a conversation with… BEARS IN TREES
With their debut label EP coming out on Friday, Alex had a chat with Bears In Trees about their life on social media and their latest music.
What other artists do you feel influenced some of the sounds within this EP?
As individuals we’re all influenced by a variety of different artists and that all comes to together to form an amalgamation that is Bears in Trees! We don’t necessarily sit down and decide on particular artists!
You’ve recently signed with Counter Intuitive (congrats!). How have things been different?
To be honest things haven’t changed massively immediately. We get a lot more support behind the scenes now and get put into contact with people we never would’ve been able to meet otherwise! And as hopefully we begin to move out of a pandemic we’ll be able to even more!!
How has lockdown #2 affected you guys?
Luckily we’ve still been able to keep going as much as we can, of course, following social distancing guidelines etc. We’ve always been a bit of an internet band but it’s given us a good chance to get our heads around TikTok!
Many of the songs have a happy tune with deeper themes. Why do you think this is important?
In life moments don’t come at you in purely happy and purely sad! Life is a mixed bag of moments and emotions and we try to represent that in our music!
How does it feel now that your band is growing such a significant amount?
It’s amazing! Although sometimes it’s difficult to see the growth from the inside. Obviously we can see our stats go up and our followers increase but ultimately we’re still the same 4 kids working as hard as we ever have to try and turn this hobby into a job!
How do you feel this EP is different from other releases?
This EP was written to be the counterpart to I Want to Feel Chaotic (the EP we released earlier this year). IWTFC was about coming to terms with the worst parts of yourself and Keep Me Safe represents the journey to getting better!
Where would you want to play most once we can travel again?
Realistically – We just want to get back out and play shows! We’re really looking forward to our London date. Unrealistically – We really want to go to Japan!
How has tiktok helped you grow as a band?
TikTok is best viewed as something we do, not something we are. We’ve never tried to be serious or disconnected from pop culture, and think using TikTok is a good way of us showing that ultimately we’re just here for the hangs! But it did help us get a record label so we’re definitely thankful for it!
What’s the story behind ‘Laugh/Cry’?
Iain wrote a bunch of lyrics from his walks to and from uni, whilst experiencing dissociation and writers block. He put them on a google doc and forgot about them. A year or so later Callum picked them up and formed them into a song and played it to the band. From there it evolved into laugh/cry!
What made you decide to have ‘It Gets Better’ as the first track released?
‘It Gets Better’ is a very sudden and very obvious pick up from I Want to Feel Chaotic, which was about coming to terms with the worst parts of yourself! It also parallels the start of I Want to Feel Chaotic which was ‘Rambling’s of a Lunatic’ which was also acoustic!