The 2 Bears Interview
We catch up with 2 Bears, Hot Chip's Joe Goddard and Raf Rundell and talk about influences, other famous bears, those bear suits and the new album "Bear Hug EP"
How was 2011 for you?
It was magic, yeah we had a great time. We spent a couple of months making the bears album, a lot of time DJing, we did a bunch of remixes. We got about a bit, we went to Mexico and Australia so that was really good. I got married! So yeah a big year really, 2011!
Wicked! How was touring Australia?
Yeah it was great, we were on one of those tours which is like a rolling festival so one line up goes around all the different cities. We did Melbourne and Sydney, Brisbane and Perth and everything, yeah we had a great time!
I guess it was quite hot over there, were you tempted to cheat and take off the bear suits?
We don’t really wear those bear suits when we are DJing..it’s a myth! (laughs)
Oh no!
We couldn't wear bear suits over there, it’s far too hot, you’d pass out in minutes!
You could maybe modify the bear suits somehow!
We need to sort of get an air conditioning unit put in or something yeah. (laughs)
Maybe in the future.
Maybe yeah, we need to sell a few records, then we might be able to do that!
So we’ve been listening to the album over and over again, it’s definitely a fun and positive album.
Yeah.
What albums were you listening to when you made this album and did it influence what you were making?
I don't know really, to be honest I was just talking to my mate about it, I was listening to a lot of country and western music when we were making the record. When you spend all day in the studio, making sort of electronic house and banging music, so you need something a bit more chilled out when you get home and an old mate of mine is a big aficionado of like sort of like golden era of country music between the mid fifties and mid sixties when the records were really well made and really nice and the songs are very, I mean they’re all about being heart broken and not able to get off the drink, or someone stealing your woman, but they’re very well written, they’re interesting, they tell a heart breaking story in two and a half minutes in a way that’s very easy to understand. So not any particular album, but a lot of artists like George Jones, Lefty Frizzell, Stonewall Jackson, all these old country singers that I was listening to a lot when we were making the record. Then in terms of...I listen to so much music, I love old reggae, I love all the old Chicago house, Detroit, New York, you know good American house and techno music. I don’t know an album I could compare it to, I mean Screamadelica (by Primal Scream) maybe that sort of vibe where, I suppose it has the same message of togetherness and partying basically, good times and hedonism.
You and Joe, and the anchor in your conversations where your love of house music. How did you an Joe’s relationship develop?
We were DJing a lot together at Greco Roman parties, Greco Roman is a record label, well it was a party in the first instance that a mutual friend of mine and Joe’s started. I was a resident there and then from the party grew a label which Joe was involved with and he releases his own records on there and has a hand in what gets signed, what gets made and what gets put out. So the Greco Roman’s thing was quite key really, we played at a lot of those parties together and we always had a great time basically and we had a mutual admiration for one anothers style and selection. Naturally we talked a lot about music sat around in the pub, talked a lot about music and eventually got round to kind of getting in and making some tracks.
Nice. Because Joe is not here right now. Tell us something we don’t know about him?
What could I tell you about Joe. He is the hardest working man in show business, that’s for sure he works everyday at his music. You could tell the world that he’s really not a very good ping pong player! (laughs)
We might challenge him in the future! There are loads of songs that are a lot of fun. On the song Ghosts & Zombies at the end of it the beat changes and then you start using the Stevie Wonder talkbox. Was that a lot of fun to do?
It actually was a mate of ours that did that for us, he’s from a band called ‘Shake a Letti’ and we had that electro section at the end of the tune that we liked and we just thought it suited that sort of beat, having a bit of talk box on there. The whole record is formed by, there were a lot of sounds that we both loved, that we wanted to get on there in one way or another and the talkbox was definitely one of them, when it’s used right, the talkbox is completely brilliant.
You definitely experimented on the record. There is one track where, it’s kind of like a country track, but it has a reggae rhythm, it’s good that you are messing around and taking chances.
Well you know, like I say I was listening to a lot of music, but I didn’t really feel like I could get away with putting a full blown country and western weeper on an album full of house music, so you have to find a way of mixing these things up to make them relevant and make them work and make them fit with who you are I think, so the dancehall beat, there is a sample beat of a man crying. It sounds like it would be awful, a country and western dancehall tune, hope we get away with it!
Here’s a question we ask everyone. Here’s the situation. The government are like “Raf, we’re taking you out of the UK and you’re not allowed in to any other countries. We’re dropping you on a desert island, you can’t invite any of your friends. You can only invite three famous people, who would you choose and why?
Bear Grylls for obvious reasons. He could make us a shelter, maybe build a TV out of some palm trees, that sort of thing. The band Polar Bear, they can be our entertainment while we are wiling away the hours, they’re all really good musicians so I’m sure I could learn how to play a few things off them. So Bear Grills, Polar Bear, what other bear could we invite, we could invite Yogi because he would bring a picnic!
Well we love the album, we wish you every success and keep on doing your thing.
Thank you.
STANDEND: Be Strong will be released on thedksehfieh
