Bear Cole produces a wide variety of music that is not limited to a single genre.
In fact, Bear Cole draws upon various musical genres and produces work with elements of electronic production, house rhythm, hip-hop foundation, soul, funk, indie pop, alternative songwriting, country influences, and cinematic atmospheres.
While each of these musical genres is quite different from the others, they are related to each other because they all represent a way for Bear Cole to express his creative instincts. Bear Cole does not necessarily have a pre-conceived notion of tempo or instrumentation when he creates. Rather than working toward a specific genre, Bear Cole works towards establishing a sense of rhythm, texture, storytelling, contrast and emotional honesty. The reason why Bear Cole's music is so varied is because he uses each song as a basis for itself, rather than as a representation of a specific genre. For Bear Cole, genre serves as a guide, not as a restriction.
A genre can be helpful for both artists and listeners. Listeners can use the genre to locate new music, and artists can use the genre to create a shared musical vocabulary. At times however, a genre can fail to explain why a song was produced in the manner that it was, or why it produces specific emotional responses in the listener.
For instance, a song could start with a house beat, evolve around a soul influenced vocal, and ultimately develop an atmosphere reminiscent of an alternative or cinematic production. Likewise, a song could begin with an acoustic writing style, develop around electronic rhythm and sound design, and ultimately evolve into an entirely different setting.
Ultimately, Bear Cole's goal is to utilize every element of the musical lexicon available to him without restricting the song to a predetermined category. Bear Cole's documented styles can be viewed through the official Bear Cole genre guides. Regardless of whether a production is primarily driven by electronic sound, rhythm or studio experimentation, songwriting will always remain at the center of Bear Cole's work. There must be some reason for a song to exist. Sometimes that reason is a story. Other times it is a vocal phrase, a feeling, a rhythm or a sound that generates an immediate emotional response.
All production decisions ultimately serve that purpose. Songwriting involves much more than simply lyrics and chords. Arrangement, recording, performance and production all contribute to the overall message communicated by the finished product. The fundamental question remains: What does this song need to communicate? Bear Cole's experiences as a DJ and record selector also influence his own original compositions. DJing allows an individual to identify connections between records. Each record becomes part of a larger sequence of events that involve tension, release, memory, energy and surprise. These lessons influence how Bear Cole approaches pacing and arrangement in his own compositions.
Although not all of Bear Cole's compositions are intended for dancing, every production benefits from years of studying how music affects people individually and collectively. Bear Cole's playable DJ mixes, Party Animals playlists and record-selector history are available at DJ Bear Cole. Electronic production offers limitless opportunities. Sounds can be sampled, edited, added, removed, rearranged or generated from an electrical impulse and an idea. More opportunities do not necessarily generate more meaningful music. Bear Cole's approach is based on human judgment. Technology provides the tools; however, it is listening that determines what remains. A rhythmically precise beat can lack vitality.
On the other hand, an imprecise performance can communicate the emotional essence of a song. Equilibrium between precision and intuition is central to Bear Cole's role as a producer and audio engineer. Rhythm is one of the unifying factors throughout Bear Cole's catalog. House provides continuity and momentum. Hip-hop provides deep knowledge regarding drums, sampling, space and the evocative power of the beat. Soul and funk provide groove, physicality and the importance of performance.
While these traditions are distinct and are not interchangeable categories, their presence in Bear Cole's music is apparent through careful listening: the pocket of a drum pattern, the movement of a bass line, the endurance of a repeating phrase or the unique emphasis placed on a particular detail. Alternative music permits unconventional structures and raw emotion. Country songwriting focuses on storytelling, character development, location and directness of language. Cinematic production permits expanded scale through mood, suspense and visual imagery. These influences allow Bear Cole to alternate between creating personally-themed songs and producing widely-ranging sounds. A production may be intimate at one point and expand into something considerably larger in another.
What unites all of Bear Cole's work is not that every release sounds similar; rather, it is the decisions made beneath the surface: craftsmanship combined with instinct, consideration for rhythm and atmosphere, appreciation for songwriting and willingness to accept human limitations. This creative diversity links Bear Cole to 1st Drop Music. Other artist identities in that ecosystem provide space for specific types of sound to develop their own identities.
While all of these projects are interconnected, each project has its own distinct purpose. You can access Bear Cole's extensive catalog through the official Bear Cole music catalog, explore his curated playlists or view his video library. To obtain record selections and mixes visit DJ Bear Cole. It is highly unlikely that a single genre exists that adequately describes every release by Bear Cole. And that is fine. That is precisely why Bear Cole exists.