Bear Hands talk tours, latest album, getting older and more

CC: Tell us the story behind album title, You’ll Pay for This, and what is the meaning behind the album cover of a girl rolling down the sand in the desert?

VL: Originally, it came up because we were going to play Conan and we thought it would be funny to yell “You’ll pay for this!” into the camera at the end of the song. We thought it would be a funny album title for the double entendres.

The girl rolling down the hill is a friend of ours and we thought it accentuated the sinister side of the album title.

CC: What was the best and worst part about the production process of this album?

VL: The best part is you get to cut yourself off from the world and fully immerse yourself in recording. It’s exciting to finally hear these things you’ve been working on for months, or years, to become fully realized.

The worst thing is the long days. While basic tracking, it’s not uncommon to do 14 hour days, so that can catch up with you quickly. 

CC: People love the track “2AM”, and those who have passed their mid-twenties seem to genuinely understand it the most – what inspired the birth of this song?

VL: Just getting older. We all spent our 20s living the NYC nightlife, and it’s not only unsustainable, it just gets old. Also, your body doesn’t recover the same way. All my friends are married now and so getting together for dinner is more common than heading into Manhattan to party at midnight. Things have just chilled out.

CC: What or who inspires Bear Hands?

VL: Hip Hop, Punk rock, politics, drugs, relationships. 

CC: Any upcoming tours in the future or any exciting news that fans should keep an eye out for?

VL: We are headed out with our buddies Foals this fall, which we are really excited about. Also, doing a bunch of headlining shows as well.

CC: If you had a choice to vote for anyone in the world to be the president of the United States of America, who would it be and why?

VL: My mom, cuz she’s the best.