Candid, a Coventry-based indie band, aims to represent their city with pride across the nation. The five-live pieceโs performances continue to leave an indelible mark despite comparisons to bands such as Stereophonics, The Academic, and The Amazons. With a growing fan base in the United Kingdom and a presence in the United States via the NFL and SiriusXM, the band is poised to achieve new heights in the coming year. After the success of โWasted Time,โ which gained over two hundred thousand streams within six months and inclusion in Spotify Editorials such as The New Alt and New Noise, Candid are prepared to return to battle. After two years of excruciating delays due to national regulations, the bandโs recent hometown headline was received with a sigh of relief from both the band and the 1,000 strong crowd in attendance. This was a major success for an unsigned bandโs DIY highlight concert. The performance was a huge success, and the band is now eager to move on to bigger and better things. Having supported The Snuts, Tom Clarke (The Enemy), and The Fratellis, as well as appearing at the Isle of Wight Festival, BBC Radio 1โs Big Weekend, and YNOT? Festival, the band gave a powerful conclusion to the year with their largest Birmingham Headlining to date on September 10th. Check out their song โTonightโ and the exclusive interview below:

1. Can you tell us a bit about where you come from and how it all got started?
CANDID: So, Candidโs initial conception was in the secondary school in Coventry myself, Sam and Dan attended. With me and Dan being brothers, weโd played music together from the second we were able to around the house, at Christmas and all that classic stuff youโre forced to do having learnt 3 chords in school. We played locally for a few years covering our favourite indie tracks and started to take it seriously once we found our drummer, Alex, who brought so much life and energy into the outfit. Weโve worked flat-out for years ever since, and recently acquired a fifth member in Max, who added a synthy psychedelic sparkle that we have been missing to separate us from the classic guitar driven sound weโd otherwise been using beforehand. In its final formation in the time of writing this our sound has developed hugely and we feel like we finally know who we are.
2. Did you have any formal training or are you self-taught?
CANDID: Guitar wise, Iโd had lessons since the age of 10 and stopped formally learning when I was about 15/16, the same with my brother Dan (lead guitarist) and Sam (Bass). Fun fact โ we were all taught by the same guitar teacher in our school. Bons has been hammering the drums since he was old enough to, thereโs videos of him at like 6 drumming to queen on YouTube. I think Max is predominantly self-taught. I think unless youโre super dedicated to an instrument you reach a level and tend to find a glass ceiling, breaking through takes years of extra love for the craft. I got more into songwriting and exploring that side of the instrument, which doesnโt require formal training, more just exposing yourself to as much inspiration as possible. Vocally, not an ounce of training, however Iโve always wanted to have a go at some training, more out of curiosity than anything.
3. Who were your first and strongest musical influences and why the name
โCANDIDโ?
CANDID: The Beatles were my first musical obsession, before that I was probably into whatever was on the radio. I had a few indie songs on my Sony Ericsson, whatever I could get a mate to bluetooth over, probably the Pigeon Detectives, The Hoosiers or some Kooks. Discovering The Beatles made me pretty much obsess over music & bands ever since, leading me to find Oasis, The Smiths, The Rolling Stones etc. Although you may not hear The Beatles in our music, Candid very much wouldnโt be a thing without them โ very much like any other band ever since! With me and Dan (lead) guitar coming from the same household, our Dad listened to The Smiths a lot which has bled into our influences and playing style.
4. What do you feel are the key elements in your music that should resonate with listeners, and how would you personally describe your sound?
CANDID: There is a lot of transparency in the sound and lyrics, itโs open and honest. Weโve recently started to fuse a lot of synth into our otherwise guitar driven sound, which has made the world of difference. We can go from soft acoustic to all out spluttering riffs, both of which we attack with the same mindset of carrying a message of emotion.

5. For most artists, originality is first preceded by a phase of learning and, often, emulating others. What was this like for you? How would you describe your own development as an artist and music maker, and the transition towards your own style, which is known as ROCK?
CANDID:
Oh yeah, everyone starts out emulating. Itโs the only way โ make mistakes, be called a rip off and then find your feet. All bands tend to have a reason they started or a band that made them want to be in a band. I would encourage any starter artists to spend as much time writing initially and aiming to really understand who they are, what their narrative is and discovering a potential uniqueness in their sound. Itโll save a lot of time โ we learnt through years of trial and error. Being too close in sound to others, not really knowing who we are or just not having the right advice, it can trip you up.
6. Whatโs your view on the role and function of music as political, cultural, spiritual, and/or social vehicles โ and do you try and affront any of these themes in your work, or are you purely interested in music as an expression of technical artistry, personal narrative, and entertainment?
CANDID:
A little bit of both. We do like to explore certain social situations and political situations, but this is done almost subliminally. Itโs not pushing views onto people, maybe more of a commentary. Weโve discussed mental health quite a few times as a band, especially in a song called Through All The Fighting โ this song provides support to those in a dark time as itโs so open and honest it would show the listener theyโre not alone.
7. Do you feel that your music is giving you back just as much fulfilment as the amount of work you are putting into it or are you expecting something more, or different in the future?
CANDID:
Not at the moment, certainly not financially. Itโs an investment game being in a band. How much time you invest, how long you wait, how hard you work determines the end results. Weโve changed a lot in the way we work recently to try a new approach, doing the same thing over and over expecting different results isnt persistence, itโs a waste of time. We see a future in CANDID, we just understand weโre not a band who itโll happen to overnight.
8. What has been the most difficult thing youโve had to endure in your life or music career so far?
CANDID:
In our music career, probably the general ups and downs. Realizing the time and years of effort and sleepless nights it takes to make a small difference to your career overall. Becoming fixated on numbers, followers, having to be a TikTok personality, all of the modern requirements of a band that deviate from being a musician has been quite hard as of late. Itโs very taxing. That being said, weโre very aware of the reality and do consistently work hard and adjust our perspective to keep going.
9. With social media having a heavy impact on our lives and the music business in general, how do you handle criticism, haters, and/or naysayers in general? Is it something you pay attention to, or simply ignore?
CANDID: Always ignore that sort of interaction, everyone has an opinion and music is an opinion based art, its part and parcel of it. Social media is good for raising and building awareness but creates real bad working habits, fixating on numbers, streams, followers, constantly comparing and never quite feeling good enough.
10. Do you think is it important for fans of your music to understand the real story and message driving each of your songs, or do you think everyone should be free to interpret your songs in their own personal way?
CANDID: Everyone should be allowed to interpret the music as they please I think, itโs what makes music so great. The fact that a song can mean something totally different between two different people is fascinating, itโs up to the listener to relate to the song in their own way rather than being given strict instructions.
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Photo credits: Luke Jones