Boy & Bear is an Australian indie rock-folk music band formed in 2009, consisting of David Hosking, Killian Gavin, Tim Hart, Jonathan Hart, and David Symes. The band has released four albums. The first two, Moonfire and Harlequin Dream, reached the top ten of the Australian albums chart. Their third album, Limit of Love, was released on 9 October 2015, in Australia, New Zealand, the United States, and Canada, and on 30 October in the UK and Europe. On 27 September 2019, after a four-year break, they released their long-awaited fourth studio album, Suck on Light.
History
2009-2010: Formation
Boy & Bear was formed in 2009 in Sydney, beginning as a solo project for singer-songwriter Dave Hosking. In February 2009, Hosking uploaded a track, "The Storm", to the Unearthed program on radio station Triple J, and it became a featured song at the station. Hosking met Killian Gavin, who was a singer-songwriter and guitarist in Ovell, and the pair started jamming together. Tim Hart, from another university band, Wintersound, joined as a drummer and singer-songwriter. Then they expanded with Hart's brother Jon on keyboard, vocals, mandolin and banjo and Jake Tarasenko on bass guitar. All five had fronted their own groups and became friends after regularly sharing the stage at gigs. Their songwriting usually has Hosking strumming chords on a guitar, Gavin writing the hooks, and the Hart brothers providing backing vocal lyrics, keyboard parts and drum lines. On 21 October they issued an independent single, "Mexican Mavis", which was a featured song for the "Next Crop '09" segment on Triple J. In November 2009, the band described its style as "a combination of drivey indie folk and choral harmonies". Aside from Triple J, the band received national airplay on NovaFM. The group signed with Island Records Australia and in 2013 they signed internationally with Nettwerk. After winning the 2009 Unearthed competition, they gained a performance spot at Homebake in December. They later toured Australia backing Angus and Julia Stone and Hungry Kids of Hungary. In 2010, they toured the UK supporting Laura Marling and Alessi's Ark, and later supported Mumford & Sons on their Australian tour. They also featured on Passenger's album 'Flight of the Crow'. In May Boy & Bear released their debut extended play, With Emperor Antarctica, which peaked at No. 63 on the ARIA Singles Chart. In 2010 they recorded the song "Fall at Your Feet" for He Will Have His Way, a tribute album to singer-songwriter brothers Tim and Neil Finn. Boy & Bear's version of "Fall at Your Feet" was listed at No. 5 on the Triple J Hottest 100, 2010. Another of their tracks, "Rabbit Song", was placed at No. 45. In November 2010 their cover of "Fall at Your Feet" peaked at No. 34 on the ARIA Singles Chart. In April 2011, their early single "Mexican Mavis" was featured on US TV series90210, season three episode "Nerdy Little Secrets".
2011-2012: ''Moonfire''
On 5 August 2011, Boy & Bear released their debut album Moonfire. It was recorded in Nashville, Tennessee with producer, Joe Chiccarelli and reached No. 2 on the ARIA Albums Chart. During that year, single "Feeding Line" debuted at No. 49. In December, Moonfire finished third in the Triple J album poll of 2011. It also reached platinum sales. On the Triple J Hottest 100, 2011 Boy & Bear were listed three times, with "Part Time Believer" and "Milk & Sticks" at No. 50 and No. 49, respectively, while "Feeding Line" reached No. 4. At the ARIA Music Awards of 2011 Boy & Bear won in five categories: Breakthrough Artist – Single for "Feeding Line"; and Album of the Year, Best Group, Breakthrough Artist – Album and Best Adult Alternative Release for Moonfire. The following year, the band received an ARIA nomination for Best Group. In October 2012, it was announced that the original bass-guitarist Jake Tarasenko had left the band 'to pursue other interests'. The group also announced that they had started work on a follow-up album.
2013-2014: ''Harlequin Dream''
Boy & Bear released their second album on 16 August 2013, titled Harlequin Dream. It debuted at #1 on the ARIA charts. Its release was preceded by the lead single "Southern Sun", a song which paid homage to Richard Clapton's relaxed 1970s steel guitar sound. In 2013 Boy & Bear were nominated for three ARIA awards including, Best Group, Best Rock Album and Producer of the Year with Wayne Connolly. The album was also nominated for a J Award and was ranked #7 in triple j's Top 10 Albums of 2013 poll in the same year. From Harlequin Dream's release until the end of 2014, Boy & Bear completed three international tours, covering AUS/NZ/US/CAN/UK/EU and totalling 168 shows. Boy & Bear received an ARIA nomination on 2014 for Best Australia Live Act. The album went Platinum in 2016.
2015-2017: ''Limit of Love''
From April to May 2015 Boy & Bear teamed up with producer Ethan Johns at Peter Gabriel’s Real World Studio in the UK to record their third album. The album was recorded live and straight to tape, with virtually no overdubs. On 13 August the band announced the album and its lead single "Walk the Wire", which was added to high rotation on triple j. Limit of Love was released on 9 October 2015 in Australia debuting at #1 on the ARIA charts, New Zealand, North America and Canada and will be available from 30 October in the United Kingdom and Europe. The album was certified Gold in Australia in 2018.
2018-2019: ''Suck on Light''
In July 2018 the band began posting pictures of them in a recording studio for their fourth album. The band's fourth album, Suck on Light, was released on 27 September 2019. Produced by the band and Collin Dupuis at Nashville's Southern Ground Studios, and mixed in part by mixer Tom Elmhirst, the 12-track album includes the singles "Hold Your Nerve", "Work of Art" and "Telescope".
In April 2020, Boy & Bear announced the release of their forthcoming acoustic album titled At Golden Retriever Studios, set for release in September 2020. The band said "When we tour the USA we often get asked to perform our songs acoustically when we are on the radio... It gave us the idea to record a selection of acoustic tracks and present them as an album."
The APRA Awards are presented annually from 1982 by the Australasian Performing Right Association, "honouring composers and songwriters". Boy & Bear have been nominated for one award.
ARIA Awards
The ARIA Music Awards are presented annually from 1987 by the Australian Recording Industry Association. In 2011 Boy & Bear won five awards from seven nominations. The group performed their leading single, "Feeding Line", at the awards ceremony. They received further nominations in 2012, 2013, 2014 & 2016.
