Back By Popular Demand: SUNBEARS!

As SUNBEARS!, two guys - Jonathan and Jared - make a hell of a racket, one that's at once joyful and melancholy, catchy and experimental, psychedelic and firmly grounded in pop tradition. The pair absolutely killed it a few weeks ago with their Tampa Bay debut, transporting a thick crowd at Ybor City's New World Brewery with the combined power of their beats, melodies and mesmerizing visuals. So much so, in fact, that REAX immediately invited 'em back to take part in our New Year's Eve extravafreakinganza at Crowbar.

Before the festivities commence, we wanted to get to know the latest Florida band to inspire rabid overnight scenester-buzz a little better. 

REAX: How did you and Jared come to be making music together?
Jonathan Berlin: Jared and I have been playing music together for about eight years. We've played in several different incarnations, of basically the same band, but with different members and different songs. I suppose that I originally met Jared through his older brother, at a church some time ago.

REAX: There seem to be so many diverse influences in your music - do you guys ever have the "too many options" problem? Is it tough to mold your ideas, or whittle them down, into something that's definitely SUNBEARS!?
JB: I think that SUNBEARS! has changed even since it was instated a little over a year ago. The songs sort of reflect where we are as people in our lives right now. For instance, on our first EP, FOR EVERYONE!, I really wanted to do something happy and different; something blatantly electronic and over the top, but something still accessible. That is what I set out to do with the songwriting side of things, but I just don't think that I had it inside of me, to write that album. So what came out was something a little more melodramatic, and a little more subdued than I had originally intended. But to specifically answer your question, I think that options are a great thing. Sure, we probably do have too many options on occasion, but it's a pretty simple process: either the options work or they don't. That's usually figured out pretty fast. Most of the songs on the new record, DREAM HAPPY DREAMS!, were written and recorded pretty quickly. Each song took around a day to write, you know, compose all the parts, strings, horns, etc ... if something doesn't work, it's pretty obvious, and we toss it.

REAX: It would seem like your style would allow you to play with just about anybody in electronic, indie-rock or the lands between. Are there certain types of bills you prefer to play? Has SUNBEARS! ever been seriously, crazily out of place at a show that you remember?
JB: I can honestly say that we've never played a show that felt awkward because of the bill. However, ha ha, sometimes the crowds are just weird. You know, SUNBEARS! just did a tour with Dredg, and some people might figure that we wouldn't fit on that bill, especially considering the crowds that show up to Dredg shows - typically nu-metal kids. On this tour, the bill was SUNBEARS!, Judgment Day - a speed/math-metal band with cello and violin - and Dredg. We knew that it was a little bit of a gamble to take this tour, considering all the bands' differences. But we were amazed by the response. From a lot of kids wearing black with spiked-up gel hair, to bro-dudes from the local frat house, people were happy with what they heard and saw. Several of the responses were, "when you first started playing, I didn't want to like what you were doing at all, all the colors, confetti, smoke, lights, and straight-up over-the-top pop songs. But by the time the second song kicked in, I couldn't stop paying attention."

REAX: When you're composing, do you give any thought to how you'll be able to re-create the songs live?
JB: Oh, no ... never. Ha. I try to treat the studio and the stage completely differently. If we can't recreate something that we did in the studio live, then so be it. But I must say, that hasn't happened yet.

REAX: How important are the visuals live, when it comes to setting a mood, capturing the audience's attention or complementing the music as appropriately as possible?
JB: SUNBEARS! tries to cover as much sensuous ground as possible. From what you hear, smell, see, touch ... you get the idea. I think visuals are very important. Some people make accusations about us using visuals and stage antics as a crutch for the music, but I don't agree. When people come to a show to see SUNBEARS!, and they've previously heard the music, I want to give them more than the songs, I want to put on a show. If they want to just hear the tunes and not see them, smell them, feel them, and taste them, they can listen to the record alone in their bedroom and never go out to a show, for all I care. It's about experiences, and that's what life is all about anyway.

REAX: Do you think it's more hassle-fraught touring with three other guys and a couple of guitars and tube amps, or with one other guy and a bunch of fragile equipment?
JB: Well, I guess that all depends on what you're touring in. But really, gear is gear. And either your gear is road-ready or it isn't. That also goes for people too. Some people just aren't made to be on the road. So I don't think there's a straight-up answer. I've done both. I guess it's all the same, really. However, one is a little bit lonelier than the other.

SUNBEARS! COVER DON'T STOP 'TIL YOU GET ENOUGH BY MICHAEL JACKSON LIVE at Hot Dog Show 3 in Ybor City.