We recently caught up with Nick, the guitarist and one of the lyricists of Bears In Trees, and asked him to give us the lowdown on his band. Check out the interview here!
Can you introduce yourself and tell me a little about the band?
Sure! My name’s Nick and I’m the guitarist/half-lyricist for Bears in Trees. We call ourselves a dirtbag boyband – dirtbag is the term given to climbers who lived in Yosemite back in the 70s, and boyband because, well; if you can’t beat ‘em you may as well join ‘em.
How did you all meet and decide to start making music together?
We mostly met in school. Iain (other lyricist/bassist/singer) and Callum (ukulelist/pianist/singer) met in primary school. We all went to the same secondary school, and Callum and George (our drummer) ended up at the same college. We didn’t really mean to start a band, it just happened naturally. We were four kids making noise in Iain’s garage every weekend and we never really talked about stopping, so here we are today.
Where do you draw your influences from?
We listen to such a weird mix of music so it’s hard to pin down anything specific! Our influences mainly come from the nights we spend with our friends. And from a lot of the films we watch. I think being around each other is the most inspiring thing, really.
You released your AA single Flower Through Concrete back in May – can you describe the writing and recording process for it?
We wrote Fresh Concrete and Evergreen at the same time as we wrote the rest of our debut album. They were two songs that didn’t really fit into the album story we wanted to cultivate but were too strong to just let go and forget about. They both felt very indebted to Spring, so we felt it best to release them as a little taster of what’s to come while the trees were still in bloom.
How has the reception been for it?
Massive! Wonderful! I always get freaked out before we put out a release because I think we’ve gone off the deep end and no one’s going to like us anymore. That hasn’t happened yet so it’s looking good so far.
Moving onto live performances, you recently went out on your debut UK tour after it got postponed from December 2020. How did it go?
It was ridiculous! We really had no idea what to expect but we had fans queueing up hours before each show. It’s strange because I used to be that person and I can still remember the excitement I’d feel just being in the queue with a bunch of strangers I’d never met. I made a tonne of concert friends that way and it was so sweet when we’d walk down the queue and hang out with people who’d only met that day.
Indeed, what can fans expect from a Bears In Trees show?
I think they can expect a lot of heart. Our music is all about connection and you can’t emulate the kind of connection you get from 600 people in a room screaming their hearts out to your music. We care very much about the vibe our shows have – we want our stages to look like a bedroom because that’s where we feel most at home writing music. So the colours we choose, the lights we hang, the props we bring on stage – everything is to emulate that. Cosy vibes only.
Any interesting or funny stories to share from the road?
We got two fines in Nottingham for driving the wrong way down a one-way street. Twice. Fool us once, shame on you. Fool us twice? Still shame on you, Nottingham.
And finally what’s in store for the band for the rest of 2021 and 2022?
Our debut album is coming out at the end of the year, so that should be pretty neat.
