My Old Kentucky Blog Interviews Ed Droste of Grizzly Bear

In the span of only a few years, Brooklyn's Grizzly Bear has emerged as one of the world's most innovative and imaginative bands, finding success at the end of every new road they take. Following the critical acclaim of their last album, Yellow House, and subsequent EP, Friend, Grizzly Bear found themselves sharing stages with their musical heroes, most recently opening for Radiohead during a portion of their US tour. While many bands would crack under the pressure such success entails, Grizzly Bear has already proved through song that their current outlook has never sounded more confident.

Singer/songwriter Ed Droste was kind enough to answer some questions for me via email, where he weighs in on the new album, Daniel Rossen's Department of Eagles project, and Barbecuing with Radiohead, including emoticons and all...

READ THE ENTIRE INTERVIEW AFTER THE JUMP...

MOKB: First off, congratulations for what seems to be a steady snowball of success and remarkable opportunities (Paul Simon, Radiohead, LA Symphony, etc). How are you feeling as a group?

Grizzly Bear - Mother and Child Reunion (Live Paul Simon Cover)

Ed Droste: We are feeling really energized and excited about the new songs, recording, and releasing a new album. Naturally, all the amazing opportunities that have bizarrely (and thankfully) come our way have been wonderful. I think I can speak for everyone when I say I wish we could always tour with Radiohead. That was incredibly fun.

MOKB: In terms of decisions you make as a band and your approach to songwriting, have these opportunities added pressure to go in one direction or another, and if so, how are you approaching that?

Droste: Not really. I think we all don't believe in writing music to specifically appeal to a certain audience, but rather we write for ourselves. Of course, our tastes may change with time, but ultimately we try to put together music we'd love to listen to ourselves, and then once we do, we never listen to it again. Haha.

MOKB: The first time I saw Grizzly Bear live was a few years ago in the basement of an old church in Bloomington, Indiana, where you performed to a crowd of about 10 to 15 people a set mostly made up of songs that would later be found on Yellow House. Your success and critical acclaim prove that, since then, things have been all uphill for you, but do you ever stop to look back and reflect? Are you more confident than you were then, or is there still that sense of having something to prove?

Droste: I remember that show well actually. We've not yet been back to Bloomington, but I do think it's due time to make a visit back to that basement. It's pretty amazing to look back. I think we get the biggest kick thinking about the first few tours we did where we booked everything ourselves and slept on people's floors and were generally cracked out and confused about how people toured and survived. The horror stories are what are the best, and of course at the time they were rather depressing and demeaning, but now I wouldn't trade them for anything. I think I've definitely grown into my voice a lot and am not as shy as I used to be about performing. The first 30 or so shows we did I was so scared of performing I'd take a Klonopin before a show to chill out; not exactly exemplary but it's the truth. I think there's always a feeling of wanting to grow and progress as a band. I'm not sure it's about "proving" anything to anyone other than ourselves, that we can continue doing this and love it and be proud of it and the more we mature I think the more we understand all of this could end at any moment for a myriad of reasons, be it children, writer's block, fighting, depression, whatever. But the more we come to realize that it's a fragile equilibrium, the more we are devoted and excited to keep it going. So here's to hoping we are still around in ten years.

MOKB: You've said preliminarily that the new material seems to have a "sunnier" feel to it. Can you share why you think that's the case? Is it an intentional decision? In comparison to the last two releases as a four piece, what's different?

Grizzly Bear - Two Weeks (Live on Letterman)

Droste: I think I just meant in comparison to our past work. I mean, to many people we may still appear dark and depressing, but songs like "While You Wait for the Others" and "Two Weeks" to me have a slightly happier tone to them, which I think will translate to the album nicely. We'll just have to see though. That's one of those quotes that keeps getting referenced that I probably shouldn't have said at the time as I didn't really know what the album was going to be like.

MOKB: For the most part, the music you've released thus far could be described as cinematic, with emphasis on lush, heavily layered instrumentation and winding melodic sections - often like it's telling a story. Is there a conscious push towards something more than just a basic pop song structure? A particular aesthetic or theme? Something that appeals to you all as a group?

Droste: I'm not sure it's a conscious "push" towards being cinematic per se, but rather a push towards what appeals to us, which is often equal parts tone and feel, vs. song and lyrics.

MOKB: Having recorded Yellow House in what comparatively now must seem like a period of relaxed privacy, is it hard for you to get back into that same music making place with significantly more eyes on you? Do you even want to be back in that place?

Droste: Well, it's a little bit more strange to get back into that mindset, which one could attribute (along with lots of touring) to the slow nature of our writing process, but ultimately, it's not like we are Radiohead or U2 or some massive band. There aren't really THAT many eyes on us - at least I don't sense them! I'm quite happy where we are so I guess I can't say I want to go back to any place. I'm grateful for all the things that have happened to us and enjoy looking forward with excitement and backwards with humor and appreciation.

MOKB: As Grizzly Bear is recording a new album and Daniel's Department of Eagles project is preparing to release a new record, what do you feel is the current relationship between the two projects? How does that relationship affect the projects respectively? Is there strain? More freedom? Un-relatable?

Droste: I look at Department of Eagles and Grizzly Bear as part of the same family. Sure, it's another project of Dan's and Chris Taylor produced it and Chris Bear plays drums on it, but it's still very much a Daniel Rossen and Fred Nicolaus project. It's similar in some senses because Daniel is such a creative force in Grizzly Bear, but it's also its own unique and amazing band. The album is really something magnificent. I highly recommend everyone get it when it comes out, as it's been on heavy repeat on my headphones for weeks now. Just recently, I was lucky enough to have Dan perform some of the songs solo for me on his acoustic guitar while he and his girlfriend (who did the artwork for Friend and In ear Park) came to visit me on Cape Cod. It was pretty magical. People will love it. I'm really happy it's finally coming out, and sure, at a point I might have been annoyed it was taking time away from us getting back to recording, but it's all worked out really nicely now and the timing ended up being just right. When DOE performs live, Chris and Chris will likely be in the band and that might confuse some people thinking of this as Grizzly Bear without Edward and with Fred, but it's not like that. If you can handle not comparing the projects back to back and just appreciate them for what they are on their own, we'd all be pretty happy. That deserves a smiley emoticon. :)

MOKB: As if being asked to support Radiohead on their US tour wasn't enough of a compliment, Jonny Greenwood shyly, yet sincerely, told the crowd in Toronto that Grizzly Bear was his favorite band. Has the dust settled enough for you to process the reality of these occurrences? Is it even possible to not let a compliment like that go to your head?

Droste: I still don't really believe any of it happened. I was standing next to Leslie Feist and Owen Pallett during that and kind of missed the beginning of what he said and they both shook me and said "Did you just fucking hear that??!?!" Thank goodness for Youtube. The dust has settled and now I just see the whole experience as a weird dream and I feel as though it never happened until people like you ask me about it. Then I think, "Oh yeah, that DID happen."

MOKB: Is there a special behind-the-scenes moment you shared with Radiohead that you'd care to talk about? Did they offer you any words of wisdom during your time with them?

Droste: Actually, they were incredibly nice. We got to BBQ with a bunch of them a lot. Mostly Colin, Ed, and Jonny. The first time we did our backstage parking lot BBQ, Colin walked by and sort of couldn't believe how "American" we were being, but he loved it too. The next thing we knew he was asking us the following day when the next BBQ was happening and others in the band started joining him. Sadly, no Thom, but he is a strict Vegetarian (perhaps even Vegan? I can't remember). I remember my brother at the Boston show talking to Jonny and telling him embarrassing stories about me when I was a kid and him not realizing that Jonny was in the band. Luckily, I think Jonny related to how unathletic I was. They told us a few times they really hoped we could do it again. We're waiting guys! Just give us the call. Haha.

MOKB: How would you compare the way you feel about Radiohead now with the way you felt about them before the tour?

Droste: Hmmm. I don't like or dislike their music any more or less. I guess it gave me a new appreciation for some older songs I hadn't listened to in a while. Sometimes, when I meet an artist I love (and I've been a lifelong fan of Radiohead) and they aren't friendly, it's a huge bummer and it turns me off their music a bit, but luckily these guys were all really warm and friendly.

MOKB: How did it feel to perform the new songs live? Do you feel like you've gained new perspective on how they should sound and/or be recorded?

Droste: One of the first things I learned about touring was how quickly playing the same songs night in and night out gets old. You have to figure out ways to keep it fresh, be it by reinventing the songs or switching up the set, OR integrating new material into a set. This summer, for the festivals and Radiohead shows, we played four new songs which really was exciting for us. We figured most Radiohead fans have no idea who we are so it's not like they are expecting to hear any older songs of ours. It's all new to them, so let's just stick with a majority of new stuff.

MOKB: Speaking of the four new songs, we have - "Two Weeks," "While You Wait for the Others," "Fine For Now," and one without a name. Has the unnamed song been given a title yet and can you reveal any details about any other new songs that you might be working on?

Grizzly Bear - While You Wait For The Others (live on KCRW)

Droste: The unnamed one is proving very hard to name. I might just surrender and call it "nameless". On our setlist's it was labeled "2Hud" because it was the second song from a series of sketches we did on the Hudson River this spring. But after a show, when someone nabs the setlist and asks "Is that the name?", I'm always quick to tell them "No!" - just something for us to identify it. We've got about another six songs that are in various stages of completion, either in the writing stage or recording stage. There's even more stuff brewing. That's all I can say for now!

MOKB: Has any new music come your way that you feel is worth mentioning?

Droste: I keep coming back over and over to Beach House. It's ridiculous the longevity and infinite playability that album has for me. I've been enjoying the new Of Montreal as well and the new Walkmen.

MOKB: Is there anything in the near future that you're particularly excited about - music-related or otherwise?

Droste: There ARE but I can't talk about them right now.

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