There are a few simple pleasures I have found in my 23 years on this planet: a latte in the morning, Gatorade with a nipple cap, the smell of rain and when a band can fill up a venue with life. The Fresh Bears did exactly that at Subterranean on Thursday, May 14.
Gallery by Mira Carlson
Born in Canada and raised in Northwest Indiana, there was something incredibly special about the energy The Fresh Bears brought to the upstairs venue at Subterranean. With Hudson Felsman on vocals and guitar, joined by brothers Jude on lead guitar and Everett on drums, they are completed by Grant Baker on bass and Carl Brannbacka, who joins them on stage during live performances. Together, The Fresh Bears delivered a set for the books.
Aside from being a wildly talented group of young musicians in their early twenties, it was obvious that The Fresh Bears knew how to have fun together on stage. The chemistry between them was contagious, and I believe that everyone in the room felt it. They had a certain vibe that made you want to dance with the stranger next to you.
Liam Gallagher from Oasis once said, “You’ve either got it or you haven’t,” referring to a particular charisma that a musician has. With whatever credibility I have gained throughout my music journalism journey thus far, I am here to announce that whatever “it” is, The Fresh Bears have exactly that.
On top of seeing them play a killer set, Crave also had the opportunity to interview The Fresh Bears before their show, as the line for entry began to wrap around the corner. Read below to know everything from the inspiration behind their latest singles to their favorite pizza spots.
CRAVE: Following your debut album, POVERTY SOUL, you guys have released quite a few singles since then. Are there any other upcoming singles that fans should be looking out for?
JUDE: We’re trying to do as many singles as we can, while we are working up to an album.
GRANT: Number 2!
EVERETT: The goal is to release a new single month by month, then fully get up to the new project.
HUDSON: We’ve got a bunch of singles coming out, up until the fall when we’ll hopefully have an album, so be on the lookout.
CRAVE: You guys just released “Life We’ve Taken” on April 24th. What was the inspiration for the song, and the writing process behind it?
EVERETT: Whoo, that is a heavy one, haha. But it’s good. Jude?
JUDE: Yeah. The world’s been crazy, with the stuff happening earlier this year, and I wanted to write a song that is kind of a response, but also a reminder for a lot of people about the things that really matter, especially pertaining to this country. We are all Christians, but we try to write songs that everybody can identify with, and I think this one kind of struggles with innocence. With everything that’s happened, innocence is a big thing; innocent life and who’s innocent versus who’s guilty. For us, whether you believe it or not, we believe that we are all guilty, no one’s innocent.
HUDSON: In a lot of ways, the lives that have been taken in this country, represent the life that we should really focus on, and that’s the life of Jesus, and how he died, and how everyday we take his life, so that’s the life we’re really taking in this song.
CRAVE: Tell me a little bit about the inspiration for “Tears Me Apart.” What was the inspiration for that single?
EVERETT: It’s a fun love song.
JUDE: Everyone needs that.
EVERETT: We wanna write some heavy stuff, but we also just wanna write good rock songs.
HUDSON: Jude and I were up in his bedroom, and we were just throwing around lyrics and whatever, and I was like, “What if we write this chorus about loving somebody so much, that the fact that you could lose them would literally tear you apart?” And then we thought it’d be funny for Ev to get slapped.
CRAVE: I saw that video!!
EVERETT: I did get slapped yeah.
CRAVE: Did it hurt?
EVERETT: It wasn’t that bad, I think she had a hard time working up to it, she kept being cute and I was like okay you gotta slap me haha, we gotta sell this.
HUDSON: The visual of the kiss and the slap is what we were going for.
CRAVE: It’s a great photo.
HUDSON: It is! Shoutout Mayzie Clark!
CRAVE: Where exactly are you all from? Canada? Or Valparaiso?
EVERETT: The three of us brothers are Canadian.
HUDSON: Everett, Jude and I.
EVERETT: We’re from two hours north of Toronto in a really small town by the Georgian Bay called Parry Sound. We moved to Valparaiso because our Dad got a job at a church.
HUDSON: We’re thankful for that because now we get to be here doing this! Playing rock shows in Chicago, can’t complain.
JUDE: What would we have done if we were in Canada? Play hockey and go fishing?
CRAVE: What’s one question you wish you got asked in interviews?
GRANT: Why are you so cool?
*They all laughed*
HUDSON: Favorite shows you’ve played?
JUDE: This one.
EVERETT: Already this one.
JUDE: Besides that… Maybe our first show at Verona Pizza?
CRAVE: Verona Pizza! They have good bands there. My Dad goes and sees bands there.
HUDSON: Really! He’s probably seen us play there.
CRAVE: That also brings me to my next question: Tavern style or deep dish pizza?
HUDSON, EVERETT, JUDE: Deep dish
GRANT: Tavern
EVERETT: You’re a tavern guy??
HUDSON: But what’s your pick in Valpo though?
CRAVE: Best pizza in Valparaiso AND Chicago?
GRANT: AJ’s Pizza, even though it’s not technically in Valpo. If I had to choose in Valpo, I’d choose Shoe’s.
CRAVE: I worked there!!
HUDSON: Tomato Bar is pretty good too.
GRANT: I had Tomato Bar today.
EVERETT: Chicago pick though: Pequods
*They all agreed*
CRAVE: Is there anything else you’d like the readers of Crave Music Magazine to know?
JUDE: Stay tuned!
GRANT: If you ask me what we’ve got coming out now, it’s our best stuff.
EVERETT: This album that we’re working towards, it’s some of our best.
HUDSON: And we’re hoping to go on tour in the fall! So when those dates get released, and you live in the cities, come out!!
Keep with The Fresh Bears:
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