Since releasing their self-titled debut album in June 2024, Bear Park have had a prosperous second half of the year, and don’t plan on slowing down into 2025. A trio from Newcastle, Bear Park is lead vocalist and bassist Shay Bagnall, guitarist Guy Robson, and drummer Adam Marshall. Life has changed, now they can call themselves a band with an album under their belt. “It just sort of ramped everything up, in a way,” Guy told me. “People take us more seriously; we get accepted to a lot more gigs. We’ve gigged with the Libertines, Lightning Seeds, Shed 7, all these big names.”
The album, Bear Park, has, in the eyes of the group, certainly been a success. “Having something for people to go and listen to, and understand that you’re actually a band that wants to take this seriously,” Guy continues, “it’s probably been the busiest six months of our lives, so it’s been really good.”
The album has opened many doors to Bear Park – mostly in the form of shows all across the UK, including a headline show in London, and support slots for the Libertines in Newcastle, London and Sheffield. “My favourite has got to be NX, Newcastle, supporting The Libertines,” says Guy. “I think the second gig I ever went to see, before I was even making music, was in the front row of that venue. And then, four years later, we are playing a sold-out crowd. It was just one of those full circle moments. That that was definitely my favourite this year.”
“We played with The Libertines in Leeds, In February 2024,” says Shay, “and it was just like a sea of heads and it was really, really weird. I really enjoyed that one; It got a really good reception.”
Adam’s favourite was for a slightly different reason: “I quite enjoyed Sheffield, at the Octagon, because I was watching a Nirvana documentary, and they were playing there in 1991,” he tells me, almost still in a little disbelief. “It was kind of weird to see that,” he tells me. Being able to say you’ve played where Kurt Cobain once did is certainly a feat to be proud of, and it’s clear these three are enjoying every minute of touring.
The trio are honest and upfront about the intentions of their debut release; the aim was always grounded in getting a collection of music out there, getting noticed, and elevating themselves to the next level. “I wouldn’t say there was any sort of clear goal” says Shay, in relation to the music itself. “It’s just really sort of building step by step, which has been working well.” “Some of the songs were conceptualised years before [the album], and then some of them were made a month or two before it; it’s like a big wide span of different levels of complexity and songwriting and production, but that’s what’s quite nice. It’s quite nice to have that contrast.”
Speaking of their creative processes and inspirations, the trio have varied tastes in music, ranging from hip-hop to alt-rock. “I feel like you two have more of a similar taste, but also different,” says Adam to Shay and Guy, “I’m more into Kendrick Lamar, but you two both like Wallows, which our music takes a lot of inspiration from.” Bear Park’s music definitely strikes some similarities with that of Wallows, in its bright, indie-pop guitar sounds, and bouncy feel.
Wallows were not the only inspiration for the group, though. “I think the thing that started the sound for us was when I went to see a band in 2019, called Hockey Dad, and they had a really sort of surfy distinct sound,” Guy tells me. “I told Shay to go and listen to them and then that just kind of snowballed…then, obviously with Adam’s other influences, it just shifts the sound entirely, and I feel like it really feeds into each other.”
“You can take the elements from all of our tastes,” adds Adam, and Guy agrees: “I think it would actually be a detriment if we all had the exact same taste, because we’d just end up making music like the bands we like. If you’re going to sound like Oasis, then why would anyone listen to you? They’d just go and see Oasis.” “We just want to make something new, and that’s probably the hardest thing to do. But when it pays off, it pays off, because you’ve got a unique fan base.”
Married to their music is Bear Park’s distinctive look. On stage, the trio sport matching white grandad-collared shirts. “Originally, we weren’t keen on it,” says Shay, “but then we started wearing the shirt and I think now we’ve gotten used to it. It is something that we quite like…I think at this stage in time, people see that and identify it with us.”
“It’s really helpful for us when you’ve done a support gig and you say ‘catch us at the merch stand’,” adds Guy. “If we were just wearing normal clothes, people might miss us – but it’s the three lads still wearing the same suits they were wearing on stage.”
Their on-stage look also links nicely with the Bear Park album cover. It features the boys in their suits, jumping mid-air against a white backdrop: somewhat reminiscent of an early Beatles look. Working with their record label, this also came about spontaneously. “We didn’t have a vision going into it, exactly the same with the songs,” says Guy, “which I think ties in quite nicely. It just happened.”
“I’d love to come on here and say ‘this jumping represents this… or as a theme to this’,” adds Shay. “But we just jumped and it looked cool.” “We just kind of looked at it on the computer afterwards, and we were like, it’s got to be that kind of thing. It’s a striking image.”
The final product, Bear Park, is a bright, indie-driven, surfy rock album, peppered with embellishments ranging from reggae to disco. Their sound is a culmination of not only the inspirations of the trio, but also their producer, Gary Powell, of the Libertines. Bear Park was released on the 25 Hour Convenience Store record label, owned and run by Gary. “He’s got such a sophisticated music taste,” says Shay, “you could talk to Gary about music for hours and hours…he’s into jazz, he’s into soul, he’s into hip hop and rap, he’s into your usual indie/alternative stuff.”
Gary’s influence and diverse taste can be heard throughout the album, too. “The main one is the song Head of the United States,” Guy tells me. “There’s a bit in the middle that was never there before, where it goes into reggae.” “We did a few gigs with a band called Young Culture, a reggae band, and we were doing a few live takes. Gary just comes through the door and says ‘we’re going to put a bit of Young Culture on this one’,” Guy recalls. “We just made the bridge reggae and it works really well. It’s my favourite part of the song, I think…there’s a lot of examples in the album where he’s just throwing a curveball at us and added one of his wild references.”
Bear Park clearly learnt a lot from their time in the studio with Gary, and he is a strong mentor to the group. “He just feels like one of you,” says Shay, and Guy agrees: “One thing Gary said to us, that’s really stuck with me,” he continues, “is that he knows he’s done his job as a producer, when we tell him that he’s wrong. That just sums the experience up as a whole. He’s not here to hijack it and make his own thing. He still wants us to tell him that he’s wrong and how we think it should be. It’s the perfect environment to work in, and I feel like that’s where the ideas really come from. I couldn’t think of a better person to work with for what we’re doing.”
In the studio, Bear Park’s next project is already in its early stages of conception. “We don’t even really know what it is yet,” Shay tells me.. “We haven’t stopped writing since the first album,” says Guy. “Even when we recorded the first album, we were still working on new songs.”
But the trio do have an idea about how they want their next music to sound and feel, and an image in their heads. “One thing we can say is this one does have a theme. It is very much driven in a sort of collective idea,” Guy continues. “It’s centred around what we’re dealing with right now – where everyone’s kind of followed the linear pathway, of you go to school, you do A-levels, you go to uni, you get a job, you work that job until you die. We’re doing something different, and that’s scary.”
Alongside working on their next project, Bear Park are also focussed on growing their name outside of Newcastle. “It’s kind of like when you start as a band. When you first start gigging, you take everything you can get and then once you start doing that, you can kind of cut back and start choosing which gigs would be best for you,” says Guy. “So now if we go to a different city, it’s anything we can get…we’ll just go into it no matter how many people are there. Until we get to that level again, where we can start picking and choosing, I don’t think that’s going to change.” This poses an exciting new task for the group, and another key factor to consider in their development. Guy adds: “It’s nice because you get it feels like you’re starting again, and some people say that’s the best era for a band. So you get to go through all that again in different cities.”
Looking ahead, the band have big aspirations for their future. “I’d love to be a support band on a huge artist’s gig like someone like massive, you know? And just play for 10,000 people or something.” Guy tells me, much to the agreement of Shay and Adam.
“Or be in the studio making more music, because other people like the other music,” adds Shay, “and then you have the funds to make more music. I don’t know. Who knows what the future holds!”
If there’s one thing that is certain though, it’s that Bear Park are only just getting started. Expect to hear much more from these three lads from the North East. They’re definitely making noise, and with a number of gigs already booked or in the works, and with new music on the horizon, I am sure we will be hearing much more from them very soon.
You can keep up to date with Bear Park at on their website and socials. And be sure to catch them amongst a stacked line up at this year’s Coastal Crawl in North Shields, on Saturday 22nd February.
Waxing Lyrical 