Are You Falling in Love With Gold-Bears?: An Interview
Gold-Bears have been getting even sweeter since the release of their energetic LP, Are you Falling in Love?, out on Slumberland records. And there’s a lot to fall in love with on the record. Energetic is indeed the perfect word for AYFIL; even when the music enters a hazy dreamstate, as it does on the title track, the verve does not let up. And that’s a good thing. Papa Gold-Bear Jeremy Underwood talks about pizza, candy, and music here.
ELM: Did you know you don’t have a wikipedia page yet? What would you put on it if you did?
JU: Not sure. A picture of a bear playing a guitar? A record player with a pizza on it?
ELM: How did Gold-Bears form?
JU: I stockpiled a bunch of songs after the demise of the old band (plastic mastery). I decided I needed to start a new band so I recruited some friends in 2010 to play the songs. After about 3 practices we had the first 7″ recorded. Before we even played a show, we had 2 7″s lined up with Magic Marker Records and Cloudberry Records. We work fast!
ELM: I have to ask–why the hyphen?
JU: Why the hyphen? We lifted our name from the Haribo gummi bears (my favorite!). I’ve always thought it’d make a great band name because it’s a bit awkward looking. It looks like a typo.
ELM: Have you ever had German gummi bears? They are better than US ones. (When I did a search for you, gummi bears kept coming up.)
JU: Best things ever!
ELM: Where are all the band members from?
JU: We all live in Atlanta. I used to live in Florida until about 4 years ago when my wife and I moved up to Atlanta. The other boys are born and raised in ATL.
ELM: What are your live shows like?
JU: Our live shows are frantic and shambolic. Lots of feedback, flubbed notes, energy, and LOUD LOUD LOUD drums!
ELM: Did you go into recording AYFIL with any one vision for the album, or as the vision just to make a solid rock album?
JU: We just wanted to make the best record we could make.
ELM: How long did it take you to make the record, from writing to post-production?
All the songs we already written prior to recording. We spent about 6 months working on the lp. When Slumberland came along, we actually had a deadline to work with. If they didnt give us a deadline i think we’d still be working on the lp. We are all a bit of control freaks/perfectionists when it comes to recording. Erich labored many hours on this record. I think he said he logged about 350 hours mixing the record. I guess i should mention here that Erich recorded the lp entirely, other than the tracks that Kristine and Scott added in their homes.
ELM: What sort of music did you record before AYFIL, and how did you distribute it?
JU: I’ve always recorded indie pop records. My old band was on Magic Marker Records and 555 Recordings.
ELM: Who produced the record, and how did that production change the sound, if it did?
JU: We produced the record by ourselves. I dont think we would’ve allowed anyone else to produce it.
ELM: What’s the weirdest thing that happened to you at a show?
JU: I dont really have any wacky tour or show stories. We’re all pretty tame/lame people.
ELM: Do you feel a kinship with any current subgenres or movements in music?
JU: I’ve always been a part of the Indie pop community. It’s great. Such support for artists and you meet a lot of nice people that eventually wind up being your BFFs.
ELM: Who are your favorite authors?
JU: J.D. Salinger.
