Grizzly Bear at Public Arts
Grizzly Bear at Public Arts last week (">more by Amanda Hatfield)

Robin Pecknold interviews Grizzly Bear about the "thinkpiece ecosystem" & more

Grizzly Bear released their first album in five years last week, and Fleet Foxes released their first in six back in June. Both bands were part of the indie rock zeitgeist around the same time, and both are continuing to make psychedelic, progressive music at a time when those sounds are not as “trendy” anymore, so it’s a pretty appropriate pairing to have Fleet Foxes leader Robin Pecknold interview all four members of Grizzly Bear. That’s just what Robin did for Interview Magazine. At one point, they talk about hesitating to release music that wouldn’t fit in the “thinkpiece ecosystem”:

PECKNOLD: I’ll just say personally that part of the reason that I didn’t release an album for as long as that period was, is that I’d look at the climate of music every once in a while and I didn’t feel like there was a place that made sense [for me]. It was just my feeling about it. Either a bunch of new things were happening, or a more commercial wave of the thing I was passionate about was happening. I didn’t see where I would fit in the thinkpiece ecosystem, and so I checked out until I was at the point where I didn’t really think about any of that stuff anymore. I still thought about it, but not in the sense that it would influence my choices or my decision-making in the way it did before. So in that sense, it wasn’t really about imbuing a sense of mystery unto myself as much as it was just not wanting to engage. If you choose to make it so, it can be stressful or crazy-making.

[ED] DROSTE: I have a lot of similar feelings that you had, but I’m having them right now. I tuned out for a couple of years, and I didn’t pay much attention. When I got back I was like, “What the hell is happening?!” A lot of what you were thinking I’m like, “What’s the vibe right now? What is this trend? Why is everyone reinventing themselves? Why is this Top 40 artist with this random song that’s fine being championed as the best thing ever right now?” There is a bit of a headscratcher moment for sure. Trust me, I like Top 40, so it’s not a diss to that. It’s just, something happened while I was sleeping, and getting divorced and thinking about myself, and not paying attention to the dwindling blogosphere which doesn’t really exist anymore and is now just the noise content machine. I find it overwhelming and confusing. It’s less about “Is there a place?” but more like how do you get people who are subjected to so much noise to actually sit down and take the time with something that you’d really hope they’d take the time with? Or previously they [took the time], but they may not be doing that anymore because of the way that music is consumed or read about or disseminated. I don’t think that there is any desire for mystery, per se. But I do find the current climate a bit mysterious. Nobody has fully explained it to me other than “clicks”. That’s my hot take.

They also talk about writing lyrics, who they’re listening to lately, the political climate, and more. The whole interview is a really great read. Check out the rest here.

Grizzly Bear just played an intimate NYC show (pics) last week, and their proper tour includes three Brooklyn Steel shows with serpentwithfeet in November (11/2 & 11/3 are sold out, 11/4 is on sale).

Fleet Foxes played two nights at Prospect Park earlier this month.