Words: Letty Sharp // Photos: Ian Mc Donnell
The Molotovs are a three-piece rock band made up of siblings Mathew
Cartlidge who is lead guitarist and vocalist, Issey Carts who plays bass and
backing vocals and Ice Dob who is on drums and backing vocals.
Formed in 2020, they are doing everything they can to make an impact
on the music world and they won’t be going quietly. I got to sit down
and chat with the band before they’re gig in The Grand Social Dublin.
LS- Hey guys, Welcome to Ireland, it’s your debut here, how
do you be here?
MC- Feeling amazing yeah.
IC- It is so nice so far, good experience in Dublin.
LS- That’s great could you guys introduce yourselves for our readers in
case they are not familiar with you.
MC- Well I’ll start I’m Mathew, I’m on guitar and vocals.
IC- Hi, I’m Issey, I’m on bass and backing vocals.
ID- I’m Ice and I’m on drums and a little bit of vocals.
LS- Nice, so how did you guys form?
MC- Started in early lockdown and we started busking and rehearsing
loads and played wherever we could where the council wouldn’t shut us
down and sort of honed in our craft with just busking on the streets and
all of that and earning a bit of money while doing so.
LS- It’s a proper busking story.
IC- Yeah yeah. So, we were all in bands like ourselves I was in a band
with Ice beforehand but COVID happened they sort of both split up
Mathews band as well sort of joining forces a bit then locked down like
lifted we’re able to hit the ground running and just start getting to proper
venues.
LS- It’s kind of a bit of divine intervention. That’s great so to our
readers who have never heard of you guys before how would you
describe your sounds for anyone who want to get into you?
MC- Oh sort of modern rock’n’roll influenced by The Jam the Kinks.
Oasis 60s, 70’s sort of vintage sounds but putting it more into the
modern giving it to the modern listener you know you have to adapt it.
IC- And I think that’s us blistering sets nice really bringing it back to like
always just play and leave yeah yeah exactly madness and all that yeah
LS- Savage. So how would you describe your creative process writing
songs?
MC- Well it’s usually just I’ve come up with the riff in my head or
pattern chords and I’ll sit down with the guitar usually acoustic guitar
and a notebook and try and write the first thing that comes to mind if
that doesn’t work I’ll work it, but usually the ones that come within the first 10 minutes are usually the best cause more natural so you don’t have to force it
IC- A stream of consciousness and then he brings it into the studio with
Ice and I and we work in the bass parts or drum parts and it’s sort of all
comes to fruition that’s all kind of develop it altogether.
LS- Kind of develop it altogether yeah yeah because I’m a drummer
myself and yeah so if when I’m in with someone I have to go last so I
can you know get the vibe of everything you know.
IC- Figure everything out definitely relies on the rhythm of the base and
the drums.
LS- Yeah. So, I saw your video from the New Year’s Eve, gig great gig
by the way guys.
All of the band- Thank you very much.
LS- How did that go it?
MC- It went great, unfortunately the sound wasn’t incredible but we
had a great crowd you know everyone was really up for it and it was
really good to see everyone there you know, we didn’t really have a
massive New Years last year in 2022 so it was it was so nice to see it
back again you know, nice to see it back yeah.
IC- End the year and start the year with a gig (laughs)
LS- You’ve gone full circle yeah exactly ah so uh your song, Jack-In-
The-Box is there a back story behind that or?
MC- uh yeah it was about Boris Johnson resigning which is because it’s
um it was sort of a it wasn’t a shock but it was a it was a major sort of
you know you’ve made all this all this change all this sort of you know
this corruption, all this all these problems and should say, ‘Oh I’m
resigning’, just leave it I mean I rather he did resign but you know he’s
he’s made a mess in your clear comment on you know the government
yeah.
LS- You know he says, ‘I didn’t know it was against the rules’.
Band- Yeah, yeah.
IC- Shutting away and solving that kind of jumping between the two I
guess is the idea.
LS- Then his next one lasted 60 days and now you’ve got Rishi. If you
could collaborate with any artists that are alive, who would it be?
IC- That’s a good question though.
MC- Those are us funnily enough I’d like to collaborate with them Ray
Davies from The Kinks would be a good one yeah he’s got very good
writing style that I’d like to learn from and another one would probably
be Steve Murray from Small Faces because that’s sort of their simplicity
in their songwriting is always nice and it just made the song make some
more captivating and easier to get behind you know which I think is
important most formatting as well yeah.
IC- Oh each of us?
LS- Yeah you can all give an answer each.
IC- Ohh best collaboration dead or alive you know, that’s tough.
LS- I can come back to you like?
IC- Yeah please.
IC- Yeah maybe come back
IC- I would really wanna do something with Warpaint they’ve got quite a different sound
but I love Stella Mozgawa drumming fangirl for her so I’d love to see
how she writes that such an original and unique drum parts.
ID- I think it would have to be Paul Weller from The Jam I mean he’s a
fantastic songwriter we’ve always we grew up on the jam you know so I
think that would be quite something-
MC-Not just The Jam, that was start out so.
IC-Sorry, yeah everything he’s done has been fabulous.
LS-Nice all good answers so 2022 is just ended there are any releases
that you loved that came out last year or any of that you’re looking
forward to this year?
MC- I quite like to Sports Team they released the game-
IC- ‘GULP!’.
MC- ‘GULP!’, sorry yeah, ‘GULP!’, and I got that when I saw them,
well me and Issey saw them in Rough Trade in London and they played
a show to about 300 people and they signed everything yeah really it
was lovely.
IC- I think since we’re in Dublin you have to say Fontaines D.C.’s
‘Skinty Fia’. I mean it’s incredible problem how progressive even
though post punk’s not really my favourite genre I can really appreciate
what those guys have done and like poetic songwriting is incredible, lyricism is yeah, so good.
LS-And Ice?
ID- Oh my so much to choose from that’s tricky I’m having like a mind
blank,
MC-2022 God um so long go.
ID- Yeah, just went like that (clicks fingers)
LS- You can choose one from 2020 if you like.
ID-’How I’m Feeling Now’ by Charlie XCX was definitely my favourite
because she made it and looked down and it was like all the fan
collaborations and it was like her experience documented the whole
thing.
LS- Yeah, a nice wide variety which I love to see because I’m into $uicide Boy$ to Metallica so yeah.
MC-Metallica quite a big range.
LS- I like, ‘Fancy’.
IC-Yeah they appreciate the drum parts and beats so they go from
electronic music to heavy metal to like jazz yeah other stuff it’s just it
opens up.
MC-Quite broad.
LS-I still can’t do triplets but.
MC-Don’t know what.
LS-They’re not important (everyone laughs) can we expect any official
releases from you guys in 2023?
MC-you can, you can, we’re hoping to get something out by the end of
May.
IC-Which is just before festival season hits yeah we’ve done a few
recordings in the past we’ve worked with a couple of producers out in
Kent in London but nothing’s really been our sound it’s been very overly
produced quite pop-punky-
MC-And we’ve never been really happy with that that product so it’s sort
of it break embracing our sort of edge and you know something,
something that’s a bit like off the off the cuff and you know but rough
and ready you know nothing that’s completely clean and you know.
IC-Our debut we will be doing EP first of all playing some of the songs
tonight so you might hear a few I think we’re doing probably waste some
youth Jack jack-in-the-box might be?
MC- Yeah jack-in-the-box yeah so here tonight.
LS- I will look for stuff for sure I will say I think a lot of the producers
are jumping on the Travis Barker Machine Gun Kelly kind of
bandwagon and that’s why pop punks in.
LC-Yeah very mainstream sort of there’s no passion that.
MC-I didn’t know were real soul this is not what we want it’s it’s almost
like the opposite yeah it’s it’s heartless, I mean I’d like to do stuff like
Charlie X, I’m joking.
LS-’Cause she’s so different as well like none of her albums have been
the same how much variety.
ID-I saw her reading and my heart wow.
MC-I crashed my car into a bridge.
LS- I don’t care (everyone laughs) and last question guys as a new band
and off yourselves,you know you’re still young can you give any advice
for anyone wants to start a band in 2023?
MC- I can give some or we can give some advice the biggest thing is
don’t, don’t say no we’ll get out there if it’s one offers you, Oh can you
play birthday party?’, or, ‘Can you know you know play on this boat?’,
or ‘Can you play on on the side of the street in the freezing cold in
January?’, just say yes because something comes from every gig you
know we play some horrendous gigs but we liked it as always something
in it for us.
LC- and each gig leads to another one and another one I think it’s being
too hung up 1 pay and is it is it us or I think just get out and play as
much as you can practice makes perfect and we just we’re at 280 oh
sorry 180 gigs now at the end of two years so we’ve really been just
blitzing it with as many gigs as you can so I think that’s just the goal.
ID- Yeah and I’d say don’t give up that sounds really cheesy but it’s not a
Disney film so in the rain in the cold when your busking when you start
just keep going cause it’ll pay off.
MC-And there’s lots of people who just you know they they go you
know do I fancy it and you’ve always got it even when you don’t fancy
you got at like at like you do and sort of get, get into it because at the
end of the day it’s your band your band’s playing and you know when
you start something you got to follow through with it so I’m not thinking
perseverance yeah.
LC-They are the wise words.
LS- That’s got some great advice guys Matthew, Izzy, Ice! thank you so
much for talking to me.
MC- no problem, Letty, thank you.
LS-And your debut EP will be out at the end of May fingers crossed.
LC- Fingers crossed if all goes to plan (laughs)
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