CANDLEBOX's KEVIN MARTIN On Why He Reversed His Decision To Retire: 'I Still Have Things That I Wanna Talk About And Sing About'

In a new interview with Chile's Radio Futuro, CANDLEBOX frontman Kevin Martin explained why he decided to back out of his plans to retire from touring, despite the fact that he and his bandmates announced their "farewell" tour, "The Long Goodbye", and released what was being billed as their "final" album of the same name nearly three years ago. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "Well, it had a lot to do with the [2024] BUSH tour with Jerry Cantrell. I had kind of packed things up after the 3 DOORS DOWN tour. And then I got a call to go out with Gavin [Rossdale, BUSH frontman] and Jerry and do that run. And then Pete [original CANDLEBOX guitarist Peter Klett] came back [to the band]. And bringing Pete back into the picture really kind of reinvigorated me. I hadn't played with him since, really, 2015. So, 10 years of us kind of being a part and me continuing to make music — when old friends get back together and kind of chat about the times, it really just re-inspired me to keep going. And to be honest with you, I think my wife was really sick of me being at home so much. She was, like, 'You don't need to be around here [all the time].'"

Regarding how the creative process and the source of his musical and lyrical inspiration has changed over the decades, Kevin said: "Well, really, for me it's always been about experiencing and taking those life experiences and turning them into songs. And, of course, I was 21 years old when I did the debut [CANDLEBOX] album. Now I'm 57, so I've learned so much about myself. I've learned a lot about life, and there's so much still to learn. And I think that with the music that I've created over the past 35 years, it's really just been growth. My favorite bands — PINK FLOYD, THE BEATLES, LED ZEPPELIN — they always grew musically. They didn't stick to the one — 'Led Zeppelin I' is nothing like 'Coda'. And I think that that's what you need to do as an artist. You have to push yourself and you have to use those influences and inspirations to create new music and to go in directions that maybe your fans don't really understand. But at the time, for me, even now when Pete and I are writing for a new record, we are just different human beings, and we have different understandings and different ideas about life."

Kevin added: "I thought I was done. I thought four years ago I was finished musically. I had nothing else to say. And now I realize I've got a lot more to say, and I still have things that I wanna talk about and sing about. And so I'll continue to make music until that stops."

Asked what made him change his attitude about making new music after previously wanting to hang it up, Martin said: "Pete coming back [to the band]. Pete coming back, really — 'cause we wrote so many great songs together over the years. He's got magic in his fingers, and when he plays guitar, it just inspires me. And I think that having him back made me realize that there's still a lot more for me to say musically and artistically. And I hope that we're able to capture that kind of emotion that I'm having right now. And, of course, the world and the changes in the world right now are inspiring a lot of what I want to talk about musically. So that's really — it has a lot to do with that as well."

CANDLEBOX released "A Little Longer Goodbye (Tour Edition)", the digital deluxe version of the album "The Long Goodbye", on all DSPs in July 2024 via Round Hill Records. The digital release featured the 12 tracks on the record plus two bonus live songs, "Elegante" and "Cellphone Jesus" (recorded at Club Amanda in Santiago, Chile on October 27, 2023),as well as the single "Washed Up".

Martin previously discussed his decision to retire in July 2023 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?"