Boy & Bear are one of the most loved live bands and are unbelievably good at what they do. Since they first hypnotised listeners across triple j’s radio waves in 2009, the Sydney folk-rock kings have found themselves in the spotlight, and rightly so. Forté caught up with the bassist Dave Symes ahead of their regional Australian ‘Limit of Love’ tour, kicking off this week which celebrates their acclaimed, number one debuting third studio album Limit of Love.
Previously taking the tour to Australian capital cities earlier this year, and only recently finishing their North American tour (where Dave admits he was unimpressed with the amount of girls dressed up as cats for Halloween), the boys are keen to be back in the country sharing their music in true Boy & Bear style.
“It’s been a big year definitely, it’s great for us to be able to stretch out like that. We start this regional tour down your way in Victoria which is pretty cool. We did something similar a couple of years ago, so we sort of thought it would be fun to do it again,” Dave says.
“We think that it’s important for us to make sure that we kind of don’t forget about all the other parts of Australia. A lot of bands just do the capital cities, and they sort of bail out of investing the time and effort into doing the regional centres. But it’s something this band has kind of done from the beginning.”
As part of their regional tour, the boys have also teamed up with Akasha Brewing Company creating All Australian Ale (AAA) which will be exclusively available at the shows. All the proceeds will be going towards the charity Buy a Bale, supporting rural Australian communities and farmers.
“There’s a whole lot of talk about keeping things local these days and I guess it’s just something that we kind of appreciate and believe in. We just thought it was a nice little way to link up regional Australia with small business, local produce, and music, and beer,” he says.
“We are making an All Australian Ale which is why it is called the brand beer AAA. But there’s also a bit of a pun there. AAA is also kind of like backstage pass – all access area. So when you’re playing festivals and gigs you get your AAA pass so it’s a bit of a pun there as well – so that’s just kind of us trying to be clever, and funny… well not funny, just clever.”
As a band that spends a lot of time in close quarters, between being clever and funny, Dave reflects on how well they get along as a band, attributing their friendship to their success.
“We work together, we eat dinner together and we not quite shower together, but you know definitely shower after one another – we are together a lot. But we sort of tend to have a good understanding of each others needs and we share the same ambition,” Dave says. “I feel quite fortunate because I know it’s hard for a lot of people to exist in this way.”
The boys will be taking their love of music back home following their tour, where they will start to craft some new tunes for their next record. “It’s something that we have been talking about a lot lately. We are pretty hungry to make a new album. And so we are definitely starting to sketch ideas and talk about it.”
Written by Talia Rinaldo
When & Where: Ulumbarra Theatre, Bendigo – November 10 & Costa Hall, Geelong – November 11
