On the Spot: Grizzly Bear
Chris Bear of Grizzly Bear paused in mid-trek to answer some Qs. The band stops at the 930 Listening Room (930 Mary St.) Aug. 2 with Violens.
LEO: The Radiohead opening slot has to be a serious highlight for the band. How did you guys luck into that enviable position?
CB: It is an amazing honor to be playing with them. I can’t really believe it still. I didn’t even know that they knew of our music, but then we heard that they played one of our songs on BBC radio. A couple months later, our booking agent told us we were offered some shows with them. I’m super-excited.
LEO: You’ve been in upstate New York recording your new album. Is it hard to switch from the focused mindset necessary to track a record to a touring mindset, where it’s go-go-go?
CB: It will be interesting. We’re already starting to get more in the rehearsal mode every day. It’s exciting for us to start figuring out how to play some of the new material live. We’ve been playing a lot of the same songs for a long time now, so it feels fresh to have some new material to work with.
LEO: What contributed to the sunnier mood of the record?
CB: Not sure. I don’t really have a sense of what the general mood of the record is yet. I guess it is a little bit brighter. Maybe we’re all just feeling happy with our lives? Too blessed to be stressed.
LEO: Who’s funnier: Conan O’Brien or David Letterman?
CB: Conan for sure. I like Letterman’s dry sensibility sometimes, but you could hear crickets after a bunch of his jokes the other day when we were on.
LEO: Ever been to Louisville?
CB: Never played there, but I think we stopped through for food once. We tried to go to a barbecue place that was way out in some residential neighborhood. Seemed pretty straight up, but they were closed. We ended up eating at a really colorful restaurant and went to a thrift store. That’s not a very exciting story, but it seems like a nice place.
Music Editor Mat Herron has a love-hate relationship with corn on the cob. Contact him at [email protected]
