Lopez Blogs

The Candle Thieves have quietly sprung up as one of the most charming and delightful purveyors of pop goodness that this year has seen. They manage to create wonderfully chirpy sounding tunes and then mirror this with sadness-tinged lyrics. It's never a depressing listen though and overall optimism and joi de vivre wins out. Check out my album review here and my review of their most recent EP "Happiness Blues" here. I'm also delighted that they are getting such amazing press at Entertainment Focus, Glasswerk, Allgigs, Virgin RedRoom and There Goes The Fear. Aceballs. I'm definitely hoping to catch them when they hit Birmingham later this year with Badly Drawn Boy... Here's my quick chat with the lads :)

Hello gentlemen. What is the very worst first interview question you have ever been asked? Or are you still waiting for that to happen...?!

Scott: Hey! Ha ha definitely not that, that's the best!

You've been described as "the UK Beach Boys", "the next big thing" and "your new favourite band" (which I'm sure you'll agree, there are worse things to be described as)... how would you describe the band and each other?

Scott: They really are lovely things to be described as, but we would never in a million years even slightly suggest in any way ever in the history of the world that we were anywhere near as good as The Beach Boys. I think describing ourselves is a tough one but a really good question. Sometimes you can actually be criticised for things like that. "The Candle Thieves are not as good as The Beatles!!". And you'll be sitting there wanting to scream "I know we're not!!". Glock's my friend, he's consistently nice to be around and writes songs that I love. I feel super lucky.

Glock: I think Scott's super lucky having a guy like me around. I'd say we're definitely as good as The Beatles.

Or at least as good as those bike riding chimps who were on the Ed Sullivan Show after the Beatles :P While most acts have been busy building up buzz on the internet, you've really taken it back to the people by reinventing the rock tour - visiting people's own gardens, kitchens, living rooms etc. A) how the heck did I miss out on this and B) what was that experience like? Any high and/or lowlights of such small intimate venues?

Glock: Those gigs worked way better than we expected. It was just a bit of a daft idea that grew into something forest-like. A bit like how the band started, but greener.

Your music makes me both giddy with joy at such delightful melodies but often want to weep at such fragile lyrics and vocal delivery - it's something that Abba (for example) excelled at. Do you have a life rooted in sadness that you need to put a positive spin on? Do you need a hug?! (Your album title reflects this musical dichotomy perfectly by the way)

Scott: I always need a hug! We are very lucky in our lives I think. I don't know about Glock, the sadness I personally get is with things going on in other places in the world. When you look into the world you'll be most likely hugely distressed by what you see. I think we started The Candle Thieves as a little form of escapism.

Glock: You see what I have to work with!

I do see! Nothing wrong with a hug though :P The album though is one of my favourites of the year and teaming with potential singles. Do you get a say over which tracks get selected for single release or is it more down to the record company? Do you have any favourite tracks on the album or do you love all your compositions equally?

Scott: Thanks so much. Honestly My Fizzy Pop is one of our favourite blogs so that means a lot to us. Yeah the label chooses the singles. I always hoped "My Little Room" would be a single but we definitely don't know what we're doing with the business/industry side of things so we're grateful to leave that to them! They do a great job for us.

Oh. I'm listening to My Little Room in a whole new light now. I love that you also focus on EP releases - i often think bands should revert to the formula of releasing 2-3 EPs a year rather than an album. That way fans are constantly getting something new and exciting, yet overall it's an album's worth of material. Any thoughts on that?

Scott: Ah thanks for saying that! I hugely agree. We're always trying to put up new releases with extra new songs and stuff. The great thing about downloading is that people can just buy the new tracks instead of getting ripped off by bonus editions where you used to have to buy the new version of an album you'd already bought before! We just did the Happiness Blues one and we're hoping for another EP before the end of the year which will be a bit different :)

Great - always remember a Christmas song never goes amiss on an end of year EP... Glock - you seemingly play every musical instrument under the sun and have been in other acts before the Candle Thieves. It seems that for both of you Alcopop records and your new music are the perfect fit. Have your previous experiences been essential to you getting to this point or do you really just wish that you'd found each other years ago?

Glock: Yeah we did things very differently in my last band. Like any relationship, you have to be respectful and caring. If you get complacent then it can only function for so long. We're always learning but I was a different person with a different head on my shoulders 5 years ago. I wasn't ready for The Candle Thieves at that point and I'm very grateful for it now.

Let's talk about some of the tracks from your new EP - Annabelle's song has this very simple but very lovely piano refrain and seems like a biographical tale. Which comes first in the creation of a song - do you have some lyrical thread and build the music around it, or is it far more organic than that?

Glock: I'm no Bob Dylan but I read something about the way he used to write songs that I can relate to. About it kind of being channelled. I'm not sure where it comes from but it's never mapped out. It just kind of falls out and it's lovely when it happens.

Then there is Paper Aeroplanes which has some great handclap beats in (you can never go wrong with a hand clap in pop songs) and is entirely perky but has this juxtaposition of being a fragile song in a upbeat setting. It's sometimes how I feel at a party. Or seeing a sad clown. (That wasn't really a question was it, feel free to make general observations)....

Glock: I remember around 7 years of age being in primary school. There was a Paper Aeroplane competition where the whole year designed a paper areoplane and whoever's flew furthest won a prize. I remember mine going the furthest but because my young rival's had hit the ground after mine, I lost out. It's a metaphor for something but I'm not sure what. Also I'm scared of clowns.

And Peterborough. What with one of JLS coming from there and now you guys, you are really putting it on the map - and not just for speedy passport applications! Have you been given the keys to the city yet?!

Glock: It's bad but I literally can't leave my house at the moment. I lost my keys a few days ago you see and nobody's let me out.

Scott: Ha ha yes we have a great passport office! We haven't unfortunately but our hometown support has been amazing. All the local journalists and press have been lovely and everyone coming out to the gigs have been amazing.

So what are your plans for the rest of the year? Anything Birmingham way? We'll do coffee - my starbucks is opposite a candle emporium. We could go shoplifting!!

Scott: We are! We're supporting Badly Drawn Boy at Birmingham Town Hall in October. Let's meet up for coffee and shoplifting for sure. Thanks loads for the interview Paul.

Glock: Thank you.

Thanks for your time :)