Can you believe it? To be abandoned by the coolest and sweetest animals of all time? ;) These guys have been abandoned many times in the past and this is their therapy. ABANDONED BY BEARS come from Sweden and play heavy-riffed pop punk that will make your party shine! I’m not covering too many easycore acts here, but let’s say I’m in a party mood this weekend ;)
ABANDONED BY BEARS have recently released a new EP called ‘Bear-Sides’, approached me and forced to take a listen. Here’s what happened right after that.
Hey, guys! What’s up with the bears?! :D
Hey, the bears are doing great!
How did you come up with the idea for a bear-themed band?
It was actually Jacob who came up with the name a while before we even started the band.
The idea from the beginning was that we would put life into this old band me and Fredric already played in.
But since some of the original members either quit the band or moved away we thought it seemed more fun to start fresh.
Since we had already decided that Jacob would be in the band, we thought that his idea for a band name suited us perfectly.
Not to forget that the bears probably are the coolest animals ever!
What bear features would you like to have? :)
To be large and have fur! I also like that they go into hibernation and sleep away the winter.
Why would you do that? Winter is beautiful, especially in Sweden!
Yes, the Swedish winter is beautiful. But it keeps on going for like 8 months… If I could go into hibernation 4 of those months it would be perfect, haha!
Ok, let’s discuss your new tunes. You recently released a EP called ‘Bear-Sides’. Is this some kind of a b-sides collection? :)
The ‘Bear-sides’ EP contains three previously released songs/singles with a new, remixed and remastered sound.
In the beginning, the idea was that the EP would be a b-side. But since we had not released an EP earlier or even considered the any of the songs b-sides, we felt that the name ‘bear-sides’ would be a perfect fit!
Are you giving it away for free? Why?
Yes we are! The music industry has changed somewhat in recent years, and we believe the best way to come out as a band right now is to spread the music like wildfire. And who would say no to a little free music?
Alright, let’s go back to day one. How on Earth did you decide to start an easycore band in the cold mountains of Sweden? :)
Since we were kids, half of us have played in various metal bands and the rest have played in weird poppunk bands, so the mix of pop punk and metal came quite natural. But unlike many other easycore bands, we have focused more on heavy breakdowns, low guitar tuning, and screams. All that together with the fact that there was not more than 2 easycore bands throughout Sweden at the time (now I think there are 3 of them, haha) made us feel that it was time to start fresh!
Nice :)
You live in the beautiful city of Gothenburg, right? How are local kids treeting you there? Are there more pop punk bands in the area?
Yes, 3 of us! The rest live so far down in Sweden you can get (they actually live closer to Denmark than Gothenburg).
There is a poppunk scene, but it is not huge. Gothenburg is usually known for its large amount of metal bands. But we sincerely hope that the poppunk scene will grow in the coming years!
Do you hang out with strict punk / hardcore punk bands? How hermetic are these communities over there?
No, we hang out with all kinds of people! In November / December last year we went on tour with some other bands that played everything from metalcore to hardcore. The people we got to know during that time are some really incredible people! Some of them we have become really good friends with, even when we’re not on tour. I think everyone in the band agrees that getting to know all these new people is one of the highlights of playing in a band.
Cool.
You announced your appearance at a festival on July 11th in Skåne, near Malmö. What other shows do you have lined up for the coming months?
We have a lot of stuff going on. More than that, I can not say…
Ah, you mysterious!
What about your previous shows? Was there a lot of them in the past?
We have actually only been a band for about 10 months, so there have not been too many gigs. But right now it feels like everyone in the band just wants to hit the road and start to play more frequently!
Ok, what else, boys? Is there anything you’d like to discuss before we finish?
As I said earlier, I do not want to reveal too much. But I can tell you that we have a lot of awesome stuff that are just waiting to be released! So stay tuned and share the bear!
Famous last words? :)
Do what you love, fuck what people say and try not to trip over something and die on the way!
Thanks for the chat, fellas!
It has been a pleasure! :)
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