Band of the Day: Bearfist

Ah, Essex. Home of… well, just so I don’t get into any trouble I’ll just say “Home of Bearfist, today’s Band of the Day”. Take it away, lads…

Simple things first – where are you guys from?

We’re based in Chelmsford, Essex.

How did you meet?

Jon and Al have been in bands together for years, I (Dan) got to know them just from being in bands in and around the Essex music scene. Rob knew both Al and Jon from ‘back in the day’ when he was vocalist in a previous metal band. So, basically just from drinking beer at venues in Essex.

How long have you been playing as a band?

I think Jon, Alex and I (Dan) started jamming in late Summer 2014, then Rob came in as vocalist towards the end of that year. We had our first shows in 2015.

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

We stumbled around band names for ages and couldn’t decide on one – we then just started chucking 2 words together… it really has no meaning! But strangely seems to suit our sound quite well!

What are your influences?

I’m not sure we have massive overriding influences as a band – we’re not a “we love Metallica, let’s sound like Metallica” sort of band. We all have different tastes in music, and I think we bring that all together. One of us summed it up quite well once with “stick us four in a room and this is the noise we’ll make”.

Describe your music. What makes you unique?

Heavy riffs, loud, angry, quite a bit of shouting. With that kind of formula I’m not sure there’s much room for being unique! We’re not gonna kid ourselves and say we’re trailblazing a whole new sound as we’re not… we just make angry metal, we dig it, hopefully people will too!

Do you have any particular lyrical themes?

We had this idea to offset the angry nature of the music with lyrical themes based around profound messages of self improvement, quite often with lines of lyrics you could see on an inspirational poster set against a background of a glowing summer orchard.

Nah, it’s mainly about death.

Bleeding, killing… and death.

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

We like to think there’s a certain raw energy in our songs – so we try to bring that to our live shows, often with complete disregard for the state of our aging necks the following morning!

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

Not sure I can discuss this, we’ve sworn a vow of secrecy which each other. I’d like a lawyer present before I say anything else!

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

Dan – combination of modified les paul and a custom reiver – through a EVH 5150 and Zilla cabs.

Jon – You could probably have a whole double spread feature on the different equipment Jon’s had! Currently though he’s on a Sandberg bass with an Ampeg.

AL – not often he gets to use his drums! Whatever the house kit is!

Rob – his throat and whatever ale is on tap.

What, if anything, are you plugging/promoting at the moment?

Our new EP Smile You Son of a Bitch comes out on 18th January 2019. We’re really chuffed with how this came out. It was produced/mixed/mastered by Justin Hill – and he’s absolutely nailed it. We can’t wait for people to hear it!

We also have a new video out currently for lead single “Destroy the Magnet” which was shot by Loki Films, Shaun’s work is awesome… go check it out!

What are your plans for 2019?

Get this EP released, play some shows, drink some beers.

We’ve got a few shows booked in for this year…

  • 26th January – Icebreaker Festival
  • 29th June – Mosh Against Cancer – Coventry

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!

If I could have any band, it’s gonna be Pantera every time. Never got to see them… gutted. I wouldn’t care who else was on the bill, not even fussed if we were on it, they can just play for 3hrs!

Header photo by Dan Rayner of Beguiled Studio

Bearfist: facebook | bandcamp

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