Local Artist Spotlight – Living With A Bear

Location: Seattle, WA

Band Members:
Annie – Lead Vocals
Drea – Lead Vocals
Gavin – Drums
Jon – Guitar

Jesse – Guitar
Randy – Bass

Rainier Rock: “How long have you been playing together and how did you get started?”
Drea: “We’ve been playing together since 2020. We started practicing in covid masks and playing outdoor shows during the pandemic. Annie and Gavin knew each other from audio production school, and Gavin had been playing covers with a few of the guys in the band, I moved here in 2020 and found a Facebook post of them looking for a singer. Annie and I both tried out and the band really liked us both, so we all decided to do a sort of Taking Back Sunday style dual vocal thing! I was totally sold the first time Annie and I got to harmonize together, it just sort of clicked.”

Rainier Rock: “What is the story behind your band’s name?”
Drea: “Living with a Bear” was actually an original song that some of the members wrote before the band got together! It was the first song we ever made ours. Now when we play it live, we like to joke that it’s the song “Living with a Bear” off of the album “Living with a Bear” by the band “Living with a Bear” like the song “Black Sabbath” or “Bad Company”.

Rainier Rock: “What have been some of the biggest inspirations in your music?”
Drea: “Our personal music inspirations are crazy varied! I like anything from old blues, to metal, to hyper-pop. Annie loves K-pop among tons of other genres, and Randy loves electronica, just to name a few. But the band’s music really draws on solid Pop-Punk and Power-Pop foundations. Bands like Green Day, Paramore, Blink-182, The Used and more. Honestly Pop-Punk just makes you feel good. To quote a friend about pop-punk: ‘Why does every song have to be so epic?’”

Rainier Rock: “What is your favorite song of yours?”
Drea: “My favorite is definitely ‘Enough’. We wrote it after I did some serious self-discovery a few years ago and decided to pursue and learn about non-monogamy. It struggles a lot with the idea of not wanting to be ‘just enough for someone’ or to have ‘just enough’ for myself. Love is beautiful, and messy, and life is finite. I don’t want to limit anyone or myself.

To find out more about Living With A Bear check out their social medias below!

Instagram: @livingwithabear_band
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/livingwithabear

Photo Credit:@britttakemypic – Brittne Lunniss