The men of Boy & Bear—lead singer and guitarist David Hosking, drummer Tim Hart, guitar player Killian Gavin, bassist David Symes and Swiss-army knife Jonathan Hart (keyboard, banjo, mandolin and vocals)—have been together for 14 years. All but Symes were original members of the band since its conception in 2009.
It's easy for people to get on each others' nerves after that long, but these five Aussies still genuinely like one another's company, and their careers thrive as a result.
"It's like this weird, messed-up marriage," quips Tim. "I think the first thing you learn to do in a band is listen to each other and respect everyone's opinions, and if you can do that, you've got a reasonable chance of making it through. You've obviously got to write good music, I suppose…but we learned really, really fast that everyone's opinion has value and should be listened to.
"You'd be infuriated to be in the writing room with us because things that could take 10 seconds often take 10 minutes or an hour. It's all about compromise, it's all about respect."
Frequently described as an indie rock or indie folk outfit, Boy & Bear tends to bring grand vocal harmonies to the stage. That pattern reflects the listening backgrounds of the band's members: Simon and Garfunkel, Fleetwood Mac, the Eagles and so on.
'Like the kid who pulls apart the vacuum cleaner'
Tim and his mates are nothing if not inquisitive.
"We're just really curious, like the kid who pulls apart the vacuum cleaner because he wants to know how it works and then can't quite figure out how to put it back together. That's us with music," he explains. "It might be some sort of synthesizer or drum machine, or an instrument that we found in the attic of our parents' house, and we're like: 'I wonder if we could make this fit in a song'. Sometimes it works and often it doesn't, but [experimenting] has characterized the evolution of our band."
The group's last two records, Suck on Light and Boy & Bear, have introduced more electronic elements while pairing them almost seamlessly with catchy guitar riffs and sweet melodies. Tim likens the creative process to "blending the Old World and the New World", and it keeps things interesting.
"It's music that you wouldn't immediately turn off if you heard it—I hope," remarks the experienced percussionist.
Sea to Sky readers might wonder if the band's name has any special significance, given its apparent connection to nature. Unfortunately, that's not true: instead the moniker came from an online name generator that Hosking found in 2009 as he and his pals were struggling to label themselves.
Given a choice between 'Boy & Bear' and an illicit drug reference, the musicians wisely decided on the former.
'The impact that our music has'
Boy & Bear have played on the West Coast several times before the COVID-19 pandemic, but never in Whistler. The opportunity to visit new locations can be rare for an established band with established regional fanbases, which is why Tim and company look forward to checking out the Sea to Sky.
They hope Whistler can provide a similar sense of familiarity as Vancouver—one of their favourite destinations.
"When you're an Australian band doing a tour in America, it can feel very, very foreign, but when you get to Canada it does feel quite like home," says Tim. "I guess people have seen a similar sense of humour to us in Canada, the food is incredible, there's good bars…it's a beautiful place. I should work for Tourism Canada, I suppose."
Travel is undoubtedly one of the perks of Tim's job, as is recognition, but if you ask him why he really cherishes playing music, the answer is awfully down-to-earth.
"It's the ability to stay friends with four other individuals and work at something that I genuinely love," the Brisbane resident reveals. "Awards are funny things. This may be a naive sentiment, but I think for the most part, they are political. For me, being able to hear the stories of the impact that our music has on genuine human beings that go through something, listen to our music, and it helps them in a positive way…that for me, is what I'm the most proud of."
He adds: "Now I've got two kids, and I get to see the way my kids react to our music. I believe that music is universal—it's like this language that's able to bypass the mind and go straight to the heart. To see that happen with my own kids is super special. I want to stress that [Boy & Bear] is a really small part of that, and I say it with as much humility as I can muster."
The final Whistler Summer Concert of 2024 opens at 6:30 p.m. with DJ LDA. Then, Boy & Bear will rock up at 7:30 p.m. for one last hurrah in Olympic Plaza. More details are viewable at https://www.whistler.com/events/concerts/.
