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Greg Bevis Of Holy Oker & Bear Mountain On The Challenges Of Pop

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by Grady Mitchell | Greg Bevis believes that pop music can and should challenge listeners. Decades ago, artists like Elton John and Fleetwood Mac were able to make hugely successful pop music that also had substance. These days, besides a few exceptions, that’s clearly not the case.

When Greg says pop music can be challenging, he doesn’t mean in an esoteric or bizarre sense. He simply believes a pop song can have more going on that a catchy hook (which abound on Holy Oker tracks). That idea took shape during his time at Toronto’s Humber College, where he studied jazz. Humber, which offers students access to a studio, is also where he began writing and recording Holy Oker songs.

Greg thinks certain records demand repeated listenings. “My favourite records I didn’t love until the third time I heard them,” he says, citing Jeff Buckley’s Grace as example. When you spend time with a song, Greg says, it’ll reward you with quirks and secrets. He pulls up Otis Redding’s Sittin’ On The Dock Of The Bay for me and points out a one-time piano lick that starts at 2:08 and ends three seconds later. Tiny moments like that can make an entire record for him.

The depth in Holy Oker songs comes from the dichotomy between the upbeat instrumentation and the forlorn lyrics. Greg describes them as “dark but hopeful.” He pictures a song as a house that a listener moves through; some rooms are close and dark, others are open and bright. “If it’s too sad, nobody’s going to listen to it,” he says. “But if you disguise it with a pop melody, it’s sneaky. I like that.” It asks more of the listener, but the rewards are greater, too.

In between scoring films and recording a second album for his other band, Bear Mountain, Greg will release a Holy Oker single in September on Boompa Records. To learn more about Holy Oker, visit his website.

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