It’s been four years since Grizzly Bear dazzled Australian audiences with their interweaving harmonies and perplexing melodies.
But now, the band has emerged from hibernation and will soon bring their new record ‘Painted Ruins’ to our shores. “[Australia is] actually one of our favourite places to tour, we’re so thrilled to be coming back,” vocalist Ed Droste says.
“The audiences are so friendly, they give so much energy. Plus, we’ll be visiting in the summer and the tour should allow us to have multiple days off in various cities, so hopefully we can do a little exploring.”
The band will be performing at some of the country's bigger venues, though according to Ed, the large-scale venues haven’t eradicated memories of the band’s humble beginnings. “First of all, when we first started, nobody cared.
“We would drive around in vans and sleep on floors. We SAT on stage, as opposed to standing, we would use WAY more loop pedals, and had more of an insane, psychedelic sound, as opposed to a coherent song.
"We were playing to 20 people at a diner sometimes, but as time went on, we surprisingly started to play at cooler and bigger venues,” he recalls.
“We’re not, and we never will be a stadium band, and I’m okay with that. I like playing where we’re playing, it feels good, and comfortable, and intimate enough that we can still feel a connection with the audience.”
Although Grizzly Bear have since progressed exponentially, they’ve stayed true to their roots; even five albums deep, their songwriting process remains structured around their founding rituals. “It’s always been that various members of the band go on writing retreats, to rural areas,” Ed explains.
“We’ve always been a democracy, and everyone’s been involved in the creative process, which is increasingly rare for bands. But with ‘Painted Ruins’, [bass player] Chris Taylor was much more involved in songwriting than usual; he’s even singing lead on one of the tracks!”
Ed describes composing as a “laborious process”, with plenty of effort, time and craft put into recording. “We had a lot of different instruments at our disposal this time; we were recording in a space that was formally a studio and the owner let us use a lot of his old equipment there,” he says.
“There’s a lot of care put into songwriting and into making things sound pretty, and interesting, and new, and fresh.”
Though it wasn’t the extensive songwriting process to blame for the five-year stretch between the release of their previous record ‘Shields’ and ‘Painted Ruins’; the band simply needed to return to “real life” for a while. “There was a baby born, marriages happened," Ed says.
“We said, ‘Let’s live a normal life for a few years’, and that became a priority for a while. Now, music is our focus again and while I’m sure there’ll be another break when we’re done, it hopefully won’t be as long,” he states.
“In saying that, the break definitely made the process of writing this new album much more enjoyable. Everybody was really recharged in a really cool way, and much more mature – we got along really well.
“It was such a fun album to make and actually my favourite so far. It feels like a warmer record, and it feels like a more diverse record in terms of the song styles.”
Grizzly Bear recently circulated the United States and will touchdown in Australia in March, 2018. “I truly believe we’re sounding tighter than ever. Now that we have a such a big catalogue, it will primarily be the hits that people know and like, hopefully. In saying that, it’s not like we’ve ever had a ‘hit’,” Ed laughs.
“Come to the show, we don’t travel to Australia very often. It will be worth it, I promise.”
Grizzly Bear Tour Dates
6-7 Mar - Adelaide FestivalFri 9 Mar - Melbourne Zoo
Sat 10 Mar - A Festival Called Panama (Tasmania)
Sun 11 Mar - Golden Plains (Victoria)
Mon 12 Mar - Sydney Opera House
Wed 14 Mar - QPAC (Brisbane)
