(footsteps echoing) - My name is Alberto Kanost, and I play as Bear in the Forest.

Well, I was born in New Orleans, Louisiana.

Moved up to Wisconsin when I was about eight, grew up in the Milwaukee area.

(zipper squeals) Went to Shorewood High, and kinda was always drawn to music, always drawn to the idea of being a rock star, drawn to that sort of thing.

Picked up guitar in middle school, and I fell in love with folk music.

Ever since I started playing guitar, I just wanted to write my own songs and be a songwriter.

(guitar music) ♪ Stepping by myself ♪ ♪ You were curious what I was sending over ♪ Bear in the Forest is the name I've been using since high school.

It was kind of a last minute name to use for a talent show at my local high school.

People were beginning to call me Bear because my name kind of sounds like that, Alberto.

I was doing a lot of outdoor education work at the Urban Ecology Center and was an outdoor leader there and one of the people playing in my group were like, "Why not Bear in the Forest?"

It kind of clicked and I just couldn't stop using it.

I kept using it throughout high school and then as a continuation of that, I kept using it in college and so on, and here we are.

(guitar music) My dad got me started with guitar.

He gave me the basics and then I quickly was like, I need to go do this on my own.

A lot of YouTube, a lot of watching YouTube, so definitely self-taught but you know, I had YouTube guitar teachers, if you will.

♪ You were the wild rice flower woman ♪ ♪ Saw you in my dreams ♪ ♪ Shepherd of the wild rice flowers blooming ♪ ♪ Saw you through the trees ♪ Singing was more of a hard thing to get.

You know, I think I was playing guitar confidently before I was singing confidently.

I sang when I had to.

I kind of never thought I, you know, it's such a terrifying thing to sing and but one of my brothers was like, "You're never gonna be able to do music "if you're not gonna sing as well."

And so I kind of started trying to like, push myself to become a singer and I had a pretty unique voice and then kind of kept rolling with that.

But it wasn't until college that I got some vocal training.

Having kind of my own unique way of singing and getting some vocal training has kind of brought me to where I am.

♪ And I was never afraid of you ♪ ♪ The terrors I had seen, just a child ♪ ♪ I saw more when I looked at you ♪ Well, I always loved folk music and so it definitely comes from a very intimate place of a songwriter and a guitar coming together to tell a story.

The sound is kind of that, that's the base of it all.

My brother always called it gospel folk 'cause it's very, there's a lot of spiritualness in it, but it's folk music at its core.

But I think if I were to give it a label, I'd just call it indie folk.

♪ From me for a little while ♪ I was always a huge Beatles fan.

I love how, I loved the way they wrote songs.

Bob Dylan was a huge influence.

And I got really, I think one of my biggest influences in sound was some of the British folk artists that kind of repurposed folk music.

Laura Marling, there's a Swedish artist called Tallest Man on Earth that really taught me a lot about songwriting.

I was a huge Mumford and Sons fan in middle school.

That was a lot of the reason why I started playing acoustic guitar heavily and, you know, strumming and having the guitar be the rhythm and the whole sound.

It's a lot of indie folk artists.

Bon Iver is a huge influence as well, a Wisconsin native.

I love those kinds of music and I just kinda wanted to be a part of that sphere.

♪ You're a gift to my heart today ♪ ♪ I think the spirits give offerings ♪ ♪There was wild rice flowers playing on my mind every time♪ ♪ I'd see you through the mirror ♪ Well, I moved to Madison, but every time I come to Milwaukee, I see how absolutely rich the scene is here.

It's so vibrant.

There's so many different artists.

There's so much more space for that.

And I see that the artist community here in Milwaukee is so connected to each other.

There's such comradery between artists in Milwaukee.

It's incredible ♪ You were the wild rice flower woman ♪ ♪ I saw you in my dreams ♪ My passion lies in giving people experiences, making people feel good, and I'm also an activist at heart.

My passion lies in reciprocity with the land and activism and social justice, goodwill and freedom for all peoples and a protection of our natural spaces.

♪ Feast on me tonight ♪ ♪ Feast on me tonight ♪ ♪ Tonight, tonight, tonight ♪ I want them to feel a connection to, a deeper connection to life and the earth.

I want them to feel that there's a magic to life, a magic to stories, and a magic to what we can create and a magic to being.

I want people to feel excited to be alive and to feel joy from the music.

♪ Crawl back in your hole, babe ♪ ♪ Yeah ♪ ♪ Yeah ♪ ♪ Yeah ♪