Exclusive Special Interview: Boy & Bear

Give us an introduction. How did it all begin? What had you first interested in music? I was forced to learn piano as a child, to which I thank my parents. Once I was old enough I told them I wanted to now learn guitar. Since then I have never stopped playing, some 15+ years later. Music always took a large roll in my family growing up, dinner times were dads playlist moments (to which we all hated back then) but since looking back he was actually in to some pretty awesome music at the time.

What motivates or influences you in your quest to make great music? Anything and everything I guess. It really is hard to say what influences you, as its often on such a subconscious level. You just all of a sudden learnt a new skill, or discovered a fascination you didn’t previously have, only looking backwards can you identify where it possibly came from.

What are your biggest goals you hope to accomplish as an artist? Growing up as a teenager attending concerts as frequently as I could, I spent many years dreaming of playing a gig at the Enmore theatre in Sydney. That was my benchmark of satisfaction. Fortunately we have done over five or so shows there now, so that box was ticked, though it still means a lot to me. On a broader scale I just want to be making music as long as I live. Creating something hopefully worthwhile is a yearning rather than a box to be ticked.Thats my life goal.

What can we expect from you in the coming months? Any plans to tour? Definitely have plans to tour, we have tours currently on sale in North America, Europe and Australia.

Tell us a bit about your latest album and how would you best describe your music? I think this record is the first album that we have all agreed on within the band as the best representation of what we are really on about, and what we sound like when playing live. We made this record using a very different process for us, that was challenging yet incredibly rewarding. Its more stripped back than anything else we have recorded before, with much more emphasis on performance and energy, getting the take of the song right.

Success, what is the secret to it? Complete and utter dedication, and remaining as completely honest and true to your own naive perspective of what is good and what isn’t. Authenticity is crucial.

What has been your biggest career highlight? We did over 170 shows last year all around the world, thats an experience I never would have expected growing up.

Which stars of the music industry do you find inspiring? Ryan Adams, for a long time and many more years to come I hope. He is a true artist, incredibly talented and still the best live performer I have seen in many years.

Any new projects in the pipeline? This one is keeping me pretty busy.

The music industry is huge, where do you see yourself a few years from now? Hopefully still in it, and ideally at a bigger level than currently.

Name a few of your favourite Aussie artists. Australian Crawl, Tame impala, Easybeats, The Paper Kites.

The shape of the music industry has changed significantly over the years, including the use of social media, how do you feel about the industry as a whole and what does it mean to you in getting your records out into the public eye? I kind of try to embrace all things new. I may not use them personally in my life, but professionally the way the industry has changed is something you just move forward with. Recording music and playing shows live is still bread and butter for us, and still the centre of what we do. Everything else in second to that. Making a record is my favourite thing to do, the process is incredibly challenging, and remarkably rewarding. You do however somewhat selfishly make music for yourself first and foremost. Though all of us are completely insecure and need to be told people like you, so yes, it is important and very rewarding.

Thanks for the interview! What final message do you have for us today? Beck – modern guilt. Great record!