Bear’s Den – The UK’s Andrew Davie and Kev Jones – has been making waves with their music since 2012. Their first work was largely melancholic, dealing with very harsh realities in the lyrics, but beautiful in its composition. They’ve just unleashed their latest genius – sophomore album Red Earth & Pouring Rain – on the world, and let it be known that there are happier tunes amongst the gritty, with the same gorgeous melodic composition that we fell in love with on Islands. We were lucky enough to get to throw some questions their way about their background, their inspiration, and where they’re going.
Where did the name Bear’s Den come from?
It was inspired by the children’s book Where The Wild Things Are – we wanted our music to be a version of the cave the boy Maz visits.
How would you describe your music?
Music formed around songs, we wanted the band to be something that would serve the songs irrespective of genre.
What has been your favorite musical moment since Bear’s Den was formed?
There are so many to choose from…maybe performing to 60,000 people at the Olympic Park in London a few years ago.
How do you incorporate the inspiration from Edward Hopper, Raymond Carver, and Robert Altman into your music?
All of those artists paint pictures (literally or otherwise) that require you to fill in some of the blanks of the narrative for yourself – we wanted to do the same thing with the songs.
Where did the album title, “Red Earth & Pouring Rain”, come from?
It was inspired by an ancient Tamil poem, we thought the imagery was beautiful and it captured a mood we were trying to create on the record.
Did you guys come across any conflicts or difficulties while creating this album?
Not really – we spent a long time talking about what we were going to do in the studio before we got in there, if you do that and everyone is on the same page before you start, it’s unusual to find reasons to fall out!
Which was your favorite track to create off of this album and why?
That’s like trying to pick a favourite child! Right now it’s probably Greenwoods Bethlehem but it changes all the time.
If you were an animal, what would you be and why?
A bear would be the obvious answer. Or a pigeon.
What’s next for Bear’s Den?
We’re gearing up for a tour of the US which we are super excited about as it’ll be the first time we will have played a lot of the songs from the new album live. After that we are touring in the UK and Europe, it’s going to be a busy year!
