Boy & Bear Interview
WRITTEN BY: Clare Armstrong (me)
PUBLISHED: Sauce Magazine, Hobart
Recently returned from touring the U.S, Sydney quintet, Boy & Bear are preparing for a national headline tour. Having already added several extra shows to their diaries, the boys are poised for sell-out crowds across the country throughout November. The tour will be their first in Australia since the release of Moonfire, the band’s debut album. Bassist, Jake Tarasenko talks about their recent tours, the record and the future of Boy & Bear.
Trasenko is walking through the suburbs on his way to the testing office to finally get his unrestricted license. At the age of 23 he may not have had a great deal of success in a driving capacity, however the Boy & Bear fans who are filling venues to capacity across the country don’t seem to mind. Since their discovery on Triple J Unearthed in 2009, Boy & Bear have been busy playing festivals and shows all over Australia and further abroad. They’ve received international exposure touring with U.K artists such as Laura Marling and Mumford& Sons and earlier this year the band were on the Lollapalooza Festival line up in Chicago.
Boy & Bear recorded Moonfire in a studio in Nashville in the U.S for six weeks, working closely with producer Joe Chicarelli (The Shins, U2, The White Stripes). “We were going to be in the States anyway for SXSW and the Australian dollar was doing well so we thought, if there’s any time to do it it’s probably going to be now because all of the stars have aligned. We recorded Moonfire at Blackbird studio, which was very professional, there were heaps of guitars, heaps of gear that the Beatles used in Abbey Road, and they just had very high quality production values. “ The record debuted at number 2 on the ARIA Albums chart and new tracks quickly secured high rotation slots across a variety of music outlets. “Dave Hosking, the lead singer from the band mostly writes the songs and then we kind of add our own parts and maybe do arrangements after that original process. We demo and get the songs completely ready to go before we hit the studio, then once we’re there we don’t have to spend heaps of time at a lose end wondering what needs to be done.”
Tarasenko likens their U.S tour to Australian shows, “Playing gigs over there is different because it’s not as if we are starting what we did in Australia over again because you find that the audiences that you attract over there are generally people that have heard you before and know you off the back of what we are in Australia. So it’s not you’re turning up to pubs and playing for five people, it’s more like you’re playing for fans, just a smaller amount.” Without giving any details away, Tarasenko reveals that the boys were able to use their U.S tour to trial new things that they would like to work into future sets. “Introducing a few new songs, working with set lists, hopefully there will be some additional instrumentations for our performances.”
As Tarasenko reaches the testing office he reflects on his musical journey thus far, “Well, judging from the past history of Boy & Bear, probably no time off this summer, there’s a couple of festivals coming up after the tour, I’m not really sure.” With the prospect of yet another busy Australian summer ahead of him, it’s no wonder he has never had time to get his full drivers licence.
