Candy Bar breathes and smiles through the sounds of Field Mice, therefore a project called "Coach Station Reunion" could not miss our attention. First 7inch release on new Barcelona-based label Discos de Kirlian is five songs of the most personal Xavi Rosés acts (Fred i Son, The Epic Kind, Senderos etc). The 7inch "Eli E.P." was released a few days ago and is full of delicious janglepop and dreampop sounds.
Jyoti Mishra, aka White Town, is about to hit the stage in Athens this sunday. A proper chat with Candy Bar was more than essential.
You were born in India. Is Indian music inscribed into your project in any sort of way?
I believe so, yes. I didn’t move here till I was three and, obviously, I’ve grown up with Indian parents. I think that cultural background has informed all the music I make, particularly lyrically. For example, I’m an atheist. But I’m an atheist Hindu which is entirely different from being an atheist Christian / Jew / Muslim. The Abrahamic faiths are all, to differing degrees, misogynistic and sex-negative. A lot of my music is explicitly sexual and definitely all sex-positive. I think that’s a part of my Indian-ness. Love/sex are just normal, healthy parts of life. Nothing dirty or wrong or whatever there.
You mentioned in an interview that “the more unstable you are, the more you write”. Can you explain?
I’m not bipolar because I’m very functional. I just have big ups and downs. And it’s when I’m at those extremes that I’m most productive. Songs will just fall out of me, it feels like I’m not even writing them. Take ‘She’s A Lot Like You,’ off the new album. I remember that coming out of me in this rush of love and lust and thinking about the girl it’s about. I barely had to change a line after the initial ten minute burst of writing it. Conversely, ‘Anywhere But Here’ is a small song from the opposite place entirely: desolation, abandonement and that loneliness that scrapes at your insides continually. So, I guess I exploit my instability in terms of creating new work but then it’s the creation of that work, the catharsis that re-normalises me. Even at my worst, a night of singing songs calms me and makes me happier.
How important is it for you to incorporate political messages into your music?
This is a difficult answer. I think it was Billy Bragg who once said that all music is political. He was labeled political because he was a lefty but he pointed out that singing about money and mansions is also a political statement. So, all songs are political, whether they acknowledge it or not as they crystallise aspects of the culture in which they were produced. For me, I have to address political concerns explicitly and consciously. This doesn’t necessarily mean singing about unions or strikes. Most of my songs are love songs and there is nothing more political than love. Who do you love? How do you love them? Do you treat them as a human being or as property to be fucked and discarded at your whim. Everything is politics.
Are you bothered when people regard you as a one hit wonder because of the huge success of single “White Town”?
Not at all. I’m ecstatic I’ve had even one song that became a proper pop song, loved by millions of people. That was such a surreal time. So many people in the indie scene claim to be making pop music, it was bizarre to actually have an actual, real, pop hit. Y’know, that normal, non-scene kids could sing and dance along to.
You are involved in songwriting, performing, recording, album art and running your label, Bzangy. Is that a way to control your art in the best possible way?
Yes. It’s also that I can’t get the staff. And now I’m making all my videos too. Control freak is probably understating the situation.
Would you say that your new album “Monopole” is a heavily emotional and personal album?
Yes, it’s my most honest and personal so far and, therefore, my favourite. It’s pretty obviously about my divorce last year and the end of a fourteen year relationship, the love of my life. But the two happy songs on there are about the possibilities of new love, the way we get our hearts broken but then can’t wait to break them again. I love the album. I can’t not, it’s basically a diary of the last few years. I tried so hard to be honest, to be emotionally open, to not hide behind any metaphors or poetry or other bullshit. I hope that comes over. If I have one regret, it’s that the liner notes are a little too intense, in retrospect. I wrote them at a very bad time.
Name me a few new bands that you enjoy and respect..
Four Owls Akira Kiteshi (just interviewed him for Sound On Sound magazine!) Marching Band Your Demise Gojira MC Esoteric
Do you feel sensitive about the political situation in Greece right now? What is your opinion on the current political scene in Europe?
I feel it’s pretty obvious even to the most casual observer that capitalism works about as well as an economic system as Stalinism did in the USSR. They’re both anachronisms, remnants from another age. Capitalism lurches from boom to bust, tossing millions of people’s lives uncaringly into the air. Will you be living in a boom or a depression? Who the fuck knows, it’s the lottery of capitalism! Add to that the sheer criminality of the capitalist classes and you have an untenable situation. I believe that Greece needs to do an Iceland (), tell the IMF to fuck off and nationalise everything, dispossessing all international firms of their capital. If it’s in Greece, it’s Greek and you all own it.
What do we have to expect from your forthcoming gig in Athens?
Some songs, some chatting and, I hope, a real dialogue. I don’t do big, rock gigs because they feel like monologues. I like to see the audience, react to them. I want people to connect to the stories of my songs and to feel calmer and happier afterwards, even though a lot of them are sad. Let’s see if I can manage to do that!
White Town + Le Page will play sunday 25th March @ Tiki Bar (Athens, Greece).
Kisses. and dreams. Pop is here and Next Time Passions know the best way to make it work. A Greek band that has been together for almost 20 years and one of the few that has translated in such a brilliant way the notion and feeling of Sarah and indie pop music. The first NTP album "Things Left on Stripes of Time" came out a few months ago, including new songs (that the band composed after their reunion) and some older ones. Lots of Happy feelings.
It has been ages since I last wrote down secret stories on my diary. I don’t have any girly obsessions with shoes. And red is my all-time favorite color. Red Shoe Diaries are five friends from Nottingham, who claim to write “pop songs for messed-up grown-ups”.. in other words dreamy and fairly sophisticated sounds that have the flair of The Magnetic Fields, Hefner and Jens Lekman. The band released 10″ EP “Ice & Snow” (on Fika Recordings) a couple of days ago. On fire.
He comes from Greece. He has a thirst for pop. Evripidis may live in the land of Miro and Gaudi, yet he creates fascinating music that crosses over borders and has strong influences by 60s pop, Sarah, 50s doo wop and church chorus themes. He writes all his songs but likes to share his stage with a bunch of musicians who play weird little instruments like ukulele, melotron, clarinet and melodica. A few months ago he released new album “A Healthy Dose of Pain” and he just uploaded brand new video from song “Teeth”. Love.
Sweden is our playground. This could be another name for this blog, since it is dedicated heart and sound to Swedish pop mucic. In this context, I love Liechtenstein.. a girl band, influenced by the likes of Talulah Gosh, Dolly Mixture and Shop Assistants, that creates retro pop, mixed with shoegazey sounds. In 2009 they brought debut “Survival Strategies In A Modern World” while they recently released second album “Fast Forward” on Fraction Discs. Fast. and pop.
Every blog has its own heroes. And Candy Bar's choice are Mikrofisch. I have written about them before, so they are officially the first band that land on the blog twice. Honestly, I love them. Cause they are postmodern, trash, pop, naïve, disco, witty, underground, twee. In fact, they are a cupcake transformed into music. In order to celebrate their anniversary, Mikrofisch released a few months ago synthpop EP Morning Bus '11, which features two covers (by Primitives and Sudeten Creche) and two original songs. Download it for free from their online label Kinokoma. And get addicted.
Swedish clouds are brighter and much more eccentric. They form weird shapes and they fly in the sky sending messages about pop music. Klifton Filente is basically the solo project of Jonas Lundvall, a guy who lives in Gothenburg. He has released two EPs and the album “Common Ground” while in Nov 2011 he released second album “Breaking the Clouds”. The music is a bit folky, a bit indie, a bit retro poppy but most of all is the right music for winter nights next to a fireplace. You can download the album for free, oh yeah.
Luis is a 23-year old cute guy who gets over excited about indie pop sounds. The Spanish band El Hombre Percha (basically a solo project) formed in the summer of 2011 and Luis released the song “Malestar de un Hominido” on a Modular compilation. He told me he is writing a song about the Greek island of Myconos while planning on releasing a full album soon. Wonderful stuff.
Ice is white and shiny and smells like pure vanilla cake. The Broonkyn-based Ice Choir is the new project of super productive Kurt Feldman (from The Pains of Being Pure at Heart and The Depreciation Guild). Feldman and his bandmates leave the indie guitars aside and focus on synth-pop sounds that give off a harsh retro feeling. The Ice Choir released debut 7” single “Two Rings” on 15th November through Shelflife (US) and Yes Boy Ice Cream (UK/EUR). Hot as fuck.
Candy Bar fancies tall, cute boys with a strong indie spirit. Butcher Boy are an indie pop band from Glasgow, Scotland. Formed in 1998, they seem to enjoy the delicate sounds of Belle & Sebastian, Felt and Love. First album "Profit In Your Poetry" was released in 2007, second album "React or Die" was out in 2009, while third "Helping Hands" was released this summer. Sensitive pop with scottish signature.. oh Boy.
Candy Bar is a sucker for japanese stars and silver dreams. Therefore, a japanese solo project called Elen Never Sleeps is considered a real treat. I dont know much about this, apart from the fact that its new, loves suchi matched with shoegaze and has recently released some stuff online for free. Check "The China Blue" EP and "The Golden Minor" track, as well as the wonderful cover on My Bloody Valentine's "When You Sleep". Asleep as hell.
Soft cities are places where indie pop blossoms and planes fly high in the sky. The Soft City began as the side project of drummer Phil Sutton, formerly of Comet Gain, who released an ep on Cloudberry. Then they became an actual band, played with The Legends and The Drums, released a full album on Plastilina and are now back with another ep. The four track "Four Stories" is out on their own Calico Cat label and is so sweet and tender it can make you melt. or at least warm you up on those odd melancolic autumn afternoons.
Lately my left wrist has been in pain. I got some advice and tried to heal it but somehow I made it worse. Thats when I decided to give Young Wrists a listen. Alberto and Letizia come from Italy, they love eating pizza peperoni while swimming into salty indie pop/noisy tunes. Ep "Fucked up In the Head" is out now and first song is accompanied by a lovely vid. A slice of pizza for me plz?
In 1994 I was just about to finish high school. I was surrounded by dreams and passion and it was beyond doubt that I was a superhero that would eventually conquer the world. International Waters are small indie pop heroes from Texas, with Mitch Calvert of Voxtrot on the steering wheel. They have released their debut album "1994", a wonderful mix of sounds that have the flair of Josef K, Aztec Camera and probably Orange Juice. Let's go back in time. Action!
Astrogirl is a superhero with built-in weapons; she is a robot armed with true feelings, heart and soul. Astrogirl is also deeply in love with indie pop music. Candy Bar is about indie pop nerdy haircuts, international bubbles, japanese stars and swedish cold nights.
