|
We are sitting in the ground floor bar of a small hotel, The Red Lion, in a village called Lacock near Corsham, home town of The Bears. The atmosphere is exactly what one would expect from a local environment which produced the artistic creativity of The Bears; although there is freedom and beauty all around us, there is an overwhelming sense of tradition in this room, steeped in history, and proudly rural. Celebrities do not come here. Middle-aged couples come here and perhaps a family or two at the weekend. There are three locals perching on barstools, their tweed jackets acting as cushions. I am next to an open fireplace and opposite me, in what can only be described as an inglenook, sit the most popular and original musical act in the history of this area; Matthew James Paish and Chrys Jestico Fear: The Bears. Geraint Sunson: The Bears, how do you feel about being the most popular and original musical act to come out of Corsham, perhaps even all of Wiltshire? Chrys Jestico Fear: Most of the time it doesn't really appear that way to me, but when it does I still remain completely nonchalant. I really think that we are the best band in the world; if I thought otherwise, then I would change our band to make us so. At present, there is no need to change. As for this corner of the county, it is so culturally rich that I am surprised the other bands which it produces do not take influence from home, instead of lands far away such as America and London. One cannot replicate the spirit of a place unless one lives and breathes there, so it just sounds like karaoke to me when a band from somewhere like Corsham try to sound like a band from New York - it's plain ridiculous. We live and breathe this corner of Wiltshire and it rewards us well with musicfood. As he speaks, Chrys makes intense eye contact and his tone suggests a desperation to make me understand. His eyes then wander down to his hands on the table where he is miming the creation of a model of The Bears' success, seemingly using invisible matchboxes, as if it will better illustrate what he means. It looks very structured. He is wearing a grey suit jacket over a white dress shirt and smoothes his hair as he listens. Matthew James Paish: That's right. I think it's good that the area and its people created The Bears, and now The Bears create in the people real knowledge and understanding. Not only that, but through our performances here we can give something back. Matthew James speaks softly, sincerely and elementarily. He sounds well rehearsed and the colours of his stripy jumper match the brickwork of the wall in the dim, flickering light of the fire. GS: Speaking of performances, is there anything new coming up? Jestico-Fear screws one side of his face up and looks at the beams. CJF: We are going to take some time off for the rest of the winter and spring. This is to live in the world, read what it has to say, and then come back in the future to declare our findings. MJP: Again, absolutely right. We have some things planned for the summer which will really make the people cheer. It will be payback time in Box Woods. As he finishes his last words, Paish affords himself a very obvious wry smile. He is a dark, dark horse and one who clearly has a clever plan. I see that I will be unable to draw much further information from The Bears, so I move onto my next question: GS: Do you feel any deep loyalty to your followers? CJF: "Followers"! I don't think we do really. I don't think we have "followers", in the same way that no particular starling or blue-tit has followers. People who have seen us again like what we do, and if we do something they don't like, that's for them to judge. I certainly wouldn't change anything about The Bears simply to please our observers. That would be too much like cheating. MJP: It would be Demand Characteristics, which The Bears don't do. We don't have fans - we have regulars, and they all understand. Some of the people who see us play don't understand, but the ones who do come back again to see The Bears. We take influence from the world around us, but not so much from them. In conclusion, what in others would be mistaken for arrogance is, in The Bears, a deep desire to win in life and to make art accessible, groundbreaking and utterly beautiful in all of its awesome physicality. - Geraint Sunson. " |