Grizzly Bear

In the Garden

By Leo McGovern

09.22.08

Sit down with either of Grizzly Bear’s full-lengths and you can have an intense self-reflective experience fueled by the heavy-hearted Horn of Plenty or the broodingly shoe-gazy Yellow House. Luckily for Edward Droste, the heart of Grizzly Bear, he doesn’t need to create the music alone—at least not anymore. With a classic case of the post-relationship blues, Droste walled himself into his Brooklyn apartment, where he wrote and self-recorded Horn of Plenty. After adding the multi-instrumentalist and coincidentally-named Christopher Bear to his project, Droste’s mode of self-expression was released in 2004 and gained notoriety as critics compared Horn’s emotional melodies to fellow heart-tuggers Sufjan Stevens and Animal Collective. With a full band now behind him, Droste returned to his childhood home to record Yellow House—after which the band was signed to Warp Records, a far cry from Droste’s days in his Brooklyn bedroom. Antics chatted with Droste about Grizzly Bear’s upcoming tour with Radiohead, recording an album where he grew up and his favorite place—his garden.

What are some of the differences between recording an album while locked in a room by yourself and recording one while fully collaborating with bandmates?

There are tons of differences. [Recording the record solo] was so long ago it’s even hard to remember the process. It wasn’t like my other experiences writing and recording an album because it was never intended to be anything other than a weird, cathartic sketchbook of song ideas. And then they got released. That’s why I’m a bit protective of them and get weirded out when people talk about the shift from Horn of Plenty to Yellow House. Not only is it a full band writing songs intended to be on an album, it’s just an entirely different head space. And Horn of Plenty is just a collection of amateur, really old sketches that are coming up on six years old. Collaborating with band mates is so much more rewarding. Dan [Rossen] had been doing a lot with Department of Eagles – his other band – while I was resting and coming up with new ideas on various weekend trips with Chris Bear and Chris Taylor. Recently I had time to talk with Dan about our ideas again when we went upstate to record. It’s been going really well and it’s quite refreshing for me to be bouncing ideas off of him again.

When Horn Of Plenty became a collaborative process, how did you manage others’ ideas and potential changes to the songs you’d already recorded by yourself?

While I’m protective of outside forces being overly critical of those songs, I was extremely non-protective about them in regards to the band. Essentially, it was an “anything goes” type of process in which I just wanted to figure out a way that the four of us could perform some of the songs that would be both new and exciting and representative of us as a band, not of me and my little bedroom adventures.

You recorded Yellow House at a home studio just off of Cape Cod—how did the environment influence your sessions?

Well, it was my childhood house. There were old family portraits. I was sleeping in my high school bed. It was strange to me, I must admit. I think it was nicer for my band mates because they didn’t have random family energy coming from it. But what I love is that my mom’s old piano is in the recordings and we even used old cookware for percussion, and creaks from various rooms and chairs were kept in the mix as well.

Speaking of environment, how’s that garden coming?

Swimmingly! We don’t have much space, but it’s so fun watching the flowers and plants explode. I’ve been going a bit crazy with it lately—I can’t stop getting new saplings and flowers. The weather has been perfect for it because there have been so many thunderstorms and periodic rain. You can really only fit two people, maybe three, out there, but once you’re there it’s great. It’s my tiny oasis in Brooklyn.

What can you tell us about the new material you’ve worked on since the end of 2007?

It’s really exciting, actually. I’m in the midst of recording all these new sketches that I’ve/we’ve had and it’s exciting to get back to being on that side of band life. I’ve really missed the group writing/recording process. But this spring we really eased ourselves back into it in a natural way that’s definitely more organic and healthier than our older techniques. Granted, we have three-plus years of working together, so we are at a much more mature level of interaction than we were in the beginning. Thank God!

What do you expect from your upcoming tour with Radiohead?

This is a big question mark to me. On one hand, I think Radiohead fans are extremely open-minded and into new music. On the other, the sheer size of the venues means a large majority of the people will be just arriving during our set, finding their seats or getting a beer. So it could fall on a lot of deaf ears. I just don’t know. I know we’ll have amazing memories and experiences from those two weeks, and that’s worth it alone right there, let alone getting to play with a band I’ve followed since seventh grade. Needless to say, we’re thrilled about it and even if everyone hates us it’s going to be so much fun and amazing to play in those types of venues WITH RADIOHEAD!

Who are some of your favorite artists to tour with, and why?

Beach House is the best. So chill and fun. It’s super family-style when we’re on the road with them. Feist was amazing. TV On The Radio were super awesome. All just turned into friend hangs.

What’s your favorite late-night hangout, either in your hometown or in another city?

My garden!

What’s the guilty pleasure in your record collection?

I’ve got so many. I’ve been told by many people that I have poor taste in music. I’ve been getting really into some Bell Biv Devoe lately.

What’s the best Halloween costume you ever had?

I was a Jehovah’s Witness, and had the outfit down cold and the pamphlets to boot. Pretty scary!

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