Leslie Bear (born 23 October 1990), professionally known as Long Beard is an Asian-American musician from

East Brunswick, New Jersey East Brunswick is a Township (New Jersey), township in Middlesex County, New Jersey, Middlesex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. The suburban bedroom community is part of the New York metropolitan area and is located on the southern sho ...

. She became a performing artist after joining the music scene in

New Brunswick New Brunswick is a Provinces and Territories of Canada, province of Canada, bordering Quebec to the north, Nova Scotia to the east, the Gulf of Saint Lawrence to the northeast, the Bay of Fundy to the southeast, and the U.S. state of Maine to ...

. Bear released her debut studio album, ''Sleepwalker'' in 2015. She subsequently performed the

bass guitar The bass guitar (), also known as the electric bass guitar, electric bass, or simply the bass, is the lowest-pitched member of the guitar family. It is similar in appearance and construction to an Electric guitar, electric but with a longer nec ...

for the band

Japanese Breakfast Japanese Breakfast is an American indie pop band from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, formed in 2013. The project is fronted by vocalist, guitarist and primary songwriter Michelle Zauner; she is joined in its current iteration by long-serving music ...

in 2017. Her second studio album ''Means to Me'' was released in 2019.

Life and career

Leslie Bear was born on 23 October 1990 and was raised in East Brunswick, New Jersey. Bear listened to '90s Cantopop and

Mandopop Mandopop or Mandapop refers to Mandarin popular music. The genre has its origin in the jazz-influenced popular music of 1930s Shanghai known as Shidaiqu; later influences came from Japanese enka, Hong Kong's Cantopop, Taiwan's Hokkien pop ...

musicians such as

Faye Wong Faye Wong ( zh, 王菲; pinyin: ''Wáng Fēi''; born 8 August 1969) is a Chinese singer-songwriter and actress. Early in her career, she briefly used the stage name Shirley Wong (). Born in Beijing, she moved to British Hong Kong at the age o ...

growing up. During her childhood, she would sing along to songs and recreate the melodies on a

keyboard Keyboard may refer to: Text input * Keyboard, part of a typewriter * Computer keyboard ** Keyboard layout, the software control of computer keyboards and their mapping ** Keyboard technology, computer keyboard hardware and firmware Music * Mus ...

before her mother offered to hire a piano tutor for her. At the age of fifteen, she began playing guitar after a friend let her borrow their Squier Stratocaster and later began learning the instrument after buying her own

Ibanez is a Japanese guitar brand owned by Hoshino Gakki. Based in Nagoya, Aichi Prefecture, Aichi, Japan, Hoshino Gakki was one of the first Japanese musical instrument companies to gain a significant foothold in import guitar sales in the United Stat ...

guitar. Bear first became interested in being a musician after she found the musical scene in the neighboring city of New Brunswick to be supportive of local acts. During this time, she began using the moniker Long Beard, stating it came from the name of a fictional wizard she created. She graduated from

Rutgers University Rutgers University ( ), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a Public university, public land-grant research university consisting of three campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's C ...

with a degree in

computer science Computer science is the study of computation, information, and automation. Computer science spans Theoretical computer science, theoretical disciplines (such as algorithms, theory of computation, and information theory) to Applied science, ...

and temporarily worked as a software developer before deciding to pursue music as a full-time career. In 2014, Bear released her debut extended play, ''Holy Crow''. She released the EP due to a desire to put herself "'out there.'"

Discography

Studio albums

Extended plays

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Beard, Long Musicians from New Brunswick, New Jersey American indie rock musicians Living people Team Love Records artists 1990 births