Very few British teenagers can say they’ve played to a crowd of 3,500 people in Boston. Even fewer can say they did so opening for Iggy Pop.
But that’s the dizzying reality for Mathew Cartlidge, 17, and his sister Issey, 19,better known as The Molotovs.
‘It was great,’ Mathew humbly told Metro while sitting in London pub, The Marquis, where he was due to play later that day.
The singer, who started busking at 12 years old, continued: ‘I mean, don’t get me wrong. I love playing those venues. 3,500 people, not something you want to turn down.
‘Just to see Iggy do his thing as well, that was really cool.’
Iggy Pop isn’t the only legend the sibling duo has supported on tour, and the duo now count The Libertines, the Sex Pistols, and Paul Weller as fans.
Despite their young age, The Molotovs didn’t pop up overnight, as Mathew noted, ‘it took us 600 gigs to get there’.
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Issey said: ‘We weren’t releasing stuff on Spotify first. Once we had a crowd, we started gigging on the live circuit and did it over and over again for so many years.
‘I think they liked that kind of DIY aspect, where you’ve got a real connection with the crowd. Now that we’re in such a digital age with social media and everything kind of lacks meaning or substance, having real-life gigs where people can connect with each other in the audience, it’s something else.’
The Molotovs are striving for an ‘old school and authentic’ feeling, heavily inspired by icons like The Jam, The Kinks, Happy Mondays, Small Faces, and more.
Even their outfits screamed mod, somehow managing to make a bright yellow fluffy coat and a red necktie with a striped t-shirt look natural in the low-key pub.
However, even though the influence is apparent, songwriter Mathew doesn’t want to be confined to a genre.
He explained: ‘I wrote Johnny, Don’t Be Scared quite a while ago, but it was one of the first songs I thought I’m really happy with and [was] starting to cultivate a sound.
‘But it’s not like I want to get stuck in any sort of genre or sound I feel like I had to fulfil just for a fan base’.
The Molotovs, signed to Marshall Records, are on the brink of releasing their debut album, Wasted on Youth, having prioritised their live performances and building their reputation instead.
The Molotovs UK tour dates
The Molotovs’ UK tour tickets are available through their website and Ticketmaster.
- October 23 – Electric Ballroom, London
- November 3 – SWG3, Glasgow
- November 4 – NX, Newcastle
- November 5 – The Prospect Building, Bristol
- November 7 – Victoria Warehouse, Manchester
- November 8 – Beckett Student Union, Leeds
- November 9 – O2 Academy, Birmingham
As the face of the mod revival revival – if there is such a thing – they even have the seal of approval from Paul Weller himself.
‘There’s a lot of hype around it and people [have been] in anticipation for years,’ Mathew continued. ‘A band’s debut album is a big deal; it’s an even bigger deal for us because we’ve held off releasing an album for so long, and now that we’ve got such a great young fan base to release it to.’
Issey teased that he ‘rarely’ writes a ‘stinker’ of a song but there have been occasions she’s had to let him know his favourite track is ‘the worst on the set’.
‘I made her cry,’ the singer retorted before quickly adding this was ‘because it was so good’ rather than being tear-inducingly bad.
For Issey and Mathew, this wouldn’t have been possible without small local venues to hone their skills in.
‘Some of the places we played were barely venues,’ he recalled. ‘The first, two years was all busking, having started in lockdown, and then no one really wanted to book a young band our age. But luckily, we had someone drop a business card in my guitar case.
‘We finally made our way indoors, and just in time for winter as well.’
Even in the five years since the band started out, venues The Molotovs once performed at have now closed their doors.
‘We try to do a lot to help to fundraise and support the grassroots scene,’ said Issey, sharing how last year they were part of the campaign to keep Shepherd’s Bush venue Bush Hall alive.
The ‘iconic space’ faced closure after dwindling revenue, so the band launched a four-month-long residency to save it.
‘All the nights sold out,’ she added. ‘Paul Cook, from the Sex Pistols, came down and halfway through the gig, he came to the side of the stage, and he was like, “Can I come up on stage?”
‘So he ended up coming up and playing God Save the Queen with us!’
They can’t promise a rock legend cameo at every show but Issey promised her younger brother has some tricks up his sleeve for their upcoming tour.
‘Obviously, we’re a young band with loads of energy, but it’s one of those things you’ve got to see it for yourself,’ Mathew said with a grin.
The duo promised to pull a ‘rabbit out of a hat’ for their show at the Electric Ballroom, adding: ‘I can assure you, it’s bloody good.’
The Molotovs’ debut album Wasted on Youth is available to pre-order now for release on January 30, 2026. Tickets to the tour are also available now.
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