Minus the Bear

Bassist Cory Murchy talks about quitting day jobs, being ‘a bunch of dudes,’ and the band’s new album, Planet of Ice

By Laura Leebove
Published: August 20th, 2007 | 3:24pm

Minus the Bear is best known for its dizzying guitars and bleeping electronic beats — not to mention unsubtly wacky songs titles like “Hey! Is That a Ninja Up There?” and “Monkey!!! Knife!!! Fight!!!” Though the band dropped most of the crazy song names after 2004’s They Make Beer Commercials Like This (Arena Rock), the rest stays true on Planet of Ice (Suicide Squeeze), released August 21, 2007.

The music isn’t drastically different, but a couple of other things have changed since 2005’s Menos El Oso (Suicide Squeeze): The band members quit their day jobs, and longtime MTB sound tech Alex Rose has taken Matt Bayles’ spot on keyboards so Bayles could focus more on his production work — including Planet of Ice.

We caught up with bassist Cory Murchy in early August 2007, while he waited for the rest of the band at their Seattle practice space. They’ve been gearing up for a massive fall tour and planning a laser light show in the band’s hometown of Seattle.

How would you say Planet of Ice compares to your last record?
I think just the writing process was a little different, just the fact that we were all able to quit our jobs and just really focus on writing. We pretty much did that Monday through Friday, whenever we were home, so it was just all really collaborative. Just a bunch of dudes sittin’ in a room and playing songs.

Do you feel like there was a lot of pressure while recording the new album?
No. I think we’d spent so much time writing, and in our [practice] space, before we got to the studio. It’s always nerve-wracking when you’ve got a month or whatever to hammer out a record, but I think we went to the studio a lot more prepared this time, for sure, at least for sure on my part. I think everyone just felt more comfortable. I also think we’ve learned how we all record together and how to work that.

How has the dynamic changed with Alex Rose on keyboards?
We were lucky enough to have Alex as a sound guy for a couple years prior, so we knew how he was on the road. All of our personalities meshed really well. I went to school with him in Santa Fe, New Mexico — that’s how I knew him — and I kind of introduced him to the band, but it’s been great. It’s all very mellow and everyone gets along really well. It was a really easy transition, as far as changing keyboard players, but it’s worked out. [Former keyboardist] Matt [Bayles] is really busy with recording and Alex works out really well in the band.

What was it like having Matt recording the record instead of actually playing on it?
It was great. It was really cool because he could really just concentrate on his recording aspect and producing aspect as opposed to coming up with ideas to put on the record. He still came up with some ideas here and there production-wise and stuff, but it was really great. I really enjoyed working with Matt, and Chris Common on the record.

There’s a lot going on in all of your songs. Can you explain your writing and recording process?
A lot of the times, like with the writing process, [guitarist] Dave [Knudson] will come up with a riff or something, and he and [drummer] Erin [Tate] will start planning it out and then we’ll all start playing and layering things. We all, at this point, kind of know where each other’s instruments should be, what works and what doesn’t, so it’s a whole lot of trial and error, like any other band.

There’s going to be a light show in Seattle in late August. How did that come about?
We were all talking about how awesome and silly it would be to have a laser light show, like a laser Floyd but to the Bear, to the new record, and we just kind of kept with it and bugged enough people and it was given a go-ahead.

What’s the biggest challenge of translating your records to a live show?
There’s a lot going on [laughs] in the record, but somehow we manage to do it. Dave and [vocalist-guitarist] Jake [Snider], their guitar samples and stuff, they do a really good job at recreating those live, and then everyone just kinda studies the record, makes sure they’re doing what they need to be doing. I think we’ve been rehearsing to do these songs, and we weren’t sure how it was gonna go, but it’s been pretty smooth. And I think it also helps with having most of the record written before we got to the studio, so we knew kind of what we were doing.