Ciaran Lavery and Bear’s Den: “The things that make you nervous are the right things to release”

The day I meet Ciaran Lavery and Bear’s Den’s Andrew Davie in the Pepper Canister Church - which finds the three of us sitting on a church bench, just hours removed from the final of their Irish tour - the atmosphere feels otherworldly, like you you’d disrupt the perfect stillness if you spoke too loudly.

This choice of venue, Lavery says, is “very apt. I grew up Catholic, so I already have enough shame to go on for the rest of my life,” he jokes. “But this is bringing back a lot of memories. It's a perfect way to end it all.”

And apart from the sudden surge of Catholic guilt, I ask, has the tour been enjoyable so far?

“There's been something really lovely about these three different and intimate venues,” Ciaran nods. “You get to be more playful. It feels like there's a general camaraderie in the room between audience and band.”

This Friday, Lavery and Bear’s Den will be releasing their collaborative EP Promiser, a collection of duets recorded over the course of a few days with minimal equipment and production. This collaboration, the two musicians explain, came about after Lavery performed a series of opening slots for Bear’s Den's huge run of European shows last year.

“One great thing that I saw from this first run of shows was the acceptance and warmth,” says Ciaran. “I don't think it's ever expected, that you'll be drawn into a whole community, especially from the main band to the support act. But it's definitely something that Davie has always fostered. The band and all of the crew are like one big family.

“When we were on that run, I think I was just trying to be as much of a shadow as possible and not cause any disruption to what they were doing. But I was just drawn in closer. It's accidentally how the whole collaboration came together: it felt quite natural to be in each other's company.”

“When we started,” Davie adds, “we didn't know who we were writing for. It was just: ‘let's write.’ I think I hadn’t written anything in ages, and then on the first day of working together we had three or four songs. Ciaran is so good – the way he can get lyrics out is so fast compared to what I do, and they’re always so good. It really encouraged a back and forth between us.”

The easy flowing collaboration, though, took a second to click. First, Ciaran explains, they needed to stop thinking that they would help each other complete half-finished ideas, and instead start from a blank piece of paper.

“The moment that we just tried to write something from scratch together in a room,” he says, “we eliminated all of the questions around, ‘Is this yours or mine?’, and not wanting to tread on each other's toes.

“The track ‘Promiser’ was one of those rare instances where the song was being figured out and written all at the one time – I don't really remember taking a break or having to question anything.”

What about each other made it so evident to collaborate?

“It's as much about the music and the songwriting as the respect,” Davie jumps in. “And also just talking – the stories and hanging out: it felt like we'd built a safe space. A lot of the tricky thing with co-writing sometimes is building that. There was real genuine interest in each other's creative ideas beyond music. So that was a sign. When we actually sat down to do it, it all felt really quick and fluid.”

The new EP, Promiser, was recorded simply with very minimal equipment, in single takes, with two microphones and a guitar. This lo-fi aspect turned out to be one of the most vital elements of the project, quietly guiding the entire process, from writing to releasing and performing.

“I had just finished a record that was quite production heavy,” Ciaran explains, “and Bear’s Den had just finished a big tour of an album that was, again, very production heavy. I think we met at the right time, in terms of wanting to try to strip away all of the other elements and really look at the process, and go back to where we both started: our guitar and the lyrics.

“We also wanted to create very tight restrictions on everything that we were doing. I remember having early conversations about, ‘how little do we want to add to this?’”

“We hadn’t really told anyone what we were doing,” Davie continues. “We were just writing songs, and then we decided we liked them enough to do them properly. And if you're not going to add loads of production to something, then it’s like: ‘why don’t we just do it here? Let’s just record it somewhere simple and not have all the bells and whistles and microphones,’ because all that adds new layers of temptation to just keep building and building.

“And the more you add, the more you question your performance – and there's definitely mistakes in those recordings, but that's kind of why I like it. There's a charm to how it all came out.”

“The less options that you have, it really puts a focus on either the instrumentation or the tools that you can avail of,” says Lavery. “You can get bogged down in all of these production tips and tricks, but there's something refreshing about having tracked two or three parts and then looking at each other going: is that it? Will that do it?”

Any aspect of the stripped back recording that felt nerve racking?

“I think I was a bit more nervous when it came out,” Davie agrees, “because it is a little less polished. But I love that about it. Often, the things that make you nervous are the right thing to release, because it feels vulnerable.”

On the single ‘Promiser’, and on the rest of the album, Lavery and Davie put an emphasis on avoiding stories about great tragedy, or “high drama”, instead choosing to focus on mundane, everyday life and the poetry found within it.

“I’ve found, in my own songwriting,” Davie explains, “when you're talking about difficult situations, there’s a distance from your day to day, who you are in that moment. And actually, these songs really feel like the kind of thing you'd say to someone.”

“And that's exactly how it was written,” Ciaran adds. “I remember sitting and typing all of this stuff, and then I slid the laptop to Davie and he would move the lines. That's why there are some phrases that drop down to the below line. I really love this kind of stream of consciousness – it has that avalanche feel to it, and that's exactly how it was written. I think he gave my writing a lot of structure and sense.”

Finally, do the duo have any takeaways from these past few months spent working side by side?

“If anything,” Ciaran reflects, “it solidified my belief that great songs, and very intimate songs, don’t just need to be in the environment of one person on their own. By extending that process, by having two people in a room, you’re still able to accomplish those lyrics and that deeper meaning – I don’t think that’s diluted.”

• Promiser is out on October 10.