When Bears Attack

When Bears Attack were a midlands-based alt-rock/comedy band active between 1998 and 2008. They were: Wrago on vocals; Earl Gravy and The Timetable on guitars; Princess C.J.Tationelle on bass; SBS on trombone and Stupac on drums. Prior to this Wrago and Earl Gravy were half of notorious punk band Velvet Underpants, SBS toured the globe with Lincolnshire Sinfonietta and the others had proper jobs.

The only line-up change was the departure in 2002 of trumpet player Alex. This gave rise to the stage name SBS (short for ‘Small Brass Section’) for the remaining horn player Kath.

In 1999 the bears won the first (and only) 'Battle of the Bands' hosted by The Vaults in Walsall, earning them an undisclosed three-figure sum and a session at the prestigious Powerhouse studios. This produced their debut four-track CD, the underground classic 'Please don't let me kill again'. They followed this in 2002 with the ferocious 'Faster than technology' EP, recorded sessions at Rich Bitch in 2004 and released their most accomplished work ‘CDIII’ in 2005.

The bears then embarked on ‘Dracula – the musical’, a ‘low-camp multi-media gothic-sex-comedy’ involving the band plus a twenty-strong cast and crew recruited from across the midlands. The 15 songs from this were first showcased as a gang-show at the Rock Café 2000 in Stourbridge. The show attracted a capacity audience and the response was such that they immediately began working on the full version which was presented at the Midland Art Centre in 2007. The musical combined the excitement of a live gig with elements of theatre and dance and featured 11 vocalists from various local bands plus animation by visual artist Ben Neal. This represented not only a complete departure from the band’s previous work but also a radically new treatment of the Dracula story. In short, you’ve never seen anything like it, ever.

Further details and free downloads can be found on the bears’ website: www.whenbearsattack.co.uk or e-mail the bears at info@whenbearsattack.co.uk