Bearsuit are an English

art-rock Art rock is a subgenre of rock music that generally reflects a challenging or avant-garde approach to rock, or which makes use of modernist, experimental, or unconventional elements. Art rock aspires to elevate rock from entertainment to an art ...

indie pop Indie pop (also typeset as indie-pop or indiepop) is a music genre and subculture that combines guitar pop with DIY ethic in opposition to the style and tone of mainstream pop music. It originated from British post-punk in the late 1970s and sub ...

band from

Norwich Norwich () is a cathedral city and district of Norfolk, England, of which it is the county town. Norwich is by the River Wensum, about north-east of London, north of Ipswich and east of Peterborough. As the seat of the See of Norwich, with ...

, England, active from 2001.

Biography

Bearsuit first came to public attention following their championing by

Radio 1 Radio 1 or Radio One most commonly refers to: *BBC Radio 1, a music radio station from the BBC ** BBC Radio 1Xtra, a digital radio station broadcasting black music *CBC Radio One, a talk radio station operated by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporatio ...

John Peel John Robert Parker Ravenscroft (30 August 1939 – 25 October 2004), known professionally as John Peel, was an English disc jockey (DJ) and radio presenter. He was the longest-serving of the original BBC Radio 1 DJs, broadcasting regularly fr ...

, and their debut single "Hey Charlie, Hey Chuck" was voted number four in the Peel programme's

Festive Fifty The Festive Fifty was originally an annual list of the year's 50 (though the exact figure varied above and below this number) best songs compiled at the end of the year and voted for by listeners to John Peel's BBC Radio 1 show. It was usually do ...

of 2001. They recorded four

Peel Sessions John Robert Parker Ravenscroft (30 August 1939 – 25 October 2004), known professionally as John Peel, was an English disc jockey (DJ) and radio presenter. He was the longest-serving of the original BBC Radio 1 DJs, broadcasting regularly fr ...

in 2001 and 2002 and their single "Chargr" was number two in the first Festive Fifty after Peel's death. After their third album ''oh:io'' in 2007, the band underwent a line-up change, swapped violins, flutes and horns for synths and guitars, brought in producer Gareth Parton (

The Go! Team The Go! Team are an English six-piece band from Brighton, England. The band initially began as a solo project conceived by Ian Parton; however, after the unexpected success of The Go! Team's debut album, '' Thunder, Lightning, Strike'', Parton r ...

Foals A foal is an equine up to one year old; this term is used mainly for horses, but can be used for donkeys. More specific terms are colt for a male foal and filly for a female foal, and are used until the horse is three or four. When the foal is ...

The Breeders The Breeders are an American alternative rock band based in Dayton, Ohio, consisting of members Kim Deal (rhythm guitar, lead vocals), her twin sister Kelley Deal (lead guitar, vocals), Josephine Wiggs (bass guitar, vocals) and Jim Macpherson ...

) and recorded the more pop-oriented album ''The Phantom Forest'' (released in 2011). First single from the album "Please Don’t Take Him Back" was released in October 2010 on the UK label

Fortuna Pop! Fortuna POP! was an English independent record label based in London, started in 1995 by Sean Price. It specialised in indie pop music. Fortuna POP! previously promoted gigs under the banner of The Beat Hotel and then Basement Scam at the Buffal ...

; it was playlisted on

BBC6 BBC Radio 6 Music is a British Digital radio in the United Kingdom, digital radio station owned and operated by the BBC, specialising primarily in alternative music. BBC 6 Music was the first national music radio station to be launched by the B ...

Music, received airplay on Radio 1 and XFM, and was reviewed in NME, Vice, Artrocker, Clash Magazine, and many more online. A free download single 'A Train Wreck' was released in December 2010 followed by "When Will I Be Queen" in March 2011. The band toured the UK in March/April, followed by a European Tour in July 2011. As well as touring extensively in the UK, the band toured the US, playing festivals including

Latitude In geography, latitude is a coordinate that specifies the north– south position of a point on the surface of the Earth or another celestial body. Latitude is given as an angle that ranges from –90° at the south pole to 90° at the north pol ...

Bestival Bestival was a four-day music festival held in the south of England. It had been held annually in the late summer since 2004 at Robin Hill on the Isle of Wight. In 2017 the festival relocated to the Lulworth Estate in Dorset. The event was organ ...

, The Great Escape and

Offset Offset or Off-Set may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * "Off-Set", a song by T.I. and Young Thug from the '' Furious 7: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack'' * ''Offset'' (EP), a 2018 EP by singer Kim Chung-ha * ''Offset'' (film), a 200 ...

, as well as several abroad including

SXSW South by Southwest, abbreviated as SXSW and colloquially referred to as South By, is an annual conglomeration of parallel film, interactive media, and music festivals and conferences organized jointly that take place in mid-March in Austin, Te ...

, Emmaboda (Sweden),

Primavera Sound Primavera Sound (commonly referred to as simply Primavera) is an annual music festival held in Parc del Fòrum in Barcelona, Spain that takes place between the end of May and beginning of June. The first edition took place in 2001 in Poble Espany ...

(Spain), Contempopranea (Spain) and CMJ in New York, where they were voted ‘Best Breakthrough Act’ in a

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

poll of badge-holders and received positive reviews, including

Pitchfork A pitchfork (also a hay fork) is an agricultural tool with a long handle and two to five tines used to lift and pitch or throw loose material, such as hay, straw, manure, or leaves. The term is also applied colloquially, but inaccurately, to th ...

. The band also supported the likes of

Crystal Castles Crystal Castles was a Canadian electronic music group formed in 2006 in Toronto, Ontario, formed by songwriter-producer Ethan Kath and singer-songwriter Alice Glass, who later left and was replaced by Edith Frances. Crystal Castles were know ...

Melt Banana Melt-Banana is a Japanese noise rock band that is known for playing extremely fast noise rock mixed with experimental, electronica and pop-based song structures. Since forming in 1992 the band has released ten albums and toured worldwide extensi ...

You Say Party You Say Party (formerly You Say Party! We Say Die!) is a Canadian four-piece dance-punk new-wave band from Abbotsford, British Columbia, Abbotsford, British Columbia. Their first album ''Hit the Floor!'' was released in September 2005, and the b ...

Future of the Left Future of the Left are a Welsh alternative rock band based in Cardiff. The group consists of former Mclusky members Andrew Falkous (vocals, guitar) and Jack Egglestone (drums) and former Million Dead bassist Julia Ruzicka. History Beginnings F ...

, Factory Floor and

Hot Chip Hot Chip are an English synthpop band formed in London in 1995. The group consists of multi-instrumentalists Alexis Taylor, Joe Goddard, Al Doyle, Owen Clarke, and Felix Martin. They are occasionally joined by former member Rob Smoughton for ...

. In addition to Fantastic Plastic and Fortuna Pop, the band released records on Happy Happy Birthday To Me and Micro Indie in the US. Bearsuit were championed by BBC radio DJs including John Peel,

Steve Lamacq Stephen Paul Lamacq (born 16 October 1964), sometimes known by his nickname Lammo (given to him by John Peel), is an English disc jockey, currently working with the BBC radio station BBC Radio 6 Music. Early life He attended The Ramsey Academy ...

Huw Stephens Huw Meredydd Stephens (born 25 May 1981) is a Welsh radio and television presenter, currently broadcasting on BBC Radio Wales, BBC Radio Cymru and BBC Radio 6 Music. Stephens founded the Sŵn music festival with John Rostron and the yearly s ...

Zane Lowe Alexander Zane Reid Lowe (born 7 August 1973) is a New Zealand radio DJ, live DJ, record producer, and television presenter. After an early career in music creation, production and DJing, he moved to the UK in 1997. He came to prominence thro ...

Rob Da Bank Robert John Gorham (born 24 June 1973 in Portsmouth, Hampshire), known by the pseudonym Rob da Bank, is an English DJ and co-founder of music festivals Bestival, originally on the Isle of Wight and now moved to Lulworth, Dorset and Camp Besti ...

Phill Jupitus Phillip Christopher Jupitus (, ''né'' Swan; born 25 June 1962) is an English stand-up and improv comedian, actor, performance poet, cartoonist and podcaster. Jupitus was a team captain on all but one BBC Two-broadcast episode of music quiz ''N ...

Marc Riley Marc Riley (born 10 July 1961 in Manchester) is an English radio DJ, alternative rock critic, musician, and former music businessman. He currently presents on BBC Radio 6 Music. Formerly a member of the Fall, he co-owned a record label, In-Ta ...

Tom Ravenscroft Thomas James Dalglish Ravenscroft (born 6 February 1980) is a British radio presenter and disc jockey. He currently hosts a BBC Radio 6 Music show featuring new and unsigned music. He is the son of DJ John Peel. Career Working initially in TV ...

Tom Robinson Thomas Giles Robinson (born 1 June 1950) is a British singer, bassist, radio presenter and long-time LGBT rights activist, best known for the hits "Glad to Be Gay", "2-4-6-8 Motorway", and "Don't Take No for an Answer", with his Tom Robinson ...

Colin Murray Colin Murray (born Luke Wright on 10 March 1977) is a Northern Irish radio and television presenter. In 2010, he became host of BBC Television's ''Match of the Day 2'' on BBC Two, while still anchoring shows on BBC Radio 5 Live, including '' 5 ...

Gideon Coe Gideon Jon Quantrill Coe (born 22 September 1967 in Canterbury, Kent) is a radio DJ, presenter, sportscaster, voiceover artist and journalist. Early career He began his broadcasting career in 1976 as a child presenter on the BBC One TV program ...

and John Kennedy on XFM. Accolades include scooping 'Vinyl of the Week' in the

NME ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming, and culture website and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a 'rock inkie', the NME would become a magazine that ended up as a f ...

, 'Pick of the Week' in

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

, and 'Album of the Fortnight' in

Artrocker Artrocker is a UK-based collective involved in music promotion and publishing. It was started by Paul Cox and Tom Fawcett who had been co-promoters of a London night called The Sausage Machine. Having started life with an online newsletter and eve ...

. Members have also played in

the Polyphonic Spree The Polyphonic Spree is an American choral rock band from Dallas, Texas that was formed in 2000 by singer/songwriter Tim DeLaughter. The band's pop and rock songs are augmented by a large vocal choir, and instruments such as flute, trumpet, fre ...

, Cruiser Chimps, Evader, Keytarded, Hyper Kinako, The Bavarian Rocket Group, Velvia, Tell Me How, The Aprons, Mega Emotion and Invisible Cities. Following a hiatus from 2012, Bearsuit reformed to play at

Indietracks Indietracks was an annual indie pop music festival at the Midland Railway in Butterley, Derbyshire, UK. The main site was located at Swanwick Junction. Bands played in variety of locations, including a restored church, in a train shed, and on ...

festival in 2016, and one of Fortuna POP's 'Twenty Years Of Trouble' farewell concerts in 2017.

Band members

Past members

*Lisa Horton —

keyboards Keyboard may refer to: Text input * Keyboard, part of a typewriter * Computer keyboard ** Keyboard layout, the software control of computer keyboards and their mapping ** Keyboard technology, computer keyboard hardware and firmware Music * Musi ...

vocals Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or without ...

, accordion *Jan Robertson —

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...

, keyboards, vocals, flute *Iain Ross — guitar, vocals *Emma Belka -

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

(until 2001) *Cerian Hutchings (née Hamer) —

cornet The cornet (, ) is a brass instrument similar to the trumpet but distinguished from it by its conical bore, more compact shape, and mellower tone quality. The most common cornet is a transposing instrument in B, though there is also a sopr ...

violin The violin, sometimes known as a ''fiddle'', is a wooden chordophone (string instrument) in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in the family in regular ...

, keyboards, vocals, piano, percussion *Matt Hutchings —

*Matt Moss — bass (until 2004) (also a member of Lethargic Pigeon and The Rebeccas) *Richard Squires — bass, guitar, vocals *Charlene Katuwawala — bass,

*Joe Naylor —

Discography

Albums

*'' Cat Spectacular!'' (

, Microindie 2004) *''Team Ping Pong'' ( Fantastic Plastic, 2005) *''oh:io'' ( Fantastic Plastic,

Happy Happy Birthday To Me Records Happy Happy Birthday To Me Records is an American independent record label based in Athens, Georgia. Its catalogue features indie rock, indie pop and hip-hop music, with several of its artists associated with or influenced by The Elephant 6 Reco ...

2007) *''The Phantom Forest'' (

, 2011)

Singles

*"Hey Charlie Hey Chuck" (Sickroom GC, 2001) *"Drinkink" (Sickroom GC, 2002) *"Stop What You're Doing What You're Doing Is Wrong" (Sickroom GC, 2002) *"Itsuko Got Married" (Bearslut recordings, 2003) *"The Bearsuit Jesus Will Spear You Through The Heart" EP (Fortuna Pop!, 2003) *"Chargr!" (Fortuna POP!, 2004) *"Steven Fucking Spielberg" (Fantastic Plastic, 2006) *"More Soul Than Wigan Casino" (Fantastic Plastic, 2007) No. 24 UK Indie *"Foxy Boxer" (Fantastic Plastic, 2007) No. 13 UK Indie *"Pushover" (Fantastic Plastic, 2008) *"Musclebelt" (Fantastic Plastic, 2009) *"Please Don't Take Him Back" (Fortuna POP!, 2010) *"A Train Wreck" (free digital download to mailing list, Fortuna Pop!, 2010) *"When Will I Be Queen" (Fortuna Pop!, 2011)

Compilation appearances

*''The Gazumper'' (Sickroom GC, 2001) *"Snowshoe" on ''Should you be singing Christmas songs?'' (Happy Capitalist, 2001) *"Come Around" on ''GoJonnyGoGoGoGo'' (2001) *"Drinkink" on ''Blip Anomaly'' (Sickroom GC, 2001) *"Poor Prince Neal" on ''GoJonnyGoGoGoGo2'' (2002) *"Little Donkey" on ''A Christmas Gift from Fortuna Pop!'' (Fortuna POP!, 2002) *"On Your Special Day" on ''I'm With Cupid'' (WIAIWYA records, 2004) *"Rodent Disco" on ''GoJonnyGoGoGoGo'' Favourites No. 1 (2005) *"Rodent Disco" (edited version) on ''Que Viva le Pop!'' (Elefant Records/Fortuna POP!, 2006) *"Itsuko Got Married" on ''Kat's Karavan: The History of John Peel on the Radio'' (

Universal Music Universal Music Group N.V. (often abbreviated as UMG and referred to as just Universal Music) is a Netherlands, Dutch–United States, American multinational Music industry, music corporation under Law of the Netherlands, Dutch law. UMG's cor ...

, 2009)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bearsuit English indie rock groups British indie pop groups Fantastic Plastic Records artists