CANDLEBOX’s KEVIN MARTIN Says He’s Got ‘A Lot Of Stuff Going On That Will Keep’ Him Busy In His ‘Retirement’

In a new interview with Andrew Treadwell of Hear 2 Zen Magazine, CANDLEBOX frontman Kevin Martin spoke about his decision to retire after the 30th anniversary of the release of the band’s debut album in 2023. Asked what “retirement” looks like for him, Kevin said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): “Well, I’m releasing a bourbon. I’m releasing a tequila. I’m releasing a whiskey. I’m releasing a rye. I’ve got a company called Lost Marbles, which I’m doing with a buddy of mine named Nick — Nick, who’s in a band called MONA. I don’t know if you’ve ever heard of MONA, but they’re fantastic, if you haven’t. And then I’ve got my foundation, which is called Riptide Society, which is for at-risk youth and young adults in the foster care system here in the United States. That’s just basically making money available to them for college, art school, supplies, living expenses, anything like that, for somebody who’s growing up in the foster care system. So that’ll take up a lot of my time. And then my wife has a clothing line, which I’m involved with the men’s side of that. So just a lot of stuff going on that will keep me busy.”

Treadwell noted that a lot of celebrities are putting their names on alcohol at the moment and asked Martin what will make his different. Kevin responded: “Well, it’s easy right now. You can actually purchase bourbons online and stuff and create a label. We’re actually doing the mixing and the blending process and the tasting. So we’re hands on in the in the environment of the Kentucky bourbons specific. So we wanna stay as true to that as we possibly can. We won’t be one of those 20-dollar-price-point bottles of bourbon; we will be in the 80, 90 dollars. It will be single barrel selects. We’re launching a four-year as our first, and then our second release is a seven-year. It will be specific to people who have a palette for that type of bourbon.”

He continued: “We’re not looking to become a multi-billion-dollar organization that sells for 10 billion dollars or something like that. We both love bourbon. We love smoking cigars and drinking bourbon. And if it happens and blows up and becomes successful, that’s great. But really, it’s just about an opportunity for me to expand upon the things that I love. And that’s one of the things that I really, really love is, is great delicious bourbon. I mean, if I showed you my bar, you’d be, like, ‘Wow, that’s some nice stuff there.’ It’s one of those things that I’ve had a passion for for a long time.”

Martin previously discussed his decision to retire this past July during an appearance on SiriusXM‘s “Trunk Nation With Eddie Trunk”. He said at the time: “During COVID, I had a great awakening, being home with my wife and my son and realizing that maybe I had put far too much emphasis on the wrong syllable,” he said, referencing a classic line from the 2003 Mike Myers/Gwyneth Paltrow movie “View From The Top”. “My music career had become so encompassing of my time and my emotion and my energy and all this stuff that I realized that I had not given my family what they actually needed from me, which was me. And being home and being a dad and a teacher and a husband, and learning how to bake bread and realizing, ‘God, man, I’ve missed a lot of things in my life that I enjoy,’ I said, ‘I need to figure out when I can wrap this up.'”

He continued: “I love music and it is a part of my life and I love playing live and I love performing and I love the fans. And that is something that I never take for granted. But I knew that I didn’t love it the way I did when I started. And so I said to my wife, I said, ‘I think I wanna make one last record and I wanna do it in 2023 when the 30th anniversary of the debut comes out, and then I wanna just put a nice little bow on this thing and wrap it up at the end of the year. And how do you feel about that?’ And she said, ‘I would love that, but only if you’re ready.’ And it took me from 2020 to 2022 to realize that I was.”

Kevin added: “I don’t ever wanna be a performer that phones it in on stage. I’ve been to those shows, I’ve seen those shows. I don’t wanna do that. And I would hate to become that person. If this is my top, where I’m at, and I’m going out on it, and I’m in the best shape ever and my voice is in the best shape ever, and the music that I’m making, the shows that we’re playing are fantastic, and we’re having an absolute blast, then what better way to go?”

CANDLEBOX‘s final studio album, “The Long Goodbye”, arrived on August 25 via Round Hill Records. The LP’s first single, “Punks”, is a cautionary message to young bands that they won’t be the hot new thing forever.

CANDLEBOX — Kevin Martin (lead vocals),Adam Kury (bass),Brian Quinn (guitar),Island Styles (guitar),BJ Kerwin (drums) — recently completed a U.S. farewell tour, crossing the country with fellow rockers 3 DOORS DOWN as direct support on their massive “Away From The Sun” amphitheater tour in addition to various headlining shows.