Interview: Grizzly Bear

After a chance run-in at an Austin City Limits afterparty, I spoke with Ed Droste, the man behind Grizzly Bear. The band is just finishing up a brutal tour schedule (with one small leg left) and looking forward to a little bit of a break. That doesn't mean, however, that Ed didn't have a lot to say about what's on tap: a collaboration with Feist, a new album, and eating as much fish as is humanly possible.

You guys say that your Wordless Chorus show is going to be the last for a while -- are you planning on recording a new album?

Yeah, we really need a long break from touring as it's been about a year and a half straight of constantly being on the road, with tiny breaks here and there. The wordless series show is going to be our last so we can focus on writing new material and recording a new album in the winter and spring -- hopefully having it out by the end of 2008, but you never know...could come faster or could take longer. At this point, I think everyone is just going to not think about music until after Christmas...just to get a little distance from everything which is something that we all need and is quite healthy, I think.

What do you have planned for the Wordless Chorus show?

Well, we are going to try and play some songs we've rarely played before for the setting. Marla will likely make an appearance and we are working on doing our new version of "Alligator," too. Perhaps even a new, new song, but I'm not entirely sure yet!

The new song to which Mr. Droste refers might just be "Blackcurrant Jam." A clip of the song has been making its way around the Internets and you can listen here.

For your next record will you record like Yellow House? Who has written songs for the upcoming LP?

We will likely self-record the next album, as that [multi-instrumentalist] Chris Taylor is great at recording and producing. At the moment, we don't have tons of material, and the only new stuff out on the table is stuff Dan has written. Myself -- I need a lot more time to get away from the band and people to really get into it writing, so I'm planning on taking a few trips this winter, solo, to get some proper writing done. Hopefully, it'll be like Yellow House, in that everyone has written something for it.

Can you talk about how you met each other?

Sadly, it's not a very interesting story. I met [drummer] Chris Bear first at a party through a friend and he knew Chris Taylor and Dan from college. Should I make something up? We met on a cruise ship -- working as cabaret performers. How's that?

What neighborhood do you occupy in Brooklyn? Any favorite bars or venues?

We are all in Greenpoint or Williamsburg..the obvious answer [laughs]. As for bars, it's sad I don't have a place I can always go anymore that I consistently love....gone are the days when I could just go to Enids and know a bunch of people. I guess that's what happens when you are in a relationship, the idea of going out and drinking just doesn't appeal as much. But I do love Enids for the memories.

Union Pool has a nice backyard, but sometimes asshole employees. Daddy's is okay I guess, although it's the only bar I've ever been to where I can buy 20 rounds of drinks and the bartender never offers to give us one free beer. I like Sweet Ups a lot. Generally I end up going to restaurants to drink. I love the fancy drinks at Dressler, plus the people that work there are really nice.

Who does your favorite cover of "The Knife"?

It changes. It's so funny how many people have covered it, it's almost getting embarassing like I feel like people are like, "Enough of that song!" Then again, it's not like "Young Folks" which is on every TV show and radio station ever....so I say to the complainers of "Knife," "chill out." Favorite version? At the moment I like the CSS version a lot because it's so totally opposite of everything we do.

The CSS version comes out on the Friend EP which drops November 6th. Until then, we have some others to keep us satisfied:

First the original:

Atlas Sound (aka Bradford Cox from Deerhunter):

Beirut:

And a Girl Talk remix:

Are you planning on doing any collaborations with Feist? It seemed liked you guys all became really good friends on your last tour.

Well it's definitely been discussed. And it may indeed happen in a very surprising medium actually...that's all I can say right now. It's all depending on time. We do love some Feist. Speaking of overexposed songs, her "1 2 3 4" might beat out "Young Folks!" [Laughs]

Why "Grizzly Bear"? You guys aren't that vicious...or are you? Do you like salmon?

I love fish. Salmon, however, is my least favorite fish to eat -- smoked is pretty good. I love tuna steaks, swordfish, halibut, sole...God, I love seafood. But the name comes from a jokey nickname I had for an ex.

You've played with a ton of pretty amazing artists in the past year - do any of them stand out? What bands are you into right now?

We've been really fortunate to pretty much exclusively play/tour with bands we love. Beach House, Feist, Dirty Projectors, TV on the Radio, Papercuts...I can't pick favorites because they all rule equally. At the moment, all I'm listening to is Vampire Weekend. Man, I love that band -- I hope I don't overdose on it from listening too much...

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