Your New Favorite Portland Band- Bipolarbear Wednesday, January 18, 2012 By HSteinkopf-Frank [ArticleImageHyperLink] Advertising     It’s hard not to like Bipolarbear. The band, made up of Portland teens Teal Bluestone (piano, vocals, ukulele), Ethan Conroy (guitar, vocals), Henry Brentlinger (percussion), and Stanley Mathabane (bass, vocals, saxophone), writes songs that are so upbeat it’s impossible not to dance to them.      Conroy, who sings lead on many of the band’s tracks, describes their sound as fun indie pop. He was inspired to start playing music after watching the School of Rock movie. He was particularly inspired by Jack Black. Their musical inspirations include many bands that have come out of the Pacific Northwest, including Death Cab For Cutie and Portland’s The Thermals. Conroy loves the Portland music scene because of its diversity.      The band was originally started by Brentlinger, who then asked Conroy and Bluestone to join the band. They were already friends and thought it would be fun to play music together. Mathabane soon joined the band. His saxophone can be heard on the track “Organic Yogurt”, a funny almost-ska song sung by Bluestone.      When listening to the few tracks that the band has on their Facebook page, it is obvious how tight of a band they have become. While many of their recordings are somewhat low-fi, their talent is not.  Their lyrics focus on the trials and tribulations of being a teenager with a touch of wit.  Conroy’s favorite song by the band, “Car Ride,” is a perfect dance track that features him and Bluestone on vocals. Bluestone has that rare perfect indie-rock voice that is soft and pretty, but can also pack a punch. Their voices blend perfectly together over the chorus.          This level of synchronicity is due in part to the band’s unique songwriting process. Unlike in many bands where one member contributes most of the lyrics and music, Bipolarbear has a process involving the whole band. Conroy and Brentlinger usually start by writing guitar parts, Bluestone then contributes most of the lyrics and the songs evolve from there.      After performing together for a year, Bipolarbear has developed a steady base of fans. They have played a variety of shows and also appeared on TV on channel 11’s Rose City Gumbo program in September of last year, which Conroy describes as an enjoyable experience.      While they have played shows at the local downtown Portland venue Backspace, most of their shows are at various houses where they play with other local bands, including KITTIN, Groves, and Conroy’s side project, Hot Girls. Their favorite gig even took place at Bluestone’s house last September.     While they enjoy playing house shows, Conroy says the hardest part about being a teen band is finding gigs that aren’t at houses.      The band is currently recording its first full-length album, which is still untitled. Conroy is somewhat dubious about their future plans. Most of the members are juniors in high school, but Mathabane is a senior and will be going to college next year.      While the future of the band is somewhat uncertain, it can be agreed that so far the band has had a great run playing music together.

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