Interview with Boy & Bear

Foto: Boy & Bear
Boy & Bear

Feb 2, 2012 | In the US and Australia, Boy & Bear's debut album "Moonfire" was already available in August 2011, whereas in Germany the album will be in stores beginning Februar 10, 2012. Although the band is very busy at the moment promoting their album and preparing their tour, bass player Jake Tarasenko found some time to answer our Soundcheck questions. He tells us - among other things - how Boy & Bear create their songs, which songs he likes most and with whom we'd love to go on tour one day.

Note: © myFanbase 2012 - The interview is exclusive to myFanbase and may not be published on other websites or the like. You may share the first 2 questions or up to 160 characters if you link back to this site. Translations other than English and German may be posted with full credit including the writer's name and link to this site.

1. How would you describe your music in one sentence?

These days, I'd probably describe our music as folk inspired rock with a little of an alternative twist. We came up with the genre of Death Folk and I wish I could call us a Death Folk band, but I don't think that's true.

2. Was there something like a light bulb moment when you were young, maybe a concert, a certain song or a record that made you dream about a career as a musician?

Honestly, I never really dreamed of being a musician, but like anyone who plays music, almost every artist you respect, or record you love, or performance you've been impressed by contributes to where you want to go musically - even if it's not technically your job. So to cut a long story short, there are just too many to list.

3. Are there any artists that might have influenced you or inspired you some time?

A little while ago now, we toured with Laura Marling first through Australia and then Tim (our drummer) and I played in her band through Europe before another tour in the UK. Throughout that period, Laura became an inspiration to me, both in the unparalleled way she carries herself as a person, and also through her integrity as an artist.

4. How do you develop your songs? What part comes first, music or lyrics?

Dave (our frontman) usually writes the frame of a song, and after that, the rest of us add our own parts and fix up the arrangements. It usually takes a little while even after the song seems finished, for it to settle into a final form. I'm fairly sure music comes first, because during that period of settling I just mentioned, Dave has been known to sing some fairly nonsensical gibberish...

5. What song is most important to you? Why and how did it develop?

I think "House and Farm" is the most important track to me. Being the bass player, I play bass on most of the songs, as you'd imagine, but I actually wrote the drum part and recorded it on the album, so it's special to me. We put the song together, first in a rehearsal studio and then in the Blue Mountains, just west of Sydney. I'm not sure why I was playing drums, maybe because Tim was playing banjo or something? I don't remember.

6. In what aspects did your music change compared to when you started to make music?

Being a bass player, I try to make all my parts serve the music and the rhythm of each song as best I can, so I think if I do change or have changed, it's based on the writer of the song, or the rhythm Tim plays, really.

7. What has been the best experience so far as a musician?

I think we'd all agree that some of the festivals we've done have been the best experience so far. It's such a huge compliment to have a couple of thousand people packed into a tent just to see you play. There's nothing quite like it.

8. What can you tell us about your current projects?

Right now, we're in the middle of our Australian album tour, so there aren't too many projects happening right now. It will be good to start writing again though, that's for sure.

9. And what are you aspiring to in the future, what do you want to achieve?

One day, I want to own a piece of land and make something with my hands. Wine, or cheese, maybe. That's what I aspire to.

10. With whom would you like to go on tour?

I'd love to tour with Midlake, just so I could see them every night. Same goes for a whole bunch of other bands actually, Rolo Tomassi, The Mars Volta, and a few bands that don't even really tour anymore: Jethro Tull and Steeleye span, Enya, too.

11. What record would we find in your CD-player right now?

As I write this, I'm listening to Björk's's "Debut", but I've recently been listening to Laura Marling's new one: "A Creature I Don't Know".

12. What do you think, as artists, about platforms like Facebook, Twitter and MySpace?

I don't actually have any of those personally, but as a band I think they're instrumental in connecting with fans and broadcasting your activities, especially in the age we live in - everything's on the internet now.

13. myFanbase is a website that is devoted to American television shows. Do you have a favorite show?

I don't watch a whole lot of television. Especially not American shows; I think I prefer British televison, and documentaries. "Grand Designs" and "Time Team" are favourites of mine.

Maria Gruber - myFanbase

Zur Soundcheck-Übersicht