Entertainment

They got their fire back

If you were down with 1990s rock, then you’re familiar with Candlebox, the Seattle band that stormed the grunge decade with hits such as "Far Behind," "Don’t You" and "Simple Lessons."

But then the band – which has toured with Aerosmith, Rush and Metallica and which was the first successful act on Madonna’s Maverick Records – vanished from the scene.

Recently the band resurfaced with a new album and plenty of plans for the future. The group performs at 7 p.m. July 11 at the U.S. Army entertainment tent at the Heart of Illinois Fair at Expo Gardens. Tickets are $22 at the gate or $20 in advance at the Expo Gardens Fair Office (call 691-6332), Co-Op Records locations in Peoria, Pekin and East Peoria, and the Radioplex, 120 Eaton St.

We recently caught up with frontman Kevin Martin to talk about the band’s breakup, its resurgence, and what’s ahead.

- Danielle Hatch

You broke up in 2000, then reunited in 2006. What were you doing in between?

Well, I was in a legal battle with Maverick Records, and I started a side project, a little label that I was working on.

(Lead guitarist Peter Klett) was working with his band Redlightmusic, (Drummer Scott Mercardo) was playing with Brandi Carlile. And (bassist Bardi Martin) was pursuing a law degree. So we were all kind of busy.

It was unfortunate that it took as long as it did to get (the legal battle) squared away. But once that was done, in 2005, that’s when we started talking about putting the band back together.

Did you have apprehensions?

I think we all had our apprehensions, because we’d been gone for six years. Is it really going to matter? Are we going to be able to make this work? How are we going to work in the studio together? All these things. But it was all thrown out the window once we got the first rehearsal and realized how much fun we have playing together. That initial rehearsal was like we had never stopped playing.

Martin left the band for good, right?

Barti toured with us in 2006, but in 2007 he passed the bar. It was obvious to everyone involved that he should be an attorney because he’s great at it, and his focus wasn’t on the band. You can’t be an attorney and be in a band like Candlebox, because we tour about nine months out of the year.

Was it intimidating when you sat down to write your latest album, "Into the Sun" (the band’s first record in a decade)?

I guess we felt like there was a lot of pressure to deliver something of value to our listeners, something that was a growth for the band and something that was an extension of the first three Candlebox records. And I think that’s what we accomplished.

It was more exciting than intimidating. That’s why we said, let’s take two years to write. Let’s make sure we do the right record. And we ended up throwing away a lot of songs that we just felt weren’t Candlebox.

Can you compare the current Candlebox to the Candlebox of the 1990s? How have you changed?

Then: train wreck. Now: well-oiled machine.

Why would you describe it as a train wreck?

We were just young kids who got thrown into a world of money and confusion. We could never really trust our management, we couldn’t trust our label, there was no one really to watch out for us. And that happened to a lot of young bands from our generation. Labels would do things the band didn’t know about, and it would end up costing them money or careers.

It’s a very cutthroat business and it wasn’t that the band itself was a train wreck, it was just our lives were out of control and when it got time to find a way out of the label, we said (expletive) it, just break up the band, walk away from it. It was the wrong thing to do. We learned some really hard lessons, and we lost a lot of time, a lot of momentum, and we’re trying to rebuild that.

What’s ahead for Candlebox?

We’re writing a new record now, have been writing for the past year. We’re going to hit the studio in the fall and hopefully get that record out by April of next year. We’ll keep touring, we’ll keep making records. The focus is Candlebox, and we’re happy to be focused on it. I don’t think we expected to be as focused now as we are.

If you go:

The 2009 Heart of Illinois Fair is scheduled for July 10-18 at Exposition Gardens, 1601 W. Northmoor Road. The entertainment lineup (all shows start at 7 p.m.) is:

- July 10 – Randy Houser ($15 in advance, $17 at the gate).

- July 11 – Candlebox ($20 in advance, $22 at the gate.

- July 15 – CoCo-LoCo ($10 in advance, $12 at the gate).

- July 16 – Trapt ($20 in advance, $22 at the gate).

- July 17 – Sevendust ($20 in advance, $22 at the gate).

The cost includes admission into the fair. Organizers also will offer a Mega Ticket for $45, good for four fair admissions and four concerts in the entertainment tent for any of the shows. Tickets are on sale at the Expo Gardens Fair Office (call 691-6332), Co-Op Records locations in Peoria, Pekin and East Peoria, and the Radioplex, 120 Eaton St.