Music: 85 Bears
DOWNLOAD MP3: 85 Bears - Jumpin’ With Joe From The Highest Step
85 Bears are an East London three-piece who are making giant soundwaves across the country at the moment. Featuring Adam Hogwood on guitar, Alex Juror on bass, and Ben David on drums, the ‘Bears are fresh of their debut gigging stint, which included two performances at Glasgow’s Hinterland Festival last month, where they played beside artists like The Fall and Jeffrey Lewis and The Junkyard, to plenty of adulation from the notoriously-fickle indie music press. Their all-instrumental music is at times discordant, thrashing, and down-right heavy, while at others, the complete opposite. It’s an intriguing mix that brings to mind the work of bands like Mogwai, Pelican and Battles. With the band’s debut EP, Shipwrecking, now doing the rounds, Earz Mag caught up with 85 Bears bearing a generic fistful of “questions to ask a new band”, and here are the results.
Earz Mag: Can you tell us a bit about 85 Bears? How did you get together?
Adam Hogwood: “I’ve known Alex for a while from previous bands and I’d also played in the same band as Ben, I’d got to a point where it was high time i started a project with my ideas and tastes, where I wouldnt have to dilute things to much, knowing how both the other guys could play and with similar tastes and attitudes, I decided to give them a call and it all worked out better than I expected.”
Ben Davis: “We’re a 3-piece post rock band that got together late 2007. The three of us had been in previous bands, notably Hentai and Miocene. An interest in trying something new with shared influences got us in the practise room to see what happened.”
Earz Mag: What bands or artists would you say have informed the 85 Bears sound? Who are your three top influences?
BD: “I hear elements of Don Cab, Faraquet, American Football, Battles, The Police, Soundgarden, and others in it. Personally my top three influences would be Vinnie Colaiuta, Matt Cameron and Jimmy Chamberlain.”
AH: “Me personally, I would have to say, well I’m gonna cheat here and name labels rather than bands for a more general idea, number one has to be Touch & Go with their vast array of bands that i just love, secondly I’ve always liked atmospherical music so I’d say that Constellation have made some great releases in the last decade, finally though I gotta give a mention to Radiohead who have always done what they want, whilst surviving and conquering the mainstream market. Respect!”
Earz Mag: Can you tell us a bit about the Shipwrecking EP?
AH: “It was recorded at the back end of 2007, they’re the first 3 tracks we wrote together so it seemed apt to put them down on tape, as soon as we did we found ourselves writing new material straight away, so I’d highly recommend it.”
Earz Mag: Where was it recorded (and who by)? Are you happy with how it turned out?
AH: “We recorded it at Bonafide studios in East London by a friend of ours Graham Donovan. We were more than happy with the outcome, we did it in a day, live and with very few takes. Definately the way we’re gonna do it again, seemed really natural to us.”
BD: “(The EP) is a 3 track of the first material we came up with that plays chronologically. We had the tracks ready relatively quickly, within 2-3 months of being together. We thought it was a good idea to get them down as soon as possible. It was recorded down at Bonafide Studios by Graham Donovan in pretty much one take. We’re really pleased with how it came out. Graham is an excellent guy to record with. We plan to record with him again as he has a great ear and dedicated a level of attention to our tracks as if they were his own. It’ll be a recording that I’m always going to be proud of, even though the songs have developed with time as we play more live.”
Earz Mag: What is the most important thing about your music?
AH: “That it sounds good to us, we have to be brutally honest otherwise we’d be kidding ourselves and everyone else, dont think it would last very long.”
BD: “That the three of us playing it are having fun. Simply put!”
Earz Mag: What’s next for 85 Bears?
AH: “We’re gearing up to get back in the studio for the summer and get an album ready for release. Get out there gigging still, making friends and getting our name out there. We just wanna spread the gospel of the mighty bears.”
BD: “To record an album by late summer and to release it. To play more shows.”
85 Bears’ debut three-track EP Shipwrecking is available now to purchase from their Myspace page. Thanks to 85 Bears and A Badge Of Friendship for the interview.
Posted in Interviews & Music by Martin Skivington on June 4, 2009.
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