Candlebox frontman Kevin Martin has revealed that he is no longer interested in releasing traditional full-length albums, arguing that the industry model has shifted in a way that makes the format obsolete for the band.
In a recent interview with “Reckless” Rexx Ruger on the “Pod Scum” podcast, Martin explained his philosophy on modern music distribution. While he noted that original Candlebox guitarist Peter Klett still favors the album format, Martin believes it is more practical to release music as it is completed.
“I don’t believe in releasing records anymore. I think it’s a waste of time. I think you just release a song when you’ve got it,” Martin said (as transcribed by Blabbermouth). “Get in the studio and track a song and put it out, because nobody’s selling records anymore. I don’t even know the last Pearl Jam record, how many it sold. I don’t know if it sold — it probably didn’t go gold, for sure. I mean, what’s the point? People just want music. They want new music from the bands they like, and my opinion is, release three songs and do another three the next year and another three after that.”
The band, which now operates as an independent entity, prefers to fund their own studio time rather than wait for label backing that may never come.
“We’re in charge of our own career now. We’re not signed to any label. We’re completely independent,” he explained. “We’ve got a great agent, we have a great attorney and a great management, and that’s really, for us, all we need. I mean, if a record company came in and said, ‘We wanna give you half a million dollars to make a record,’ I wouldn’t shy away from it. But that’s not gonna happen. I’m the realist where I’m, like, no one’s giving us money to make albums, so let’s just go in the studio, pay for the studio time ourselves.”
To that end, the group is heading to Palm Springs in August to record three new tracks at GoodNoise, the studio owned by former Guns N’ Roses drummer Matt Sorum. Martin noted that the environment is critical to the band’s creative process, drawing a comparison to their last two records: 2021’s Wolves and 2023’s The Long Goodbye.
“We’re actually going to Matt Sorum‘s studio in Palm Springs in August to record three tracks — GoodNoise, which is an awesome studio, and I’ve been friends with Matt for years. He actually was producing demos for us for our third record back in ’97, so I’ve known him since then. And he’s always been, ‘Man, come use the studio. It’s yours. Don’t worry about it.’ So I’m looking forward to that, because for me, environment is everything when we’re working. And I think [2021’s] Wolves was written — we wrote that record really fast, but [2023’s] The Long Goodbye was written between an East Coast session and a West Coast session. And what I like about that is you put yourself in an environment and it gives you different energy, and that’s why I think The Long Goodbye has such an eclectic style to it. Half those songs are East Coast, half those songs are West Coast,” he said.
Reflecting on his career, which has spanned over three decades, Martin admitted that while he still enjoys the adulation of a live crowd, his motivation has evolved past simple ego.
“It’s funny. [Bush frontman] Gavin [Rossdale] said something interesting in a text when we finished that [Candlebox] tour [with Bush]. I texted him a couple of weeks later, and I was, like, ‘Hey, man. How are you doing? Everything good?’ And he’s, like, ‘yeah,’ he goes, ‘It’s so strange to come home, there’s no applause.’ And it is intoxicating, but I don’t think that’s why any of us do it. I think for us it’s you have this artistic talent, you have this gift that people love, and you give it to them, and they give you love back,” Martin shared.
He also expressed a longing for the intense, unfiltered passion he sees in international audiences, particularly in South America, contrasting it with the increasingly distracted environment at some North American events.
“And I wish America still had that passion that Latin countries have, that South America has, that Mexico has. Everybody in America’s become so jaded, and they’ve lost that love of the show. Now, that doesn’t mean everybody, because, of course, you go see a Shinedown show and it’s, like, 15,000 people screaming at the top of their lungs, which is amazing. And I’m so proud of those guys for that. But then you go to Coachella, and Madonna hops up on stage with Sabrina Carpenter, and people are more interested in taking selfies of themselves than being in the moment. And that wouldn’t happen in South America. That does not happen in South America. It doesn’t happen in Central America or Mexico. These people are ridiculous for music, man. And even Europe.”
For Martin, the connection remains the primary driver. He recalled a festival date in Belgium where the band played alongside Slayer to an audience that was initially unfamiliar with Candlebox.
We’ve done European festivals that… Every time I go to Europe, people are always, like, ‘Why don’t you come over to Europe enough or more?’ And I’m, like, ‘It’s so expensive, I lose money every time we go there,’ but I love it because when we do go there, there’s 20,000 people at that festival we’re playing singing ‘Far Behind‘. And it’s the greatest. And even when they don’t know you… We played a show with Slayer in Belgium, and the crowd had no idea who Candlebox was until we played ‘Far Behind‘. But early on in the set, we started the set, and we watched thousands of people come in, stop and then come in further, and then they just kept coming. And we grabbed ’em, and they loved it. And that was a perfect moment for me. It was, like, okay, this is why I do this, is to turn people on to what this band is and what this band has meant to me for 35 years,” he concluded.
In July 2024, Candlebox treated fans to an expanded version of their latest record, officially titled A Little Longer Goodbye (Tour Edition). Released digitally across all major streaming platforms via Round Hill Records, the deluxe edition featured the original 12 studio tracks alongside the standalone single “Washed Up“. It also included live renditions of “Elegante” and “Cellphone Jesus“, which were recorded during a performance at Club Amanda in Santiago, Chile, in late 2023.
