One of the hottest names in the bass scene, Bear Grillz, swung by to give us a deeper dive into his latest release, Friends: The Album.
While this year may have not turned out quite like anyone was expecting it to, it surely hasn’t stopped Bear Grillz from continuing on his path of dominating speakers near and far. He’s delivered some serious heaters this year like the Ground Zero and Reanimated EPs to satiate the cravings of bass lovers, and now he’s unloaded another flurry of tunes to carry his fans into 2021 with Friends: The Album on DIM MAK.
Friends: The Album isn’t just a standard release either, instead, Bear Grillz looked to some of his best friends and fellow artists in the bass scene to collaborate on each track. And much like the album art indicates, this album sees artists assemble together in true Avengers fashion with standout artists including Spag Heddy, Adventure Club, SIPPY, Bok Nero, Figure, and more featured throughout.
Related: Want a deeper look into the mind of Bear Grillz? Check out our interview with him where he discusses the Ground Zero EP and more!
To help celebrate this fantastic release, we wanted to get the details and backstory on these collaborations from Bear Grillz to learn more about how they came to be. So listen to Friends: The Album on Spotify or your favorite platform, and read on for a track-by-track look at the release from the man himself!
Stream Bear Grillz – Friends: The Album on Spotify:
Friends: The Album – Track By Track:
01 – “Where We Are” with Adventure Club and JT Roach – I’ve had the pleasure of knowing these fine gents for years and after our B2B at EDC Orlando, we finally decided enough was enough and that we wanted to put a record together. I had this vocal from JT Roach that he sent me months earlier and it just worked out perfectly.
02 – “Give Em What They Want” with Iration – This was a dream collab of mine. Having been a huge fan of Iration and going to their shows and meeting them a few years ago, the opportunity finally arose. I feel like this track was just a perfect blend of both of our styles of music and I can’t wait to play this one to a live crowd.
03 – “Run It” with Bok Nero and Riot Ten – This one is the energy track of the album and sure to get the crowds moving when I play it live. I can’t wait to see the madness that ensues when there’s a crowd for this one.
04 – “Taking Over” with Tisoki and Sam Nelson – Sam Nelson’s voice is just the best, isn’t it? I was actually introduced to him by Micah Martin. Once I heard his voice I just knew I wanted to have him on a track. Tisoki is a good buddy of mine and we agreed this was the one that would be the best collaboration between us two.
05 – “Bring The Smoke” with Blunts & Blondes – When you make a song with Blunts & Blondes it is a requirement that you have “smoke” in the song title. All jokes aside, this one just has a great vibe to it. I imagine when I play it live it will just mellow out everyone and then I’ll come back and hit them hard with “Run It/”
06 – “Blast Like” with Sippy – SIPPY and I are like family and I can’t believe this is the first record together. This one is one of my favs of the album and such a low-key banger. Again, I can’t wait to play this one live.
07 – “Light It Up” with Spag Heddy – This one is another “banger” from the album. I imagine this one destroying dance floors very soon. It’s the perfect blend of basses between Spag Heddy’s style and mine. This collab finally happened after Spag Heddy and myself being friends for the past six years.
08 – “Fire To The Roof” with OG Nixin – This one is another low key banger between OG Nixin and myself. He blends his signature riddim styles with my dubstep and the track came together quite nicely. This one is sure to be a mainstay in my sets for a long time to come.
09 – “Sad Story” with Sam Nelson – Another track with Sam Nelson. I loved his voice so much I needed him on the album twice. I feel like there is so much going on in this track but in the best possible way and even though the title is “Sad Story,” it still makes me happy to listen.
10 – “Vortex Engine” with Figure – I got to know Figure back in 2016 on the Paradox tour. This is actually our second collaboration and I can’t wait to see what this one does to dance floors when everything is back to normal. It is always a pleasure working with one of the OGs in the dubstep scene but also proud to call him one of my close friends.
11 – “Scumbag” with Dion Timmer and Atarii – Another vocal from my man Atarii. I love working with him and this collaboration with Dion Timmer just sort of happened out of the blue. We were talking and he mentioned he had a work in progress and he sent it over. Within a day or two, the track was finished. This one is so heavy!
12 – “Here Right Now” with Katastro – Definitely one of my favorite tracks on the album. I was a fan of Katastro and I blindly emailed their manager about doing something together. They responded and were into it and this track came together really quickly. I can’t wait for the world to hear this one.
Follow Bear Grillz on Social Media:
Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | SoundCloud | YouTube