Band of the Day: Bear Witness

Want to know what beautiful noise sounds like? Read on…

Simple things first – where are you guys from?

We are currently based in Birmingham but Matt and Alex grew up in Worcester.

How did you meet?

Matt and Alex are brothers and have therefore known each other since Alex’s birth. Liam joined the band through a ‘Bass player needed’ advert posted online.

How long have you been playing as a band?

The band was initially formed in 2014 by Matt and Alex. There have been a number of line-up changes over the years, the current line-up formed in October 2017 when Liam joined the band.

Before you get sick of being asked… where does the band name come from?

The name came from a Pearl Jam lyric book. We were looking for a cool/punchy name and Alex came across the words ‘bear witness’ and we just kind of ran with it.

What are your influences?

We have quite a varied list of influences, we all listen to different things and that really colours the sound in a nice way. To name a few: Nirvana, Muse, Queens of The Stone Age, Nothing But Thieves, Prince, Highly Suspect, Twenty One Pilots, Michael Jackson, The Weeknd, Jeff Buckley, Kings of Leon, Radiohead, The Glitch Mob, Jack White, The Police, Pearl Jam, Chris Cornell, the list goes on and on! Most importantly though, we’re really inspired by Jeff Goldblum’s jazz piano skills!

Describe your music. What makes you unique?

The phrase we commonly use to describe our music is ‘beautiful noise’. We make sure that each song is built around a strong melody that listeners can’t forget. That being said, we are all partial to heavy distorted guitar riffs. So, by combining the beautiful melodies with more powerful rock aspects, we arrive at our very own ‘beautiful noise’. In essence, we are an alternative rock band, but beautiful noise has a much nicer ring to it.

I’d say the variety of music we write is what makes us unique. Having such a wide range of influences, every song that we write has its own identity and sound. For example, our debut EP Dreams of Fame is ultimately an alternative rock record but it is infused with elements of funk, indie and pop which helps to make each song interesting.

Do you have any particular lyrical themes?

Generally the lyrics are about the deep and meaningful aspects of living. Some are from a cultural point of view, say looking on at the current state of the population and how opinions are formed and who is being revered. Others are from a much more personal perspective, love or unrequited love, or those hidden insecurities that everyone has but conceals in an effort to maintain the illusion that they have no struggles. Everyone seems determined to show each other the Instagram filtered version of their life, how they wish they could be rather than how they are; a room full of people wearing beautiful masks.

What’s your live show like? How many shows have you played?

We put a lot of effort into set lists and working on our stage presence so that we can give an exciting show. We have such a huge variety in the songs that we play that there is something for everyone to enjoy. We love trying to get the audience to interact with us, whether that’s through singing/clapping along or simply dancing around to some of our funkier songs. We put everything we have into our live performances and usually that resonates well with the audience.

What’s the wildest thing you’ve seen or done at a live show?

We once saw our doppelgangers in the crowd, like literally the spit image of us 3 looking on at us whilst we were on stage, similar clothes and everything. We couldn’t believe it! Imagine if they had been the other band playing, that would’ve been very weird.

What kit do you use / guitars do you play / etc.?

Matt plays a Fender Jaguar and uses a Marshall Valvestate 80V Amplifier.

Liam plays a Fender Jazz bass.

Alex uses an SJC Spooky Snare, a Tama Speed Cobra Bass Drum Pedal, Zildjian 15” K Light Hi Hats, 21” Alchemy Ride Cymbal, Zildjian 20” EFX Crash, 15” Alchemy Light Crash and Sabian 20” AAX China Cymbal. He is also endorsed by Skittles.

What are your plans for 2019?

We are currently near the end of recording our second EP which we plan to release in 2019. We have also just finished shooting a music video for our next single “Perfect Living” which will be released on 18th January. We are really excited about this one so be sure to check it out

If you were second on a three-band bill, which band would you love to be supporting and which band would you choose to open for you? A chance to plug someone you’ve toured with, or a mate’s band we’ve not heard of before!

We would love to support Twenty One Pilots. They seem like great guys and in every show they invite the support act on to play a few well known covers with them. We could smash a Titanic cover for sure! In terms of the other band, we would probably say Cora Pearl. They are a great band from Sheffield and we would love to play with them again.

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