Brooklyn’s Bear Hands are just about to drop their brand new full-length, You’ll Pay For This on April 8th. Having just wrapped up tour dates with Cage The Elephant, Silversun Pickups and Foals, and with the first ever Record Store Day Crawl in New York City ahead of them, 2016 has already been busy for this four piece, and the next eight months look even more promising. Check out Bear Hands’ single, “2 AM” below and pick up You’ll Pay For This on Friday, April 8th!
Interview by Dom Vigil
The Prelude Press: You are just getting to release your new album, You’ll Pay For This on April 15th. What are you most excited for listeners to hear on the album?
Ted Feldman: Track 1: “I Won’t Pay”, and then all of the following 11 tracks.
How do you feel you’ve grown between your 2014 release, Distraction and You’ll Pay For This?
I’ve gained some weight, but my girlfriend might love me more.
Were there any sounds or themes that you wanted to experiment with on You’ll Pay For This?
Wanted to play with new harmonic structures, expand the synth palette, and extend the song structure. There’s more bass synth, a wider variety of synthesized sounds as well as guitar sounds… And the songs are longer, deeper, on average.
What was the most rewarding part about the writing and recording process of the album? On the flip side, what was the most difficult part?
Writing new music is rewarding in itself. Creating 12 new Bear Hands songs that I know are better than everything we’ve made before feels great. Also, working more deeply with James Brown, and the opportunity to look over Alan Moulder’s shoulders.
The most difficult part was finishing. We spent two or three times as long on these recordings than our last album. And there was no fucking around – it all felt necessary. But as the weeks tick by, it can get frustrating.
The first song you released from You’ll Pay For This was “2 AM.” Can you tell us a little bit about the track?
It went through a lot of iterations in the writing process before it became the song it is now. And it took the most passes in mixing. But I think it’s a good thematic representation of the album as a whole. It has a wide sonic palette, and lyrically it deals with change, age, love, self reflection…
What do you hope fans will take away from the album?
Spiritual awakening
On top of the album release, you’re taking part in the Record Store Day Crawl in NYC. What can fans expect from the crawl and your performance?
Hopefully they’ll find and buy a bunch of records at the record stores. We’re gonna do a little campfire thing on the bus.
You also just finished up a run of tour dates with Cage The Elephant, Silversun Pickups and Foals. What was the highlight of tour?
Made some new friends – that’s a very nice thing. Also, stepping onto our first bus for the first time – a moment we’ve dreamed of for many years.
With You’ll Pay For This dropping soon, what does Bear Hands have in store for the rest of 2016? Could we expect some more tour dates soon?
Yes more touring!
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