Interview: Holy Oker Talks Debut EP, Bear Mountain, & Smoking Weed For God

By: Olivia Goheen – 

Holy Oker.

We caught up with Bear Mountain drummer Greg Bevis and talk about his solo project, Holy Oker, the release of his debut EP, Diamonds, and more. Bevis currently resides in sunny Los Angeles and during our chat, he was giving his brother directions through crazy L.A traffic while they were on their way to the studio to record new Bear Mountain songs. Having the two music projects allows Bevis to constantly keep busy doing what he loves to do, and that is music.

Why did you want to start the solo project Holy Oker?

It wasn’t really a decision, [I just] kind of made some music and got to put it out under some name. I guess it actually kind of started as a school project. I was going to Humber College and we had a project where you had to make a little three-song record and I had never really written songs before in a band context. So it came as a bit of a challenge, so I was like, OK lets write some songs. I did and played them for a couple engineer buddies of mine who said they were actually kind of good. So I just kind of kept going. I mean I always have considered myself a drummer up and until that point, but that gave me a little bit of a push to finish some tunes.

How did you come up with the project name Holy Oker?  

Yeah, it’s a weird one right? There are these Indian holy men and they are called Sadhus. They are these dudes that have long dreadlocks and kind of hang out and really just smoke weed all day but it is a holy act. Smoking weed brings them closer to God. They often wear these orange robes, which are ocher. That is where I got the Oker colour, ocher is like an orange colour. So that is what it is, music is a holy act, that’s where it comes from.

Did you ever witness seeing these people in India? 

No, I found out about them. I said, “Jesus, what a cool way to spend you life”. Smoking weed as a devotion to God and I thought that was pretty dedicated and full on. I would never do that but I admire it, just dedicating your life to one pursuit.

What artists were you listening to that influenced your sound for the new EP?

It‘s hard to say what exactly influenced it. It is a combination of all sorts of sounds that I kind of like. I really like this band called the Acid, just really minimal. St. Vincent, obviously and her kind of exploration, but really not trying to sound like anything specific. Just coming up with sounds that you like and grow with it. It’s like trying not to have a template that you work off of, but really just going where the thread kind of takes you.

Greg Bevis says that his main project, Vancouver-based electronic band Bear Mountain, will likely release new material in 2015.

So you’re just creating your own original sound from artists that you like?

Yeah. I definitely take stuff from people and that could come from anywhere. It could come from a Don Henley song from the ’80s and you might rip a chord change, but the song will sound nothing like a Don Henley song. Yesterday I was working on something that is a reverse, reverb of a vocal on a St. Lucia song. But once you put it into your own song, it doesn’t sound anything like that. It is weird how it takes a life of their own.

What were some of your personal goals you set before producing this EP? 

I don’t know, there was no intention. I mean I just work on music everyday. It’s like a job and you get up and work on music. It is just my goal in my life to work on music everyday. Eventually you get some stuff to come out of it.

You are originally from British Columbia and when I was reading up on you and found that you are recently living in Toronto but are you actually living in Los Angeles right now?  

I lived in Toronto for about three years, and I made the record in Toronto and I went to school there. The two guys that I made the record with Andrew Kessler and Andrew Mullen, they live in Toronto, that’s why I went out there.

Did Toronto bring any inspiration to any of your music at all?

Yeah definitely, just living in the city, but it’s hard to know how. I think mainly because my friends are there, you know? They kind of play on it, so I think it’s the people more then the city.

In the track “DOM” there is a Spanish man speaking in the background. Can you translate a bit of what he was saying and why did you add a Spanish-speaking man?

That is a good question. So [Andrew] Mullen who worked on the record with me, he sampled that one night at McGill University when he was drunk recording another band. He was recording a radio, on FM radio and found this Spanish guy speaking. He had it on his hard drive for a bunch of years. So we were looking for something to put in that section and needed something, so we threw it in and it was all crackly and this preacher speaking Spanish. We had no idea what it meant, so he sent it to his cousin’s sister’s husband that lives in Argentina, and he said that it’s a Psalm from the bible, it is from the bible.

Holy Oker – the solo project of Greg Bevis, who is the drummer from Bear Mountain – released his debut EP, Diamonds, on November 18th.

Where did the story of the red-headed girl in the “Diamonds” video come from?

That is about an ex girlfriend of mine who had a terminal illness and we broke up. And then about a year after we broke up she died. So it’s just kind of a sad little story that I just needed to tell in a song. She had red hair and strangely enough that we didn’t actually plan to have the girl in the video to have red hair. The guy who directed it was my friend told me of an actress who could do it and he sent me a picture of her and she had red hair. I said “Jesus, she kind of looks like Ava”. So it was really serendipitous actually. That is kind of what the song is about. You kind of want to say something to somebody after they die, but you can’t and you put it into a song and say whatever you want.

What are some things you learned about yourself and your music by creating your debut EP?

The whole thing is a process of self-discovery and you’re just trying to say something that is a little bit truthful. That in itself is pretty difficult, because ultimately you’re making music with your friends, and that is all the introspection and self-involvement that comes with writing a song. For me that over shadows the fact that you are in a room with your friends making music. That is almost like the overarching theme of that record. It’s not so much about things I’ve learned about myself. I got to hangout for a week in a room with two of my best friends and make music.

The writing lyrics process definitely is more introspective then that, but I don’t know what I learned about myself about writing lyrics. I mean you learn that you can go to dark places, but you put it in a song and it doesn’t seem so dark anymore. It’s not really as bad as you thought it was, and it becomes pretty normal. It’s not something so special and it’s just some dark shit you thought of.

What is happening with your other band Bear Mountain? Are you guys producing more material?

My brother and I are driving and going to work on Bear Mountain right now. That is coming slow and steady, you know. It is the same process really, just trying to write good songs. I don’t know when we will be done. We are working on music to put out a new album.

When do you guys expect to have a new album out? 

I’m hesitant to say anything, but most likely in 2015. When I get tried of working on Bear Mountain shit, I can go work on my stuff and get refreshed. You got to have a few projects going on to keep you sane.

After the release of Diamonds, what is next for Holy Oker?

I want to do another EP. I’m working on demos right now, and hopefully I’ll have something by the spring, just working on trying to get some cool songs demoed. I think the next one will be quite a bit different actually. Every time you put another EP out, by the time you put it out, you don’t like it anymore and you would have done a million things differently. That is the inspiring part of finally putting something out. You’re like OK, not going to do that again and try something totally different. I’m inspired to do something else now. So it’s good.

When you say you want to do something different, what area are you going to be doing differently with your music?

I guess production. Make songs based on what is at my disposal and what I have access to at the studio. Find someone who can record drums if there is a budget. All those things kind of influence what the record sounds like. The EP that we are putting out, we were able to record all these live things on it because we had a studio for a week. We used Cantebury Studio in Toronto for a week, so we were able to do all that shit. Right now, for the next one I don’t have a budget yet and so a lot of those ones end up on my laptop, which is cool and different. I think [the next album] will be a little more electronic.