Bear with us say Wojtek ahead of single release

Wishaw band Wojtek The Bear are set to release their second single of 2019, A Long Wait for Bad News, later this month.

The indie-pop four-piece of Tam Killean (lead vocals/ guitar), Graham Norris (guitar/vocals), Paul Kirkwood (bass/vocals) and Martin Mcclements (drums) plan on releasing four singles this year, culminating in an EP titled Old Names For New Shapes, due to be released in November.

Tam said: “Growing up in Wishaw affected our music in that there weren’t a huge amount of things for us to do as teenagers.

“We were limited to football, cans in the park or music.

“So we’ve all been playing in bands since about the age of 13 as our football careers never seemed to take off!”

The band worked closely with acclaimed producer Jamie Savage at Chem19 Studios to record and produce the single. On the track, which is released on July 19, Wojtek The Bear find themselves pondering about our ever-increasingly connected and online world. “Recording with Jamie was a dream for us,” said Tam. “We were all huge fans of Chemikal Underground growing up so recording in the place where so many amazing albums have been made by some of our favourite bands was a great experience.

I’ve been thinking a lot recently about smartphones, technology, and social media.

“In particular how they’ve affected all of us, how we interact with each other, how we feel about ourselves, and specifically my own relationship with them.

“The song deals with how I’ve struggled to restrict myself from these things in an attempt to walk back from the insidious, awful effect it can have on our selfesteem and mental health.”

The band also have an action-packed summer ahead, having been booked for a number of gigs.

These include shows in Galashiels, Edinburgh and Inverness. They will also play the Boaty Weekender, a three-day cruise through the Mediterranean.

Also playing over the weekend will be Belle and Sebastian, Mogwai and Teenage Fanclub.

Tam said: “We’re really looking forward to the shows over the summer, in particular The Boaty Weekender.

“It will be the biggest gig we’ve played to date. If you’d said to me when we started this band that we’d end up playing on a cruise ship festival with Belle & Sebastian, Mogwai and Teenage Fanclub I’d never have believed you.”

The band are also booked to be in session with DJ Vic Galloway on BBC Radio Scotland on July 22 at 9pm.

The single will be released on all major streaming platforms from July 19. You can keep up to date with the band on Facebook and Twitter.