Last week my phone rang to the voice of Ted Feldman as he and the guys of Bear Hands drove to their next stop on tour. The band’s two month spread of shows is to promote their sophomore release, Distraction, an album chock full of hooks, catchy tracks and seriously imaginative aesthetic. Ted clued me in to the happenings on tour, the band’s creative process and just how they’d be celebrating the 4th of July.

AP: So, are you guys in Pennsylvania right now?

Ted: Yeah we’re driving to Pittsburg.

AP: How’s that going?

Ted: Ahh, you know, it’s kind of boring. Driving through Pennsylvania is not… the best route to drive. 

AP: In general, how’s tour going so far? We know you guys are veterans at this point, but is tour shaping up to be any different than past ones?

Ted: So far it’s been great. It’s kind of stayed warm every day we’ve played. The past couple months we’ve been on the road a lot. And it’s been really good! Yeah, really fun. A lot of new changes and good shows.

AP: Any interesting experiences so far?

Ted: Oh yeah, every day we have interesting experiences. Have you ever spent, like, 24 hours a day driving with five people? You learn some interesting things about them.

AP: What music have you guys been playing in the van?

Ted: Oh, it’s funny, we only have AF/FM radio. We’re working on getting that fixed, but yeah, mostly people listen to their own music with headphones. Or someone has a bluetooth speaker that we just tried out today, but it’s been that or talk radio.

AP: That’s informative.

Ted: Yeah, we go there. I’ve been listening a lot to the Sun Kil Moon record, Benji, it’s the only thing I have on my phone. It’s all I’ve been listening to.

AP: That’s a good traveling album.

Ted: Definitely. It’s been worn out on the road.

AP: What’s it been like playing with Cage The Elephant?

Ted: Pretty awesome! They’re a really fun group of dudes. They put on a crazy show, like, every night. Really high energy, rockin’ show. Matt Shultz, the singer, is a pretty amazing frontman. Such consistent high energy from front to back of show. We’re all out of shape Brooklynites and we can barely get out of bed in the morning, and there’s this guy…I don’t know how to describe him. He takes his shirt off every night. You gotta see them.

AP: As far as the progression on your past couple albums, from Burning Bush Supper Club to Songs From Utopia Vol.1, was the difference in sound a conscious change? Or was it something that happened more organically?

Ted: It happened pretty organically. We don’t really write in long sessions. We tend to write songs one by one over time, or sort of piece them together as a band. And so Distraction was kind of a collection of songs that we were working on for a long time. It wasn’t really a conscious effort to make it what it ended up being. I think we’re always trying to hone our skills and do something new.

But we find it funny when people talk about a difference in our records because they think it’s been a long time. But for us it’s been pretty constant. We’ve been touring and playing shows the whole time but because there’s been a couple of years between each album, everyone else hears a big difference. I hope that everything we do put out is different enough from the last thing. 

AP: What’s the meaning of your newest album’s title?

Ted: I think it’s just been a theme of our lives the past few years. With, you know, the whole internet thing (laughs). And it took a lot of effort to make this album, with work, distractions of all the other things that go along with being a band and our… life’s order and our… counting… eighth tour. I think it’s just a good general thematic monitor for this time for us.

AP: Either albums or songs in general, what’s the creative process like? Is there someone who is a leader in forming songs or is it more of a group effort?

Ted: Generally Dylan or I will write something at home. Dylan will bring something to me and we’ll sort of balance it horizontally or vertically. And then we’ll have something that sounds like a song and we put it together and refresh it. Then we all kind of sit around and, like, work it out until we have something everyone is happy with so we can lay it down. And that’s how it gets finished. We try writing while we’re in a room and sometimes we can jam and have fun just playing, but it’s hard to make these pieces while songwriting.

AP: How do you know if you have a hit single?

Ted: (Laughs) We’ll I never had a hit single, so I can’t say…

AP: You don’t think so? You’ve had some pretty popular songs of your last few albums.

Ted: Well, yeah. Giants has been a great experience for us. That feels like a hit. Definitely got the most attention of anything we’ve ever put out. But it’s true actually, we always thought that people would like that song. You know, you get a feeling when you write something that it’s good, you know the feeling when you listen to someone else’s song. I think it’s gotten popular just from playing it at shows. There are a bunch of our songs I think ‘People with a capital P’ would like, but I have no idea how it plays out in the real world.

AP: Do you guys have any plans for the 4th of July?

Ted: We’re playing a show in Milwaukee at a Festival. We’re probably gonna eat a lot of food and drink a lot of beer.

AP: Oh yeah, you have to eat a lot of red meat, the beer, maybe shoot of some fireworks.

Ted: Yeah, if we have time for fireworks, there’ll be a lot of that. “I pledge allegiance to the flag…”, you know how it is.

AP: I was looking at your Bandcamp and it says Songs From Utopia Vol. 1 is a birthday present for America. Did you get the country anything this year?

Ted: You know, the country didn’t really give us anything last year so we’re kind of pissed at it. No. I’m still waiting for a Thank-You note. I’m not gonna give it anything else now. No, our country doesn’t deserve shit.

AP: What are you planning on doing when you come to Boston?

Ted: We have a couple friends we always like to see when we go there. But beyond that, no plans. If you have some great events we should go to, or museums, or a… eatery or whatever, that’s a must-do, you should definitely let us know.

Have any ideas for Bear Hands while they’re kickin’ around Boston? Let them know at their 7/21 stop at Brighton Music Hall.