Jim Shearer is probably known best as the host of Subterranean, a show we worked on together for three years. I recently asked him to interview Chris “Grizzle” Gregory from the Austin, Texas band Golden Bear, who are about to release their second album. Here’s an MP3 from it (“Galaxy Queen” MP3) that you can stream or download. For more information on Golden Bear and the highlights of Chris and Jim’s conversation, read on.

TO INFINITY AND BEYOND

Before the release of Golden Bear’s sophomore effort, To the Farthest Star, head bear, Chris “Grizzle” Gregory, takes some time out from his lesson planning (he’s a science teacher by day) to chat up the origins of “Galactic-Space-Rock,” the best venue in Austin, and his double-life as teacher/rock star. We also find out if the legendary Golden Bear himself, Jack Nicklaus, knows of the band that shares his namesake. To The Farthtest Star will be released to the galaxies on April, 10, 2007. Though Golden Bear has traveled no further than Dallas, in June they will pack up a van and play their first Midwest and East Coast concert dates (presumably after Mr. Gregory’s semester ends):

Jim Shearer: Golden Bear’s sound has been described as “Galactic-Forest-Rock.” Can you break this genre down for us?

Chris Gregory: It has to do with the fact that all of us are nature-oriented people. We like to camp and I like the outdoors, and when you think of the band Golden Bear, you think of a forest. I just like this whole idea of outdoor-forest people. As for the “Galactic” part, I personally like space stories and movies. I was really into space comic books when I was younger.

JS: You guys played a handful of shows at SXSW (2007), how many did you play?

CG: We played five times. I don’t really know how to sing properly, so by the end of the week my voice was definitely gone, which kind of concerns me. It was a fun week, and it was our first time having a real showcase.

JS: At SXSW, a lot of people from around the world get to know Austin’s local music venues. Since you’re from Austin and play them a bunch, which one is your favorite?

CG: If you want to see a good rock show, the best venue because of the setting, the way it sounds, and the general atmosphere is The Parish. You should check it out. It’s an upstairs place and they have these hardwood floors and paper lamps hanging from the ceiling. They’re those kind of Asian-looking lamps, but they’re not Asian.

JS: Are you still a middle school science teacher?

CG: Yes.

JS: Do any of your kids know about Golden Bear?

CG: A few of them did find out and I asked them to keep it on the down low. They kind of remind me in little evil ways that they know. They’ll turn in a test with a little picture of a bear on it. My Golden Bear name is “Grizzle,” and sometimes they’ll say it very quietly in class. Things like that remind me that they have potentially dangerous information.

JS: Why is this information dangerous?

CG: I think most people would be really cool about it, but I think not everyone would like to know that their child was being taught by a bear-obsessed kind of guy that plays in a rock band, which isn’t to say that it’s dangerous what we do, because it’s pretty positive music. It might rub some people the wrong way, plus I want to keep those two things separate. It’s just not fun when you come home and can’t have this secret thing to call your own.

JS: So you never incorporate the teachings of Golden Bear into your science class?

CG: I guess when we get to astronomy we’ll cover some of the topics of the new album. I still talk about being positive, which has something to do with Golden Bear. Maybe when I get more comfortable, I’ll let the kids know what’s going on. It’s still a secret thing, but my principal actually wanted me to play at a school function.

JS: You said no?

CG: Yeah, it might have been weird. It could have helped me in the eyes of the kids. Maybe they’d think that Mr. Gregory wasn’t this total nerd. On the other hand it could have completely erased all doubt that I AM a total nerd. I said “not for now,” but maybe someday.

JS: Was To the Farthest Star recorded in your bedroom?

CG: It was recorded in the spare bedroom in the house where I live.

JS: Didn’t you give a name to this room?

CG: We call it Sparkle Sound Studios. Mainly because I thought it would be a neat name for a studio. When you’re making a CD you want it to sound a lot cooler than “recorded in Chris Gregory’s bedroom.”

JS: What are the pros and cons of a bedroom recording?

CG: The pros are that you don’t have to pay someone and you can take your time and do everything on your own schedule. It’s really relaxed in that way. The cons would be the potential danger of not knowing when to stop. However with us, we didn’t have that problem, because we kind of gave ourselves a deadline. We really wanted to have the album out by March or April [2007].

JS: Do you ever have to worry about being too loud for the neighbors?

CG: On one side we have really neat neighbors. They have bowling balls on their fence and are the nicest people in the world. They never complain. One time though it was 9:30 at night and the neighbor on the other side, I don’t know him really well, he has those big kind of earrings that make holes in your ears, he came over and complained. I thought it was kind of funny, cause usually you see those guys with the big holes in their ears and they kind of look like bad asses.

JS: You’d think he’d be down with it?

CG: Ever since then our cut-off point has been 9:30 [PM]. We don’t want to make enemies.

JS: On your website you have a bunch of those short movie-like quotes from different media outlets praising Golden Bear. Which is your favorite?

CG: One of the nicest things anybody said that made me feel really good about what we were doing was from The Austinist. They said “Learn how to write a song by listening to this album.” That one made me feel happy.

JS: Off your first album, you made a video for the song “Santa Rosa.” The clip features the band wearing monk robes. Where did you get the robes? And will these ever be incorporated into the live show?

CG: We rented them from a really good costume shop in Austin called Lucy in Disguise. I would like to incorporate them into a live show. In fact, we had a horn section play with us at SXSW and if it hadn’t been for time and money we would have probably rented the robes again. Costumes are something we’d always like to do more of. I was running yesterday and I was trying to think of what cool ideas I could do for Golden Bear. One of them was for the next video. We’re pretty boring guys when it comes to antics, I don’t mean that in a bad way, we just don’t have any big-time appeal in how we look. For the next video I was thinking we should wear big powdered wigs and old clothes from the 16-and-1700’s.

JS: Finally, Jack Nicklaus, maybe the greatest golfer of all-time, is nicknamed “The Golden Bear.” Have you ever heard anything from him or his people?

CG: I haven’t and I hope not to. I don’t know if this is the right use of the metaphor, but it’s like a Cadillac problem, you know? If Jack Nicklaus ever comes banging at our door angry at us, then it means that we’ve reached a level of success. If you have that problem, you’re in a good situation. Then there’s the band Sugar Ray. In addition to our numerous similarities with Sugar Ray, the one thing about them is that they got to keep their name even though they took it from the famous boxer. So I’m not too concerned, but it has crossed my mind.