Tim Hughes finds out about the Bear necessities from a bunch getting ready to take their folk and country-tinged rock to Reading

Sex, drugs and rock & roll; love, hate, pride and pain… When it comes to finding inspiration for their art, most bands come from the same place.

Not Bear’s Den, however. Instead of hedonism or emotion, the London trio instead take their cue from a children’s book. Probably the best children’s book – Maurice Sendak’s 1963 classic Where the Wild Things Are.

“Where The Wild Things Are appeals to us because it offers a dual perspective of seeing the world through both a kid’s and an adult’s eyes,” says frontman Andrew Davie – known to all as simply Davie.

“A lot of our songs address the world in the same way. Bear’s Den is our name for the island the kid escapes to.”

And it works. Davie and bandmates Kev Jones (drums) and Joey Haynes (banjo) have already picked up an Ivor Novello nomination for their intelligent, literate brand of folk-and-country-flavoured pop, their taste for the possibilities which lie beyond the ordinary appealing to fans looking for something a little more than the usual radio-friendly fare.

It should also stand them in good stead this weekend, when they pitch up, just across our county boundary at Reading Festival – a gathering which, at best, can look like a rock version of Sendak’s picture book – wild in tooth and claw.

They join a bill featuring metal monsters Metallica, Pete Doherty’s Libertines and fellow banjo-bothers Mumford & Sons, with whom they have toured the US and, more recently, Germany.

Also up, in one of the most mind-bogglingly diverse line-ups for years, are Wolf Alice, Limp Bizkit, Alt J, Royal Blood, and Rebel Sound – featuring Kidlington reggae legend David Rodigan.

Bear’s Den’s story starts in Davie’s family home, where he was immersed in his father’s rich music collection (Dylan being a particular favourite). Then came a short-lived stint at music college.

“I only lasted a term,” he says.” I was the only person in the class who was writing songs.

“I’ve always liked Bob Dylan’s quote in Scorsese’s No Direction Home where he says: ‘People used to be judged on whether they had anything to say rather than what they sounded like’.

“That’s what interests me.”

Hanging out in West London with the Mumford, Laura Marling and Vaccines’ Jay Jay Pistolet (he took the leap and, with Jones on sticks, started his own band, calling it, back when it became cool to name beat combos after foreign destinations, Cherbourg.

When that came to an end they signed up Joey. From that point, he says, it all fell into place.

“I got goosebumps at the first rehearsal,” he smiles.

“We’ve got wildly disparate influences, but the three of us together have got real chemistry. It just works.”

They share that chemistry with their fans – whom they won over with limited edition bootlegs, each tailored to individual gigs and embossed with hand stamped bear paw prints.

Their break came when they were signed by the Communion record label, and joined a US tour with Ben Howard, Nathaniel Rateliff and The Staves, crossing the States in a convoy of 1960s VW Campervans.

“That was the point we really bonded as a band,“ recalls Davie. “And it was the most comfortable we’ve ever been on tour too!”

Their debut EP Agape (from the Greek for ‘love’) was the perfect vehicle for their blend of pop, folk and banjo-plucking Americana. Their first full album, Islands, continues that vein but gives greater reign to Davie’s literature-inspired song-writing.

“I’ve always been interested in the way Raymond Carver and Ernest Hemingway leave room for interpretation,” he says. “It allows the listener to have their own individual relationship with the songs.”

It’s upbeat, melodic and majestic, and is laden with surprises.

“I obsess over that stuff,” says Davie. “If a song starts with banjo it puts you in a place. Use a synth or an e-bow, and the whole tone is different.”

Highlights include the Ivor Novello-nominated Above The Clouds of Pompeii, the anthemic The Love We Stole, Bad Blood, When Your Break, and the confessional Stubborn Beast. “That was the first song our manager heard and connected with,” says Davie. “The isolated nature of it embodies pretty much everything we’re trying to express.”

Their fixture at Reading this weekend, will be followed by a tour to accompany the release of their next single the crowd-pleasing Elysium, on October 9.

The band describes the song as “a bittersweet coming-of-age tale” and an “elegiac paean to the redemptive power of friendship”.

The accompanying video by Marcus Haney, features his brother and friends celebrating their last few fun-filled days of term at Seattle Pacific University.

During filming, however, a lone gunman attacked the campus. Rather than halt filming, they carried on, as a tribute. The harrowing events are thrown into sharp relief by the song’s upbeat message. The whole record is about people at a breaking point, whether it’s coming of age, or their lives falling apart.

“Both lyrically and sonically, that’s where everything just gets too much,” says Davie.

And, for all his talk of children’s books, there’s still an awful lot of feeling in there.

“It’s difficult to talk about, but I do feel people are looking for some kind of spiritual connection,” he says.

“We’re all caught up in this blind rush for gratification which doesn’t seem to be doing us any good. That’s where the lyric: ‘Guard your hope with your life’ comes from in Elysium. It’s a simple sentiment, but it’s honest.

“Ultimately, we’re trying to reach people and have a communal experience.”

Where and when
Reading Festival
Tomorrow to Sunday
Little John's Farm, Reading
Details at readingfestival.com