Wow, two weeks later and I still get an adrenaline rush thinking about my interview with the amazing band Bear Mountain! A group of four talented men: Ian, Gregg, Kenji, and Kyle, coming together to form a fabulous band. Not only are they musically talented but they are also very down to earth, funny and dedicated people. I had the opportunity to interview them, the day of their performance at Sled Island! Till today I have the words of our laid-back and entertaining conversation ringing in my ears, if you haven’t noticed I am a huge fan! Without a doubt, they made the atmosphere very easy-going for my first official and planned interview and it was amazing!
We began talking about how their band formed, Ian Bevis replied by saying that a fellow band member and himself were musicians during their time at the University of Victoria. After finishing he left to create his own sound and do something of his own, a mixture of rock and more acoustic. Soon enough he met up with Kyle, introduced him to his sound and both Kyle and Gregg (Ian’s twin brother) were sold by the sound, a band was formed! Swiftly, Kenji also joined attracted to the sound of Bear Mountain and became the creative director! The band was formed baby!
And then of course I started with my 101 questions!
How was your band named formed?
They replied by saying that one day Ian was uploading their music to myspace and in order for the upload to be complete he had to have a name, thus he opened the pages of a book he was reading and the first two words he saw became the bands new identity, Bear Mountain.
What was your craziest experience being apart of a band?
Kyle replied by telling me they learnt how to rip apart phone books! There is a very strategic way and he said during their long trips this is one interesting task they had of many! Maybe they should make a DIY video on how to rip up phone books for all of us.
Do you still get nervous before each show?
They replied all in agreement by saying yes, they said that if you aren’t nervous-there is something wrong with you. They also said the adrenaline rush on stage is incredible, they feed off of the audience!
Do you, Bear Mountain, have any advice for youth aspiring artists?
Of course they did! They replied by saying hard work and being a nice person because no one likes working with a jerk. Ian shared that he had been in 6-7 bands that all fell apart and so did Kyle, yet they kept working hard, persevered and made a name for themselves. Go Bear Mountain.
If Bear Mountain is our inspiration, someone has got to inspire the band and I definitely wanted to know who, so my next question was: Who is the bands biggest inspiration?
PINK FLOYD! Obviously, but they also said it changes time from time individually but Pink Floyd is a common and big one for the band.
Ending remarks:
The band replied by saying there are tough parts of being in a band but they are happy with what they are doing.
So I guess I was just joking about the 101 questions but there were just enough to learn more about Bear Mountain’s story and how they came to be. Finally I would like to end by thanking: Bear Mountain, YouthAreAwesome, Sled Island, Amanda McCauly, and Carrie Mah for giving me this amazing opportunity. I will always cherish this interview!