little bit of a rise outside of being four knuckleheads from Seattle, you know, working day jobs. But yeah, I don’t think we had any idea it was going to last as long as we did.
So what do you think it was that kind of set you guys apart from everybody else trying to do the same thing? Especially with Seattle being such a saturated area in the music scene at that time.
Well, I mean, I think that it was our songwriting really, it was just so different to everything that was coming out of Seattle. And I think at the time as well, it kind of looks a lot different than anything that was being played on rock radio at the time. The fact that we released a blues song as our first single, the closest thing that I can think of at the time, that would have even been remotely close would be a Black Rose song or something. So I think that that’s what kind of used to help us to stand out in that marketplace. Certainly in Seattle, we were the only band that was on that kind of sound, other than maybe Mother Love. So we just were very lucky. And I know that it has a lot to do with the fact that we were about four and five years younger than a lot of the guys like Chris Cornell and Layne Staley, all those guys that had been putting records out. So our influences were, I think, quite a bit different. I grew up strictly on punk rock music and New Wave. I love Blondie and The Clash is my favorite band. Pete was raised on Iron Maiden and Ozzy Osbourne and, you know, great metal. And our drummer was a jazz cat. So we had all these different influences that we kind of threw into the pot that created the Candlebox sound, and I think it was different enough for people to pay attention.
With the end of your tour and your retirement kind of on the horizon, is there anything you’re most excited about in regards to taking a step back from Candlebox?
Well, I’m excited to see where music goes for the next few years. I mean, I’ve been so inspired by a lot of the alternative rock and roll that’s coming out at the moment. And I think that there’s boundaries that are being pushed musically that haven’t been pushed in a while, and I enjoy that.
I think for me, it’s putting Candlebox away and going into retirement from the touring lifestyle – I mean, listen, I’ll still play acoustic shows for charities if somebody asks me to do that because I have my own foundation that is going to take, you know, a lot of time for me to be busy with. I mean, it’s a small challenge to start a foundation in this country and try and make something happen with it. So, you know, my charity is going to take up a lot of my time, which I’m also excited about because that’s something that means a lot to me and I want to get back to a community that’s given me so much.
So, I mean, what I’m excited about is where the next twenty, thirty years of my life are going to take me. I mean, I’ve really enjoyed these 30 years and I hope that at least I have another 30 more. And I’m looking forward to where that’s going to lead me.
So I know you’ve mentioned in some past interviews that while you are retiring from touring that you might still have some music in you. If or when you do release that, do you think it’s going to be more Candlebox music or is it going to be a side project?
No, I don’t. I have so many side projects that I’ve done. I’ve got one with my producer; we have a full record ready to go and, you know, he’s like, “we’re going to do that.” Well, we can put it out. I mean, I don’t think we’re certainly going to tour on it. But, you know, if something happens, we’ll definitely go out and play some shows. I mean, I’m just never going to tour with Candlebox again. And I’m not going to make Candlebox records anymore. It’s time for me to put that part of my life away.
Pete, Bardi and Scott and I, you know, we’re talking about doing a thing with the Seattle Symphony next Christmas. So I mean, there will be one more show with the original band. We just haven’t decided where that’s going to be and how it’s going to go. But we’re trying to figure that out.
With this being the final Candlebox tour, have you noticed that the energy of the crowd is different or maybe more excited just to kind of get the chance to see you guys that one last time?
Yeah, I mean, it’s been kind of crazy watching, you know, first of all, the merchandise. I mean, people are loving our merch, which is awesome. But yeah, we’re seeing just a really great turnout. We’re seeing a lot of people coming in to meet and greets to just bring the records that they want us to sign and tell us how great they are that, you know, we gave them thirty years and stuff. It’s been really amazing and I’m just, I’m loving every minute of it. I’m just so stoked that I’m going out with my friends and with the record that I wanted to make and wrapping everything with a nice bow tie to it.
Looking back over your career, have there been any standout places, venues or any favorite moments?
There’s just so many: opening for Rush, opening for Metallica in the summer of ‘94, playing with Daryl Smith, touring with the Flaming Lips. I mean, touring with Henry Rollins in Europe, playing in Glasgow, one of my favorite cities in the world. New York, Chicago. The list goes on and on. I’ve got so many favorite places and I’ve been so lucky to be able to see them all and really just enjoy this experience.
I mean, it’s not every day that you get to be a rock star and you get to go to every place in the world that you possibly dream about, you know, it’s such a wonderful thing. I mean, I could tell you for the next 30 minutes about all the places that I love, because it’s just so many. It’s such a great life and I’m just so grateful that I had an audience that’s allowed me to do this for 30 years.
So I know you said that there’s going to be one more show with the original lineup and I know you guys have done some reunions over the years. What’s the dynamic kind of like between the shows with the original lineup versus the newer lineup. I know from when I saw you guys, it looks like you guys clearly mesh well on stage regardless of who it is, but there’s got to be a different dynamic, right?
Oh, it’s way different. I mean, whenever Pete, Bardi, Scott and I get together, you know, it’s old school. It’s like the first rehearsal. It’s so funny, it’s literally like riding a bike. We don’t play these songs for, you know, 20 years together or whatever then get to the first rehearsal and the first song we play, we play it perfectly. It’s so funny. And it’s really such a pleasure to get together with the guys.
I mean, you know, life took us all into different places back in 1999 and 2000. And I know that we just did a documentary that’s coming out at the end of the year. I actually saw it because I’m one of the producers on it, and I was just so happy to see the stories that Bardi and Scott and Pete shared in that documentary that I hadn’t heard before, you know. So the dynamic with them is basically like four brothers getting back together after not seeing one another for a few years.
With Island and Brian and BJ and Adam, these are my band of brothers, you know, these are the guys that I see twenty-four hours a day for three, four months at a time and we just have a blast because we’re like, you know, teenagers playing on a playground, and when I do get together with Bardi, Pete and Scott, it’s like, four brothers, getting back together having a bottle of whiskey and chatting about life.
With the different lineup changes, has that also affected the creative process at all? Do you guys pretty much get in the room and it’s just one of you writing, or do you all collaborate on the writing?
You know, we all collaborate. Back in the day when the band first started, I would write just some lyrics and Pete and Bardi and Scott and I would knock out the songs and work on parts either individually or together, which is always kind of a collaboration. But with Island, BJ, Brian and Adam–for this record, particularly –it was just about who’s got what and let’s start, because we just basically rented a recording studio for two different writing sessions and if somebody started playing something, we tried to turn it into a song; it was just an absolute blast to do that. I think that first writing session in Baltimore, we wrote ten songs in four days. I mean, I was just like, “What’s happening? This is awesome.” I had never experienced writing that fast so it was a real treat.
I guess it’s changed quite a bit over these thirty years. When I would initially sit down with Pete to write, like when we wrote Cover Me, that song took us about a week to write because we were still figuring one another out and figuring ourselves out musically as well. So when it came time to start working on songs, we just had no idea what we were doing. Now that I’ve got thirty years under my belt, and I’ve written how many records worth of music, not to mention for other people, I just kind of understand it now, so it makes it a lot easier.
I know you guys were kind of in a different position than a lot of bands where you went into this album knowing it was going to be your last. Do you think that had any effect on the writing or allowed you to wrap things up nicely?
Absolutely, one hundred percent. I mean, it was a conscious effort to make this record the way we did. We wanted it to be a record that people remember us by, and I dare say it’s better than our first album, you know, that’s left for other people to decide, but it’s just one of those records that I’m so proud of. And when you know that you’re making your last record and you don’t have to prove anything to anyone, it’s really easy to write music. We just knew we wanted to make a record to push the boundaries of what Candlebox is known for, and that’s what we did.
