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Bear in the Forest is caught live in the Madcity on Max Ink Radio

Max Ink Radio · Sat Jul 12, 2025

You found Wisconsin's local music authority. This is MagSyncRadio. We are local music.

We are here live from the Mad City and tonight. Bear in the Forest is the musical

soulcraft of a man known simply as Bear, a wandering troubadour who songs shimmer with mysticism and

memory, born in New Orleans, erased amongst the lake and seasons of Milwaukee and now rooted in

Madison. Bear weaves his story through melody, lyric, and atmosphere, a classically trained

violinist, a choir-horned vocalist, and self-taught guitarist. Bear sound is both studied and

wild, elegant in its composition yet raw in its feeling. We have Bear in the Forest here tonight in

the studio. Here with us to perform, right now, Alberto, Bear, Connost. Connost.

Connost. What? Swati. Swati, okay, and Joe Posnick. Bear,

Rai, Joe, welcome to live from the Mad City on MagSyncRadio.

Hello guys. Hey, hey, how's it going? Talking to the. Oh, yes, sorry, wrong mic, wrong mic.

Thank you. Thank you, thank you. Bear, you were born in New Orleans, grew up in the

producer city, and currently you are here in Madison. Tell us about yourself. I mean,

how did you get started playing music? Lots of guitar when I was young in the bedroom,

just playing guitar, learning songs, and you know, copying the grates, the Beatles, and Bob Dylan,

and just wanting to make music really bad and chucking at it. Well, that's actually like guitar,

right? Like, did you play the other instruments first? Yeah, yeah, I guess I started with violin.

I always start with violin, but that was more of like forced on to me by my folks. But just

going to ask that, what was your parents role? Yeah, they got me to play violin, which I didn't

really appreciate until I was older, but then I fell in love with playing in high school,

playing, playing violin when I started playing guitar, because I realized how much

how old were you when you started taking violin lessons? I was in third grade, so about nine.

Wow. Eight or nine? Yeah. Why violin? Any specific reason?

I think there was a big day where we tested out an instrument. There was like band and orchestra

a day for the kids when they were like, and you got to go in a room and decide if you wanted to

be in band or orchestra. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. We had that too. That's how I came to play saxophone,

and I'm still doing it. That's so awesome. Yeah, so it's just that big day where we played it,

and I was like, okay, we'll do violin, and my mom recommended I try violin, and so I just

was like, sure, let's do it. Wow. Yeah, that's funny. Actually, my mom wanted me to play

coordinate, and I ended up on a viola. Okay. We don't like the violists, okay? It's a big war

between the violas and the violins. Well, you know, it's a difference between the bass clef,

right? Yeah. And the treble clef. Totally. That's what it is.

Well, let's get to some live music in the layer here with Bear in the Forest,

presented by the Aaron Weber group here on Maxing Radio. The first song that you have for us,

name is called Kielombera. Kielombera. Kielombera. And tell us about this song before you play.

Well, Kielombera means troublemakers and Portuguese, and it's a bit of a liberation song.

It's kind of about using music to be a part of movements and having music be a part of

liberation and as a tool, essentially. All right. All right, let's hear it. Live from the

Max City. This is Bear in the Forest.

We're in the basement with my girls singing like a record fan. We up with him now.

And when you walk the night I swear the walls be spanning. The writings on the walls are

melting down our brains. Where you are is where you've gone love.

She said it's not where you are. That's where you're going love. So we speak up to it.

on his way.

You're seated at snime. Where you are. So where you're going love,

see you speak up to it.

This is where we tear it down. Tell me this is where we eat.

Tell me this is where we eat. Tell me this is where we eat.

You don't bet us. This is a refuge for the soul to bring out weapons for the war.

On the system I held you down. So we roll. So we roll about it.

We all about it. You might as well keep saying it about it.

You might as well keep saying it about it.

This is where we're going love, see you speak up to it.

This is where we're going love, so we speak up to it.

Tell me this is where we're going, tell me this is where we're going, tell me this is where we're going.

Alright, there in the forest, right here I'm Maxing Greedy, alive from the man's city.

That was really awesome, man.

Thank you, thank you, a lot of fun.

Classically trained violinist, core, honed vocalist and a self-talk guitarist.

If you know anything about orchestra conductors, they are not interested in your creativity

on the violin very often, but self-talk guitarist, screams of creativity, tell us about your evolution

musically from violin to guitar.

Oh yes, wrong like, sorry again.

I guess, I mean violin, obviously classical music, very thematic, you know, these big long pieces,

and I think that came out a lot in my guitar playing when I, my first songs on guitar were like these long,

you know, seven minute, eight minute pieces, and so I kind of had to, I kind of had to move from

you know, these big movements and 11, 12 minute songs to kind of bringing things down to,

you know, three, four minute songs, but I think it comes out in the songwriting kind of how

there's themes that are moving in the passion and kind of not as strict to a structure

that a lot of guitarists I think are.

So yeah, I don't know, I don't know if that answers very good, but I kind of get lost in this

obstacle. Yeah, you know, I've always been a band kid still am in bands. In fact, like I played in

the Oregon community band this summer, it was good fun, but I always want to know what the

orchestra and choir people were doing. So tell us about being in a choir. Choir is good, choir,

I mean, it was, you know, I think I had such an individual voice before I started choir,

and I had to learn how to like sing with people more, and you know, singing from the right places

in the body and stuff, I learned a lot through choir. So what do you mean by that?

So I think a lot of musicians sing from the throat and sing from the chest, and you had to train

to sing low in the diaphragm and stuff and the vowel shaping and your voice gets lower.

Yeah, and so it's all about shaping the vowels and things like that, which I think it brought me a lot

further with singing. Yeah, what is something about choir or like ensemble singing in general,

that you only know after your experience in one? You might be able to apply this to individual

singing too, like something you learn that you can only get from choir. I guess always warm up.

Always warm up. Oh, that's interesting. That's not what I would expect. I would expect singing

with people. I think they would be hard. I was never in choir. So don't listen to me. Tell us

about being accepted into the first wave scholarship program here in Madison and the university

was constant. Definitely one of the best things that's ever happened to me. I was on the music floor

on the in celery hall. They have a music floor for folks who want to live with like-minded musicians

and artists. Really? So it's the artist floor and I originally just was bare bones applied to live

there because I thought it was cool to a learning community is what it's called. And on that learning

community, the first wave students, the scholars from that year are on that floor. And I originally

wasn't in first wave, but I was on that floor and started hanging out with them and doing events.

They have little showcases. And someone from the program was like, why aren't you in first wave?

What is first wave? First wave is a arts activism and academics, sort of three-pillar scholarship

program for artists who want to come to campus and do their art be activists and excel academically.

So you apply for it. You have to have a certain GPA and you also have to have an art and talk

about your art and the intention behind it and the intentions you have with that. And typically,

they're activists like in there. People want to talk about bringing out voices, minority voices

and talking about different issues and whatnot. Yeah, do you know if this program is still around?

It certainly is. It's still going strong. I mean, definitely a little bit at risk right now,

because it's under D.I. and stuff at UW. So it's a little bit of targeted right now, but I think

they're still at it. Well, thank goodness for that. What was it like? What degree did you get,

by the way? I got a science communication and environmental studies degree. So that's pretty cool.

So you were able to do art and do music, get and still study other things. Yeah, and that's kind of

what they love. They love really dynamic individuals that want to do a lot and try and integrate

the art into that. And that's kind of what I've always wanted to do with there in the forest is

kind of we've been environmentalism and science into into into my work. Well, we'll definitely be

talking about that in just a minute. But what was it like coming to Madison for the for the first time

from Milwaukee? It was bizarre. I didn't spend much time in Madison. I mean, it's an interesting place.

It was a culture shock for sure. I grew up just in a small town just north of Milwaukee,

actually called Sherwood. Okay. But I love Milwaukee by the water. Just north of UWM there. Yeah,

yeah, on the east side. But yeah, I don't know. It was a it was a huge school to go from my small

high school to to Madison was was a shock. What made you stay in Madison? Well, I graduated

right smack dab in the pandemic or the pepperoni pizza or whatever. And I just kind of was

landlocked because of that. And it felt weird to leave and go to a new place while everyone was

locked down. And being a local musician is already hard enough to like get your bearings and

find people and places to play and stuff. So I kind of use that to stick around. And I had so

many connections here in Madison that it felt, you know, I was kind of like if I start over

somewhere else, it's just going to I'm going to be starting from ground zero, like getting my name

out there. And it's that was just such a daunting idea. And so I felt like I stick around here.

I can drive to Milwaukee if people want me to play. And I have a lot of folks that ask me to play

here in Madison. So it just seemed like stick around. Well, let's get back to live music from

the mad city with bear in the forest presented by the Aaron Weber group. The next song you have

for us is called clear clean water. Is it scary that you need to use those descriptors for water?

Definitely, definitely. Tell us about this song before you play. Well, it's actually it came to be

when I was doing a cliff jumping up in northern Wisconsin into some lakes. And the water,

it was a glacial lake. I think it was Lake Waze if anyone's curious. But super clear,

clean lake. And we were jumping off maybe 25 foot drop into the lake or something like that. And

it was terrifying. And I was looking down at this clear clean water. And I couldn't bring myself

to jump off into it, even though it was clear clean water. And it felt like such a metaphor about

like things that are hard to do. But you can see what they are. You can see that you need to get there.

And there's nothing terribly to be afraid of. But it's so hard to do that leap. And so it's kind of

a metaphor about a lot of things. But you know, and eventually I jumped off into the clear clean water.

And so happy I did. Wow. Clear clean water. This is bear in the forest. You're listening to

live from the Mad City on Maxing Radio.

Clear clean water. Taste my flesh.

Journey my soul. Baby now. Sometimes I could be a hot head.

Cooling me down.

Never telling me lie high high. It's the water's been nice.

Why don't you fall on me?

Free your mind up, baby darling. Oh baby, hi hi.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

I suppose you take a leap of faith.

I hate how we test the waters. Trying to find a reason not to bear.

Trying to find a reason not to care. Get your way up.

You're scaring yourself out of her. You're scaring yourself out of her.

I'm gonna show my boys, I'm gonna show mine. You don't need nothing else.

No, no, no.

You'll need nothing else. Besides, some good.

Loving baby, some good.

Oh, it takes it right off, oh, it takes it right off of me.

Now you're feeling the dissolution. What does your mind see?

Take a look in your mirror. Love what you say, darling.

Liquid water, liquid water, liquid water.

Take your smile flesh.

All right, bear in the forest.

We are here with bear and his band, Ryan and Joe Posnick.

Joe is on drums and Ryan is on cello in case you were wondering what instruments are happening right here live in the studio today.

Bear, what's your mission, your message with your music?

I suppose.

So many things, I guess, but to wrap it up, I mean, I really believe in human connection between each other and the planet and good will for all people and things and a society and of peoples that are in community with each other and in community with nature and living things and harmony between those things.

And bringing people together.

I guess.

Well, let's get back to my music from the man city with bear in the forest presented by the Aaron Weber group.

The next song you have for tonight is called wild rice flour.

Do you like to bake rice bread?

No, it's like with, is it made from rice flour?

I can't have gluten, so I don't make a lot of bread.

All right, well, tell us about wild rice flour.

Yeah, wild rice flour is about activism and it's about protecting natural things and it was a friend of mine studies and

shepherds wild rice, if you will, and wild rice is at threat right now.

And it's a food that grows on water that the Inishinabe people came down.

And from the rivers and up from like main area, they traveled down to look for food and they ended up in the Great Lakes region because of wild rice growing.

That threat now because of degradation of land and all these things.

And so it's about wild rice and protecting the land, but also a connection with a person and activism in general.

All right, well, let's bake some bread with bear in the forest.

You're listening to live from the man city on Max and Gradio.

Stepping by myself, you were curious what I was sitting over.

You were curious what I was bringing up on the phone that day.

Don't need no pretty features to talk about.

Pretty frames though what it's all about, you were a rare rare sight on my days.

A rare rare sight on my mind.

Seems like yesterday saw how you love people screaming from the river to the sea they shall be free.

Well, you were the wild rice flower woman, saw you in my dreams.

Shepherd of the wild rice flowers blooming, saw you through the trees.

Yeah, it's a big, big world.

Now it's closer to me.

Yeah, where you're sold you well.

Seated a bed in my heart today.

Echoes of that starlight where people found the good, bare, and blamed.

You're a gift to my heart today.

I think the spirits gave offerings.

There was wild rice flowers blooming one mind every time.

Let's see it through the mirror.

She's like yesterday.

We were camped out with people.

Screaming from the river to the sea they shall be free.

Well, you were the wild rice flower woman, saw you in my dreams.

Shepherd of the wild rice flowers blooming, saw you through the trees.

Yeah, it's a big, big world.

Now it's closer to me.

Yeah, where you're sold you well.

It's a big, big world.

Now it's closer to you and me.

We are the wild rice flowers blooming.

We are the wild rice here.

We are the wild rice flowers blooming.

We are the wild rice here.

We are the wild rice flowers blooming.

Yeah, where you're sold you well.

We are the wild rice here.

Yeah, where you're sold you well.

Bear in the forest.

Live from the Mad City on Maxine Credio presented by the Aaron Weber Group.

We'll be right back with Bear in the forest.

Shop local, eat local, listen local.

This is Maxine Credio.

We are local music.

All right, we are back here.

Live from the Mad City on Maxine Credio over here with Rob Roberts.

Joey Louise, Joan Jane Lowell.

I'm just horrible tonight.

I'm horrible tonight.

I've been making all kinds of typos in my mind.

You know me long enough.

All right, Bear.

You draw inspiration from artists like Bonifere and Hozier and Wright songs.

We did personal experience on the trials and tribulations of the world around you.

Dive a little deeper into this.

Tell us about your inspirations and tribulations that drive your music.

Yeah, I mean, life's a hard thing and sometimes you got to put it into song.

It's the only way to really explain some things.

And you know, I had an interesting childhood and came out of a lot of struggles and stuff.

And I think I put, I've always used music to help process that.

So let's learn more about these wonderful people who just came out from behind their glass prison.

Your bandmates and your cellist, Rye, Swati is here.

Group on a farm in the UP.

How did you get started playing music?

Yeah, so I started around fifth grade a little bit after Bear did.

My brother started playing violin pretty early on.

And I said, well, I can't have my sibling do something I can't do.

But violin was a little bit too high and squeaky.

I was targeted and I couldn't help but play a lower instrument.

So I chose cello.

I started out with piano actually.

That was both of our first instruments.

A classic choice.

Yeah, absolutely.

I absolutely love piano.

Yeah, then on to cello.

What was your parents role in your musical upbringing?

Oh, man.

I've so much to thank them for.

They just music around the house all the time,

getting us playing at open mics at the local country bars,

playing my mom played the violin, my dad plays trumpet and guitar.

So just lots of music around the house.

Were they in the band?

Well, I guess our family band, that's probably too far.

The family band.

That's too firm of a label.

But we had fun and they really instilled a love for music that

couldn't go away if I wanted it to.

And how did you evolve from classical cello to playing in rock bands?

I mean, we kind of go back to the conductors.

They don't necessarily want your creativity.

So how does one kind of bridge that gap?

Yeah, that's a really good question.

I had to ponder that getting started with this.

I think in classical music, something that's very important,

whether you're soloing, playing in a chamber group,

or an orchestra, blending and listening is incredibly important.

And that's something that I really try to practice coming into this.

Bear has been playing a very established musician for a while by himself

and has amazing songs he's written.

So it's really important to, I think, honor what those are meant to be

and so listening really closely and figuring out,

hey, I'm not here to show off.

I'm here to make the music fill it as much as I can.

Yeah, I think ensemble is probably the most important skill you can learn as a musician.

I've known that from playing in groups like no matter how fast you can play or how much music you've memorized

if you can't play with a group you can't play.

I completely agree.

And let's get back to live music from the man city with Bear in the Forest

presented by the Aaron Weber group.

The next song you have for us tonight, it's called Blood is Sweet.

Are you one of those zombie vampire folks from New Orleans?

Not necessarily.

I saw a movie once.

Yeah, well, I'm watching centers right now.

So I'm feeling I'm going to I'm going to pour that into this.

But that song is actually I wrote after binge watching True Blood.

So is it?

Oh, I see.

Okay.

That makes sense.

Romantic vampire situation.

All right, let's hear it.

This is blood is sweet.

You're listening to Bear in the Forest live from the man city.

Live from the man city on max ink radio.

I found you at night.

And followed these frights.

Everyone stared.

But I didn't care.

I was on the outside too.

So I opened up to you.

And you laid me down.

And sank your fangs into me.

I know my blood is sweet.

It's joy in life and it even walk in the sun.

And you can't take all of it.

But you can drink for a little while.

What a delight to not hear your mind.

All of these people they have so much to say.

And Stark is the night blind those eyes.

But I was never afraid of you.

The terror's eye it seemed just a child.

I saw more when I looked at you.

I know my blood is sweet.

It's joy in life and it even walk in the sun for a minute.

And you can't take all of it.

But you can drink for a little while.

Feast on me tonight.

Tonight.

Under the poem we said.

The dawn is coming soon.

Let's get all of our fills.

For you have to go.

Craw back in your whole brave.

Yeah.

Feast on me tonight.

Tonight.

Oh, what the moon would do.

All these creatures, they come out of the woodwork.

Well, I don't fear them anymore.

The dawn will always come for me.

Yeah.

I know my blood is sweet.

It's joy in life and it even walk in the sun for a minute.

But you can't take all of it.

You can drink for a little while.

Yeah.

All right.

Bear in the forest live from the Man City on Maxing Radio.

That was really awesome.

What a great song.

Thank you.

Let's give the drummer some Joe Posnick.

You're an original member of Blackstar Drumline right here in Madison.

Tell us in your backstory.

I mean, how did you get started playing drums?

Yeah.

So I actually started playing African drums with a Jean Vivi.

I know he's still here here in Madison making drums.

And then I met Joey shortly after.

Joey B Banks.

Yeah.

And at the time it was his idea to recruit all drum drum set students to play in Blackstar Drumline with him.

Yeah.

From basically nine to about 21.

I played with Blackstar Drumline.

And then I went back to teach lessons.

And then, yeah, now we're just old friends.

Wow.

That is pretty cool.

I know you played with my son, Nico.

Yeah.

We got to travel to watch the Bucks.

And you guys play it now on the court.

Yeah.

We were in a bunch of drumline for the Bucks for a while.

So that was awesome.

That was pretty fun.

How important to you was the experience of playing with Blackstar?

So growing up adopted here in Madison.

I didn't really have any African American peers that I could turn to and learn from.

So hanging out at the Boys and Girls Club and meeting Joey, that was like my first immersion

to let's say culture will you.

Yeah.

And it was a great experience and much needed.

And what would you say to kids who are thinking about joining the drumline these days?

Please do it.

They need as many kids as they can get.

No, but besides that, you know, I will have a family forever in the drumline and, you know,

much of how I play now very much affects other parts of my life.

And how did you meet Bear?

Oh, man.

So we got connected through a mutual friend.

I actually came out to one of his shows at Gamma Ray.

And I was like, I think I could do a little sum here and there.

And then, you know, we took it all the way back to my mom's basement.

And here we are now.

Well, how did you guys meet up with Bri?

Yeah.

So, Bri and Bear are actually roommates.

So, you know, we were like, we need somebody else.

Like we're missing something here.

So, Bri was a natural choice.

Wow.

Well, it makes a great band.

Let's get back to live music from the Mad City with Bear and the Forest.

Presented by the Aaron Weber group, the next song you have for us tonight,

it's called Another Peaceful Day.

Tell us about this song before you play.

Yeah.

This song is a bit of a thought meditation, a bit of that.

I wrote it after a philosophy lecture in college going through the different thoughts of philosophy

and different thinkers and different sort of like philosophies of life.

Like, you know, hedonism and all these things and, you know, nihilism and, you know, theism

and all these different ways of seeing existence and life and stuff.

And the whole thinking and hearing about philosophers the way they see life in the universe

just was just mind blowing.

And so, this song is kind of just generally about that mind blowing thinking.

All right.

Another peaceful day.

This is Bear and the Forest.

You're listening to Live From the Mad City on Maxing Radio.

Music

Lane away, can the far out reaches of some galaxy on a rock built in faithful coordinates.

Dream of the dust, breath of the wind, how it lives, how it begins to start spinning.

Just another peaceful day amongst the wreckage, one of the settled sun.

Another one to live and die and all they know, another one is gone.

Will that move me, that moves me, always tells me, always tells me the time way,

in spite of ways, ways that I could, ways that I could go.

More or not, nothing, something comes and goes.

Thought I knew nothing, thought I knew nothing now.

Just a far out way to say or spared of knowing, who knows how it goes, how it shows if it saves you.

And I don't blame you, for always wandering, for always wandering,

with these bones, might get up to.

Another peaceful day amongst the wreckage, one of the matters most.

Is it blind, is it more, is it born, is it coronation?

Will that move me, that moves me, always tells me, always tells me the time way, in spite of ways that I could, ways that I could go.

More or not, nothing, something comes and goes.

Thought I knew nothing, thought I knew nothing now.

It's a simple song for a simple rise, and I'm only here for a moment.

I don't mind asking you why I had.

There in the forest, live from the mad city on Maxing Gradio, that was really incredible.

How do we keep up with beer in the forest online?

Yeah, so we're on social media, we're on, we go under bear ITF, under most things.

We have a website, bearitf.com, we have an Instagram, bearitf at bearitf.

And then we also have a YouTube channel, bear in the forest, I think, is it, is it titled bear in the forest?

Yeah, so you can look us up there, we started posting some of these songs, some of these live songs, there.

But yeah, check out our website, we got dates up there, we have an email list, you can put your email in and then we'll shoot you an email when we get more listings and things like that.

But bear ITF across the board usually.

Well, let's get back to live music from the mad city with bear in the forest presented by the Aaron Weber group.

The next song you have for us tonight, it's called Love Like the Sea.

Tell us about this song before you play.

Love Like the Sea is about a lady who is about the lady, a lady I was in love with and then the sea and thinking about the sea and love in the same way.

Like just this thing you can't comprehend, that's chaotic but so beautiful.

Alright, let's hear bear in the forest, love Like the Sea.

Tell me so headstrong knock me off my seat, can't lead in gunfire just to show the heat.

You keep me on my way, I think like you're kind of chaos, the way you throw me off keeps me hard-earned.

You keep me on my way, they won't keep me from the sea.

When did my back, only the waves are gonna take me well.

Oh, side chopper than I, oh, sides on the big shelf with the new height.

Let's get the word out.

Alright, we are here, bear in the forest, this was live in the Mad City of Maxinc Radio.

Bear, thank you so much for coming down and bringing the band.

We really appreciate it tonight.

Our absolute pleasure, thanks y'all for having us.

Top local, eat local, listen local.

This is Maxinc Radio, we are local music.