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From left to right: Tom Stanson, Josh Robertson, Jamie Coyle, and Mark Limb.

Toxic Bears are an experimental punk rock band based in Brisbane, Australia. Their music ranges from melodic hardcore to funk, jazz and Latin-infused garage rock. The band has recorded three albums and an EP.

The Anti Social Fabric (2022) was recorded live by the band in their Brisbane studio and mixed and mastered by a variety of engineers include Jason Livermore at the Blasting Room in Colorado. Nine Meals (2019) was tracked and mixed by the band in Brisbane and also mastered by Jason Livermore. It is the first album to feature lead singer and guitarist Rapido Bear (Mark Limb), who was the band’s videographer on its fabled journey through some of Japan’s smallest and loudest live venues in 2015.

The Bears previously recorded Ruthless Rhymes for Heartless Times (2012), The Modern Game (2014) and an EP, Sense of Urgency, Cadet (2015 - a title drawn from Rapido’s youthful brush with military officer training).

Personnel

There are four Bears, who each contribute to writing and composition. Current members are Jamie Coyle (drums), Joshua Robertson (lead guitar), Mark Limb (lead vocals and rhythm guitar), and Tom Stanson (bass).

Drummer Jamie Coyle, singer/guitarist Shane Robertson and guitarist Josh Robertson first played together in the early 1990s in melodic hardcore band Cage of Joy. The trio reformed in 2007 as Toxic Bears. Jamie had studied at the Queensland Conservatorium of Music and played in jazz ensembles. Josh had been involved in Australian hip hop through Decipher. Bassist Scott Brady, who played with alternative rock outfits Cipher and Holocene, joined Toxic Bears in 2015. In 2018, Rapido (Mark Limb) succeeded founding Bears frontman Shane Robertson (Big Bear). After a prolonged illness, Scott Brady passed tragically away in 2023. Scotty was succeeded by the current bassist, Tom Stanson in 2024.

The Toxic Bears in 2016. From left to right: Jamie Coyle, Josh Robertson, Shane Robertson and Scott Brady.

Toxic Bears write, record and play ritually in their own acoustically-engineered studio using gear purchased in a chain of secondhand stores in central Japan.

Methods

Toxic Bears record live together in the same room. Only vocals, percussion and some guitar leads are overdubbed.

Their studio is a purpose-built, soundproof, standalone building. The band uses 16 mics: 11 on the drum kit (Pearl, timber snare, Turkish cymbals); two on each guitar cabinet (40-watt Marshal tube combos); and a mic and a DI on the bass cabinet. Mics are mostly large diaphragm condensers (Rode and AKG), a small diaphragm condenser (AKG) and Shure dynamics.  MIDITracks are recorded simultaneously using the Zoom Livetrack L-20 recording console.