Tunes For Bears To Dance To

Tunes For Bears To Dance To started off in early 2002 as a four piece noisecore band. The original line up was Colin on guitar, Rick on drums, David on vocals/steel drum and Eric on bass. The original Tunes For Bears was noisy and chaotic and was created with the intention of pissing people off when Tunes would play their first (and only) show at a High School in Miami Beach. Fortunately, people enjoyed the set and kids started to demand that Tunes would play more often.

Tunes only played maybe one other show as a 4 piece noisecore band before adding Mike Young on second vocals and recording a demo of brand new material.

The demo showed a completely new direction in the song writing (probably because there were actual SONGS now). Colin, Rick and Eric were musically influenced by 90's noise rockers like Helmet and the Melvins growing up, but were also intrigued by chaotic post-hardcore bands of the time like the Spirit Of Versailles, Jeromes Dream and Yaphet Kotto. With all the influences infused together, Tunes created a sound entirely of their own that was still representative of their musical inspirations and friendship as a band.

By 2003, Tunes For Bears was a fully functional 5-piece band playing live frequently in the South Florida area. In the summer of 2003, Tunes recorded their debut full length CD entitled "Asking In Askance" which was originally released by Azalea records and the band in an edition of only 50 copies. This recording was way better than the demo in quality/musicianship and helped spark local and national interest in the band.

2004 saw the band at their busiest. Somberlain Records, also based out of Miami, went on to release the Tunes s/t 7" as well as the split 7" w/ Jesse Washington. Both records were pressed in editions of 500 copies. Landmine Youth Records also repressed "Asking In Askance" in an edition of 400 copies in time for the first and only Tunes For Bears tour in August of 2004. After the two week tour, vocalist Mike Young had made his decision to move to Baltimore. Before leaving, he recorded two last tracks with the band (one being a Helmet cover) that were never released.

Tunes For Bears continued to play as a 4-piece band for a short period of time at the end of 2004. 4 more new songs were written and recorded; two of which ended up on the split w/ El Minotaur, one which was only played live a couple times, and one that ended up being re-written and used for Colin and Eric's new band Capsule.

In late 2004, Colin and Eric started I Love U (which became Capsule), Rick joined Torche, and David started Shitstorm along with Rick. With all the new bands building steam quickly, Tunes For Bears took a backburner and slowly began to fade into the past...

All the members of Tunes For Bears To Dance To remain close friends, and all their current bands play together often. Tunes For Bears To Dance To never broke up, and never will. The band will continue to sporadically plays shows every once in a blue moon... but there's no telling when and where.

bio written by Rick Smith

* Eric currently plays in monarcs and Capsule. Eric used to play in Tyranny of Shaw as well.
* Colin currently plays in Capsule and used to play in Monarcs.
* Rick currently plays in Torche, Mehkago N.T., Shitstorm, and Bulldagger. Rick used to play in Tyranny of Shaw as well.
* David currently plays in Mehkago N.T. and Shitstorm. David was in Tyranny Of Shaw (for their final tour) as well.
* Mike currently plays in Unfair Roots.