interview | candice cathers | third bar

Candice Cathers is part of the team at Third Bar Artist Development, based in the Oh Yeah Music Centre in Belfast. She is also a member of the Lightbody Foundation, a non-profitable organisation set up by Snow Patrol and Tired Pony frontman Gary Lightbody to provide crucial funding for Northern Irish charities of all causes. At Third Bar, Cathers works closely with director Davy Matchett managing upcoming bands such as NI Music Prize nominees Strange New Places, alt-folk songwriter Tour Alaska and newly signed indie-pop four piece The Florentinas. It’s a youthful, inspiring roster and as the company approaches it’s 10th anniversary this September, perhaps there’s never been a more exciting time to be promoting new acts in Belfast.

Hi Candice, thanks for taking the time to chat to us! How’ve you been?

You’re welcome! I’m good. I’m currently training for a marathon so I’m sort of permanently tired but things are pretty good.

Take us back to your first musical memory. Was there a particular song or album from your childhood that made you fall in love with music, or has it always been there?

It’s always been there, for sure. I do fondly remember late summer 2003, though. Elton John had a greatest hits album come out and it was also when ‘I Believe In A Thing Called Love’ by The Darkness was released. I remember being in the kitchen where my mum was singing along to the CD player blaring ‘I Guess That’s Why They Call It The Blues’ and then walking into the living room where my brother was strumming his guitar along to The Darkness as the music video played on Kerrang! TV. Our house was always filled with music and instruments and I think around that time music became escapism for me.

Can you describe a normal day in the Third Bar office?

NO! Not because I don’t want to, Taylor, but because there’s no such thing as a normal day with us. There are usually lots of emails, lots of demos we need to listen to, to do lists to check off and 20 minute rambles about the niche TV shows we love. Right now we’re looking forward to our Output showcase this month and waiting to hear some tracks from a few recent studio sessions…

If you could sign any act from history and mentor their career from the ground up, who would you choose and why?

I’m not saying I would be fit for the job, but it would’ve been cool if Elvis Presley had had a manager who would have allowed him to tour outside of America. I went to Graceland a few years back and I’m just endlessly fascinated by his career.

What do you look for when considering signing a new act?

Great songs stand out to us more than anything else. And not just ‘I’ve written 3 good songs’ but to constantly be writing and trying to get better and hone your craft. Beyond that, it’s nice to work with nice people.

A quick look through the Third Bar roster shows an exciting and eclectic blueprint for the future. Can you feel that excitement in the office at the moment?

A little bit, maybe? I think for me it’s more about doing whatever needs to be done today or this week and not daydreaming about anything that isn’t tangible yet. That must sound really boring! I think in general there’s a great feeling in Belfast music at the moment, though. People are making cool things.

You’re based in the Oh Yeah Music Centre, an art space filled to the brim with fellow creatives. Does that collective energy feed into Third Bar?

We have the Belfast Met College on the other side of the wall, so there’s always students playing covers together on a whole range of instruments (who probably have no idea I can hear every note) and then the rehearsal rooms are right above our heads. So even if you let yourself slip into a frustrated mindset of thinking that there’s nothing new or exciting going on – you would be snapped out of it very quickly. We also work closely with Rocky O’Reilly in Start Together Studio and every time I’m in that room I feel like I’m in a movie.

(former Oppenheimer frontman Rocky O'Reilly, now of Start Together Studios)

What is your favourite part of working for a management company/label?

No two days are the same, the obscure 90s albums Davy introduces me to, going to gigs and calling it work, hearing a song as an iPhone demo and then seeing it performed live with people singing along, the fact that our building is dog friendly.

Tell us a little about how you got involved with the Lightbody Foundation. What does it mean to you, being involved with an organisation like that?

Third Bar is a small team so I think it’s just natural that other projects or ideas cross over into the office and I’ll always try to be helpful where I can. It’s been amazing to get to know more about the charities the Foundation has donated to, and eye opening to the difficulties faced by people trying to make positive changes.

You also work closely with Carolyn Mathers at the Atlantic Sessions on the North Coast and with Open House Festival in Bangor. Is it enjoyable branching into a different music scene and type of work?

Oh, completely. It’s great to be reminded that the live music scene exists outside of Belfast. And both of those festivals are run by a handful of people doing something they love, and really believing that music and arts are what’s needed to build up these seaside towns. I’ve got to meet so many cool people and witness so many great gigs over the past couple of years from being involved with both of those organisations.

Uncomfortably Fun...Strange New Places

Finally, do you have a favourite Third Bar release or song that means a lot to you? Or are there any releases this year you can’t wait for?

There’s a vinyl release that I’m not really allowed to talk about that I’m really excited about. I’ll keep you posted! And I think Trombone by Strange New Places will always have a special place in my heart. I first heard it while I was living in Spain in late 2017 – Davy emailed me a link that wouldn’t work because I wasn’t in the UK and I think I had to download some dodgy software just to hear the original Scratch My Progress version of the song. I couldn’t get over ‘a terabyte hard drive – the most valuable thing I own’ as a lyric. I had no idea at the time they would become a Third Bar band or that I’d become a Third Bar employee. When they took to the stage at the Music Prize in November I was like… dios mio, la vida es loca.