All We Ask: An Interview with Ed Droste of Grizzly Bear
(Grizzly Bear L to R: Ed Droste, Daniel Rossen, Christopher Bear, Chris Taylor) Article by Mark Andrew Hamilton
At the very start, before the tours with Radiohead and appearances in Billboard’s Top 10 album charts, Grizzly Bear was a hushed, solo lo-fi bedroom project of Brooklynite Ed Droste. Openly queer from the outset, the whispered beauties on 2004’s debut full length Horn of Plenty brought a unique voice into indie folk all emerging through an unashamedly gay lens. Since expanding to a four-piece alongside Daniel Rossen, Chris Taylor, and Christopher Bear, Grizzly Bear’s subsequent records Yellow House, Veckitimest, and Shields were heralded as three of the best albums of the past decade. 2017’s Painted Ruins plays like both a culmination and expansion of everything that makes Grizzly Bear one of the greats – the epic soundscapes and swooning harmonies as razor-sharp as ever. In advance of their performance in Montréal at MTELUS on November 26, 2017, QueerMTL spoke with Droste about his experiences as an openly gay musician and how things have changed since Grizzly Bear’s early days.
QueerMTL: From the start of Grizzly Bear, you've been a proudly openly queer musician. How has the culture and industry changed since Horn of Plenty? Is it still important to identify as a queer musician? Have you ever been warned against doing so?
Ed Droste: It's true, I made the decision to not hide my sexuality from the get-go and as a result haven’t been asked much about it. The band isn't identified as gay or straight or really anything and many don't know my sexuality because it never comes up. Since it was never a problem for me to be open about it, it's harder for me to gauge how the industry has changed. But in general I would say the industry and society is much more friendly to the LGBTQIA+ community though there is still so much work to be done. I still know some closeted musicians which is surprising, but also more a result of their upbringing than the culture. I also knew some who thought they would lose fans. It's never anyone's decision to tell someone when to come out, but I know I've been listening to a lot of my peers grapple with it through the years and I'm happy to say a lot of them are now very out and proud and happy. Hi Rostam!
QMTL: Grizzly Bear have always taken on queer artists as opening bands or remixers, working with everyone from Owen Pallett to Phiiliip and now touring with the mind-blowing Serpentwithfeet. Is this an important thing for you? And how is it watching Serpentwithfeet every night?
ED: Watching Serpentwithfeet every night is truly a gift. We try our hardest to pick as much different types of support as we can. Luckily there are so many insanely talented queer people that we've never had trouble finding queer people to collaborate with or tour with! Personally speaking it feels good to not be the only queer person on the tour, so when there is another queer musician around it makes the whole experience more fun and comfortable. Not that anyone we work with have ever been anything but supportive, but it's definitely more fun.
QMTL: Now that the members of Grizzly Bear live across the US from one another, how has writing and recording together changed? How has the recording of Painted Ruins compared and contrasted to the earlier records? [And oddly enough, while posing this question in a café in Québec City, Grizzly Bear’s ‘Mourning Sound’ from Painted Ruins came over the sound system].
ED: Well we sort of had the same process. Three of us now live in Los Angeles, but during the beginning stages it was just Chris Taylor and me in LA, which meant we would go on writing retreats together which was a first and something new. Chris Taylor was always an integral creative force, but this time it was really cool to see his songwriting be a part of the process. In comparison to the past, we still went on various retreats in small groups but the biggest difference was that we didn't impose a deadline and made sure we had enough material we were excited with before we started to record it live which made the whole process much more playful and fun. I hope we don't take as much time off next go around, but one never knows.
QMTL: Painted Ruins presents Grizzly Bear with a new palette of colours and ideas – it sounds like the work of a newly refreshed and reinvented band and it's a record to be extremely proud of. In your mind, how does it fit into your discography? What do you most want people to take away from it?
ED: For me it makes total sense right now where we’re considering how happy and zen we are. It's also my favorite record we've made. I think it really represents a maturity from us and a freedom to experiment with tones and colours and new topics. I'm really thrilled with it.
QMTL: You've been an active centre-point of indie music for over a decade, and many of your peers have gone on to become leaders of the scene – if we can call it that. There's also a perceptible shift towards major labels for groups like Grizzly Bear (who moved from indie stalwart Warp to RCA for Painted Ruins), Feist, The War on Drugs and others. How do you reflect on what that "indie" atmosphere is like now vs. in the mid-2000s?
ED: Well I'm so grateful we came about when we did. The trend now is definitely more towards pop/rap and R&B, which is cool, but there's not a lot of room for guitar based bands right now and with the amount of music being released, it's so so hard to get your music heard. I can't imagine releasing Yellow House in 2017 and having anyone truly give a shit. We were so fortunate to come about at a time where people were really embracing music like ours and it was less of a singles-dominated culture. The shift to major labels is simple: there's very little difference between indie and majors now. Indies offer deals that resemble old school major deals and vice versa. One of the general reasons we switched was we loved the new team we were working with and wanted to try a new label out and the infrastructure was just so much huger on a global level. It's been an interesting experience. I can't say I feel that much difference other than a slightly larger radio presence, which again goes to show there's really almost no difference between the idea of indie and major anymore.
(Droste with Montréal’s Owen Pallett)
QMTL: What advice would you give young musicians – and in particular young queer musicians – in starting into a career in music?
ED: Man, it's hard out there, but don't be afraid to be open and yourself and also don't feel pressured to do anything you aren't ready to do yet. I would also say if you really really are passionate about what you are making, don't give up and don't be afraid to ask for help. I'm always shouting out bands on my Instagram stories or other platforms in an attempt to shine light on smaller emerging artists now that the former websites that once championed the underdogs mostly talk about pop culture and huge pop artists which is a massive shame.
For tickets visit: http://www.evenko.ca/en/events/12651/grizzly-bear/mtelus/11-26-2017
For more Ed Droste, check out: instagram.com/edroste
For more on Grizzly Bear visit: grizzly-bear.net instagram.com/grizzlybear twitter.com/grizzlybear
For more QueerMTL visit: facebook.com/QueerMTL instagram.com/QueerMTL twitter.com/QueerMTL
