What an honor to receive Kevin Martin from Candlebox on our podcast! I mean, I can’t even start to tell you how big of a deal it is for someone who considers himself a spiritual kid from the Seattle scene. Along with Nirvana, Soundgarden, Pearl Jam, Alice In Chains, Green River, Mudhoney, Sweetwater, and Tad, just to name a few, Candlebox and Kevin Martin helped the Seattle Music Scene make itself a good place in the Rock history books.
I’m not sure Grunge is an actual cohesive genre but was is certain is that something happened around Seattle and it all started in the ’80s. Many factors contributed to help this scene arise but two things are worth noting. First, Kevin helped us understand that Seattle was, at the time, very much like a high school scene, with all the bands of the area playing with each other. Also, the legendary label Subpop helped by throwing shows all around town and inviting lots of bands, even if they were not on the roster of the label. It meant that all the bands were performing all the time basically. Soon enough, a few bands became huge and they helped the other bands get recognized too.
Kevin was a first-hand witness of this wonderful revolution and he was working at a shoe store when the Seattle sound exploded to the face of the world. That’s where he met Susan Silver who was managing Alice in Chains, Soundgarden, and the Screaming Trees. Behind part of the second waves of Seattle bands that emerged almost became a burden, but nevertheless, Candlebox managed to conquer the charts after being the first band to sign with Maverick records.
A couple of albums later, Kevin was upset with the mainstream world and reclaimed his independence. He’s been writing new songs and touring ever since without any compromises. Last year, Candlebox released the brilliant album « Wolves » and a beautiful acoustic version of « Riptide », recorded at legendary the Blackbird Studio in Nashville.
Kevin Martin takes us on a trip and helps us answer a crucial question we’ve been asking ourselves since the beginning of this podcast. Applying everything we know about the birth of the Seattle scene, can we hope to witness a new scene today arise, right here, and right now in LA? Part of the answer seems to be to keep organizing shows ourselves and make every event something special and exciting. That’s how we’ll get the fans back in the sweaty clubs. Food for thought.
Vincent Jacob
www.hangingonsunset.com
https://www.hangingonsunset.com/podcast
https://www.candleboxrocks.com/
LISTEN TO THE EXTENDED INTERVIEW WITH KEVIN MARTIN FROM CANDLEBOX:
Photos by Vincent Jacob (Contax T2)