“It’s nice to have a crowd that really feels the flow of the music rather than the next lyric or the chorus or something like that”, explained James Kershaw, guitarist for Melbourne progressive post-rock outfit Bear the Mammoth on one of the benefits of playing live as an instrumental band. “They’re actually really getting into the music and into the flow so they’re just feeling it with you rather than singing along”.
Following what is the accepted norm for prog bands, Bear the mammoth continue the tradition of songs breaking the five-minute barrier, with Kershaw admitting that catering to that market is somewhat of an acquired taste.
“I think there is a certain crowd or a certain group of people that would go for more of the shorter, poppier songs”, he measured, “but maybe we’ve just found our niche of people that like our music also prefer listening to a whole album rather than one song. Maybe we’re just lucky to have a crowd of people that will be into more in-depth, complex music”.
In the full interview, James discusses the band’s upcoming appearances at Nice Fest, why they chose to remain an instrumental band, the different dynamics without a front person, what dictates the length of a song, coming up with song names for music without lyrics and more.
