The day after their ear splitting first ever live show together at Club Deville during SXSW, I had the pleasure of sitting down for lunch with new Chicago all star band, Candy Golde. Featuring Nick Tremulis (Nick Tremulis Orchestra), Rick Rizzo (Eleventh Dream Day), John Stirratt (Wilco, The Autumn Defense) and none other than Bun E Carlos (Cheap Trick) behind the drum kit, these heavy hitters delivered what you’d expect: great rock n’ roll music.
TVD Austin: So tell me, how did Candy Golde come about?
Rick Rizzo: Nick gave me a call and asked me if I’d write some songs with him. He had this idea of just writing songs with friends and I was the first one he called. They came together very quickly and we built it from there.
TVD Austin: How long ago was this?
Nick Tremulis: (sings mimicking the Mariachi singer at the table next to us) I think that was a year or so a-goooo!
RR: I’ve played with Bun E and John before and we all knew each other and it just seemed like a great band to have together and as long as we weren’t writing a bunch of bullshit, we said “yeah, let’s do it”.
Bun E Carlos: It’s all about the songs. If the songs weren’t any good, what’s the point of dragging our ass into doing it.
TVD Austin: You are releasing a five song EP in May. Any plans for a full length?
RR: EP’s are easy, full length’s are a pain in the ass.
TVD Austin: Then another EP perhaps?
NT: I wouldn’t mind it. It’s all about having the time.
TVD Austin: So with all the talent in this band, I found it a little surprising that you are putting the EP out on a small label like Ten-O-Nine Records.
NT: Well we only wanted to press 5000 copies on 10″ vinyl, and we don’t want to tour, so having Ten-O-Nine put it out was perfect for us.
TVD Austin: I really enjoyed the first live show. You guys were pretty tight. Was there a lot of rehearsal time leading up to it?
Bun E: We rehearsed maybe a half a dozen times and probably have another half a dozen songs in case we need them.
TVD Austin: On a song like “Trouble’s Coming Down”, I hear that same kick ass late 80’s/early 90’s rock n’ roll sound reminiscent of another “supergroup”, The Hindu Love Gods.
RR: We all play really different from each other, but we all eat at the same restaurant so to speak. We listened to a lot of the same records coming up so where we draw from a lot of times is the same things.
NT: It’s a harder rock band than I’ve ever been in. Just in terms of aggression.
John Stirratt: I haven’t played high energy rock n’ roll like this in a long time.
Bun E: In some ways, it reminds me of the Cheap Trick bar days.
RR: We have a lot of pop songs though.
TVD Austin: Who brought the Paul Simon song “Boy In The Bubble” to the table?
NT: Every once in awhile Santa comes. And I always heard that song as a juxtaposition to what it was and wondered what it would sound like with a Bun E Carlos beat on it. That was a little present to myself.
TVD Austin: So what’s up next for Candy Golde?
JS: We have a show in Chicago on April 29th. Kind of like an album release party.
BC: Me and Nick are going to a couple of record stores on Record Store Day in Chicago.
NT: Maybe a live album or another EP. We’ll see if we have time.
Candy Golde’s self-titled EP drops on May 10th and will be available on 10″vinyl and download only. For those of you reading this in Chicago, you can catch the band at the Double Door on April 29th. Nick and Bun E will be at Laurie’s Planet Of Sound at 1pm and at Reckless Records at 3pm on Record Store Day, April 16th.
Also, later today we’ll be giving away two copies of their EP on TVD Austin.
Stay tuned!
