Chaz Bundick

Biography

Chazwick Bradley Bundick, later known as Chaz Bear, was born on November 7, 1986, in Columbia, South Carolina, to a Filipino mother and African-American father.[2][7] He grew up surrounded by a wide range of music at home, from Michael Jackson to Elvis Costello, and began playing and recording original material in his preteen years.[6][9] While attending Ridge View High School, he formed the indie rock band The Heist and the Accomplice with classmates, and he continued developing his sound while studying graphic design at the University of South Carolina, where he graduated with a BFA in 2009.[3][6][7] During college he also forged a close musical relationship with Ernest Greene (Washed Out), one of several peers who would later be associated with the same emerging aesthetic.[7]

Under the solo project name Toro y Moi—an invented multilingual phrase combining Spanish and French—Bundick began issuing dreamy, bedroom-recorded material as early as the mid‑2000s, self-releasing numerous albums before signing to Carpark Records in 2009.[2][5][6] His debut label LP, "Causers of This" (2010), built from samples and soft synths in Reason, was widely linked to the nascent chillwave movement, even as he framed it as a personal, breakup-oriented work more rooted in R&B, pop, and hip‑hop production.[1][5][6][7] He quickly pivoted stylistically with "Underneath the Pine" (2011), recorded with live instruments and drawing on horror soundtracks, space disco, and European film composers, then folded '90s dance, deep house, and R&B into "Anything in Return" (2013).[1] Later albums such as "What For?" (2015), "Boo Boo" (2017), "Outer Peace" (2019), and beyond moved fluidly through guitar-driven indie rock, funk, disco, pop, and electronic experiments, while his Les Sins alias and collaborations allowed him to explore club music and left-field beats.[1][6][7]

By the late 2010s and early 2020s, Toro y Moi had come to be recognized as both an early standard-bearer of chillwave and a restlessly eclectic producer whose work transcends that label.[1][7] His collaborative album "Star Stuff" with jazz duo The Mattson 2 topped the Billboard Contemporary Jazz chart and underscored his reach beyond indie and electronic scenes, while his Grammy-nominated single "The Difference" with Flume further cemented his status in contemporary electronic and pop music.[1] Across his catalogue, Bear’s blend of synth-pop, psychedelia, funk, and R&B, guided by a visual sensibility informed by his design background, has influenced a generation of genre-blurring artists and helped normalize the fluid, home‑studio‑driven approach that defines much 2010s and 2020s alternative music.[4][5][6][7]

Fun Facts

• The name "Toro y Moi" is a made-up multilingual phrase combining the Spanish words "toro" (bull) and "y" (and) with the French word "moi" (me), reflecting Bear’s interest in language and design rather than any direct cultural origin.[2]
• Before signing with Carpark Records, Bear had already self-released more than ten Toro y Moi albums, treating the project as an informal, almost hobby-like outlet while quietly building a large catalogue.[5][6]
• He studied and earned a degree in graphic design, and that visual training informs the distinct, cohesive aesthetic of his album artwork, merch, and overall presentation.[3][6][7]
• In 2016 he filmed a full live concert, "Live from Trona," with no audience in the Mojave Desert’s Trona Pinnacles, turning a one-day shoot among rock formations into both a concert film and live album.[1]

Musical Connections

Mentors/Influences

• Michael Jackson - Early listening at home that shaped his feel for pop, rhythm, and melody; cited among the diverse artists played in his household growing up. (General exposure rather than specific songs or albums publicly emphasized.) [Childhood and preteen years[6][9]]
• Elvis Costello - Part of the eclectic listening environment in his family home, contributing to his sense of songwriting and genre mixing. (No specific titles cited; referenced as a formative artist heard around the house.) [Childhood and preteen years[6][9]]
• My Bloody Valentine - Cited as a discovery that informed early Toro y Moi work, especially in terms of texture and hazy, layered sound design. (Influence heard particularly in early bedroom recordings and the sonic palette around "Causers of This.") [Mid‑2000s through the making of his early albums[6]]
• J Dilla - Named as a key influence on his production approach, particularly rhythm, swing, and sample-based composition. (Influence permeates early Toro y Moi material and his beat-driven, hip‑hop‑adjacent tracks.) [Mid‑2000s onward as he developed his producer identity[6]]
• French house producers (general) - Bear has mentioned a growing interest in French house, shaping his sense of groove, filtering, and dance-floor-oriented production. (Reflected broadly in his early electronic/chillwave-era output rather than in one named release.) [Late 2000s and early 2010s during the formation of Toro y Moi’s sound[6]]
• Piero Umiliani and François de Roubaix - Film composers whose soundtracks informed the cinematic, space-disco, and atmospheric feel of "Underneath the Pine." (Inspirational reference points for the textures and moods on "Underneath the Pine.") [Around the writing and recording of "Underneath the Pine" (circa 2010–2011)[1]]

Key Collaborators

• The Mattson 2 - Jazz duo with whom he created a fully collaborative album blending jazz, psych, and Toro y Moi’s melodic sensibility. (Album "Star Stuff" (2017), which reached #1 on the Billboard Contemporary Jazz chart, plus joint live tours mixing "Star Stuff" and Toro y Moi material.) [2016–2017 and associated touring period[1]]
• Flume - Electronic producer with whom Bear co‑created a drum & bass‑inspired single that crossed over into mainstream recognition. ("The Difference" (2020), nominated for a Grammy Award.) [Late 2019–2020[1]]
• Washed Out (Ernest Greene) - Peer and close musical associate from his university years; another leading figure of chillwave whose work and scene overlapped heavily with Toro y Moi. (Shared shows and scene affiliation; also appeared on the mixtape "Samantha.") [Late 2000s onward, especially around the early chillwave era[1][7]]
• Rome Fortune - Rapper featured on Bear’s hip‑hop-oriented mixtape work. (Collaborations on "Samantha" (2015) mixtape.) [Circa 2015[1]]
• Washed Out (as guest on "Samantha") - Featured collaborator bringing chillwave/bedroom-pop sensibilities into Bear’s more hip‑hop-inflected mixtape. (Guest appearance on the "Samantha" mixtape.) [2015[1]]
• Phoenix, Caribou, The Ruby Suns (touring associations) - Bands for whom Toro y Moi opened early in his touring career, helping place him within an international indie and electronic touring circuit. (Shared tours following the release of "Causers of This.") [2010 and early 2010s[1]]

Artists Influenced

• Washed Out and Neon Indian (scene peers often grouped with him) - While primarily contemporaries, Toro y Moi is frequently cited as a spearhead of chillwave alongside these artists, helping codify the genre’s sound and aesthetics that younger acts later emulated. (The early impact of "Causers of This" and subsequent albums helped define the chillwave template that influenced later producers and bands.) [2010s onward as chillwave’s influence spread in indie and electronic music[1][7]]
• Younger chillwave/bedroom-pop and neo-psychedelic artists (general) - Critics and histories of the genre credit Toro y Moi’s early synth-pop and lo‑fi experiments with shaping the sound and approach of subsequent DIY producers working from home studios. (Influence most directly traced to "Causers of This" and "Underneath the Pine," which are frequently referenced in discussions of chillwave’s legacy.) [2010s–2020s as new artists cite and expand on his style[1][4][7]]

Discography

Albums

Top Tracks

1. FUCKING YOUNG / PERFECT (feat. Charlie Wilson, Chaz Bundick, Sydney Bennett & Kali Uchis) (Cherry Bomb)
2. FUCKING YOUNG / PERFECT (feat. Charlie Wilson, Chaz Bundick, Sydney Bennett & Kali Uchis) (Cherry Bomb + Instrumentals)
3. RUN (feat. Chaz Bundick & ScHoolboy Q) (Cherry Bomb)
4. JBS (Star Stuff)
5. RUN (feat. Chaz Bundick & ScHoolboy Q) (Cherry Bomb + Instrumentals)
6. Don't Blame Yourself (Star Stuff)
7. JBS (Star Stuff)
8. Star Stuff (Star Stuff)
9. Lovely (Trance Zen Dental Spa)
10. Sonmoi (Star Stuff)

External Links

• Spotify
• Wikipedia
• MusicBrainz