Warning I am about to do something which I haven't done in ages and feature a non-Scottish band, why am I doing this you might ask, well quite simply this is an amazing band that deserve your attention. Right on with the show....There really aren't enough bands with Bear in their name nowadays are there, I mean you only really have Grizzly Bear, Bear Hands, Bear In Heaven, Panda Bear.... okay I'll stop there as I guess you get my point. The point I am trying to make, which I guess I am doing pretty badly at, is that if a lot of bands have similar names it can make it that little bit more tricky for them to stand out from the crowd. Normally a band like Bear Driver would pass me right by, I am easily confused and have become so blinkered that I often find that anything that isn't Scottish passes me right by. Thankfully though Bear Driver just clicked for me, I'm not sure where I came across them first. It was either on the Line of Best Fit or in the Guardian's Band of the Day feature, a few years back I used to check their recommendations on a daily basis, but as I become more and more focused on what was going on in my own backyard. So nowadays I normally just skim through, picking out words or comparisons that might appeal to me. However, I often find myself getting pretty disinterested and not really paying that much interest. I couldn't tell you off hand what it was about Bear Driver that first pricked my attention, but something stuck with me and I took a chance and I ordered their EP. I am so glad I did as it's a cracking wee pop record that reminds me of bands like Architecture in Helsinki and Broken Social Scene. As I liked it so much I thought it might be nice to get the band to answer a few questions for me, and they very kindly obliged...
Would you care to introduce yourself?
Hello I’m Harry from Bear Driver, also in the band are Oli (vox, guitar), Cassie (vox,), Jon (bass), Joe (keys) and Rich (drums).
How would you describe the music you make?
Colourful, fuzzy, psychedelic indie-pop.
How did you start out making music?
Oli and I lived together, we kept saying for ages that we should start making some music and it never seemed to happen. So we just booked a gig which meant we had to write songs and get a live show together. The two of us just played shows with an ipod backing track. The band then grew organically, with more members joining to help with the live show until we somehow managed to end up with six members in the band!
What process goes into the way you write songs?
Normally Oli or I will have an idea then we’ll email that idea to each other and start adding melodies and instruments. This emailing will happen for a few weeks then we’ll meet up to jam the songs, work on structures and get a decent demo recorded. We’ll then send this to the rest of the band and work on the live sound at rehearsals.
Can we expect to see you playing any shows north of the border any time soon?
Hopefully so, we’re looking at organizing a mini tour in September. Hopefully we’re going to do a show at King Tuts in Glasgow.
What can we expect to see/hear from you in 2010?
Well as I mentioned above we are going to a do a mini tour in September. There’ll be another single at some point and we’re going to start recording our album soon.Bear Driver - Thousand Samurais
Bear Drivers debut single 'Wolves' is out now, it is available to download on iTunes and 7digital, it will be out on vinyl on the 26th of this month.
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