Before delving head first into a tour of the Pac. NW, Bear in Heaven's frontman, Jon Philpot sat down with melophobe to share a few of his musings about the road ahead.
melophobe: Hey Jon! You just kicked off tour, how’s that going?
Jon Philpot: Really great, people that we’re touring with are great. The weather was little hot at first but the farther west we go, the nicer it gets.
melophobe: You’re out with Twin Sister, and from the updates on Twitter it looks like you guys are up to some damn shenanigans.
Jon: We are having shenanigans! We’ve been having a really good time, unprecedented good times. It’s not always like that, so we’re taking advantage of it...We just had a long tour and this one is shorter so I think we’re having more fun.
melophobe: Yeah, you guys had a massive tour all over hell and back. What’d you learn then that will make this one go smoothly?
Jon: Take a day off every now and then! It was too crazy.
melophobe: Even I know you need a day off!
Jon: We were traveling to places we’d never been to before, and also we didn’t mind the money. In the end it was a win-win for everyone as we got to go all sorts of places and meet people, but exhaustion came in later when we got to Europe. It was like “it just keeps going….”
melophobe: You’re all from South, and met in Brooklyn. Which has nothing to do with neither bears nor heaven. So how’d the band name come to be?
Jon: The name came from a drawing by my friend Jeff Sims. I’d been making music and I needed a cover just to hand out to people. He did a couple of drawings we ended up using, but not actually that particular one. I still have it.
melophobe: How secretive.
Jon: (laughs) Yeah.
melophobe: With all the touring, when are we going to get another album?
Jon: Oh not for a while. We started working on new stuff, but not a whole lot. We’re definitely touring this record for a little while longer then take a break, before we get down and focused on new stuff. But its creeping in, and it’s good to see. And doing remixes with our stuff gives us a new platform.
melophobe: Like the remixes The Field and Pink Skulls did for you guys? Or you’re doing the mixing?
Jon: I’ve been doing some remixes of our stuff. And I just finished one for Mathew Dear's “Slow Dance."
melophobe: Look forward to hearing that. You excited to play Portland again?
Jon: Yeah, actually we’ve hear a lot of great things about the venue, the Doug Fir...that it’s really cool.
melophobe: It’s like you walked into a disco log cabin. Just watch out, some of the bathrooms are all mirrored and it can be hard to tell where the stall doors are if you’ve had a few drinks.
Jon: Whoa! I’ll try to keep my wits about me.
melophobe: I have to ask about my favorite song of yours, "Werewolf." Are you guys playing it often?
Jon: Wow, you know we don’t play it right now but we’re hearing so many people like it. A lot of people are coming up to the other guys too and asking about it.
melophobe: That’s great!
Jon: Yeah, it is just a little weird. It’s from the old album. I guess we should play it more.
melophobe: Like in Portland.
Jon: (laughs) I guess we have to now since you asked and it’s your favorite.
melophobe: : It is just so unapologetically quiet and kinda creepy. If anyone says anything while you play it I will tell them to hush. I got your back.
Jon: Excellent!
melophobe: What is your favorite song to play then?
Jon: Off the old record, the new record or ever?
melophobe: I was thinking by the band, but let’s open it up to favorite song to play ever.
Jon: Hmm. (thinks) “She Knows” by Bobby Darin. How’s that strike you?
melophobe: That strikes me as awesome. Put it on the setlist for Portland!
Jon: Wait, wait, wait. We might need a little time to get that one rolled out.
melophobe: Jon, you’ve got nearly 100 hours before the Portland show. Hop on it! Are your setlists pretty regular or do you guys try and switch it up every night?
Jon: Pretty regulated set lists. You get really good at playing the same songs.
melophobe: Uh, isn’t that the point?
Jon: (laughs) Uh, yeah. So we’re really good! Invite everyone out to see the show.
melophobe: Will do.
And for those that are interested in catching the tour, Bear in Heaven and blog-favorites, Twin Sister will be in:
-Vancouver BC at the Biltmore Cabaret on the 24th
-Portland at the Doug Fir the 25th
-San Francisco at the Rickshaw on the 26th.