The Interview: Local Natives

If you read my posts on here you have no doubt heard me mention Local Natives, and if you know me in real life I have more than likely dragged you to one of their gigs or made you go to one near you. I am unashamed in my love for this band, and so when their lovely PR lady gave me the chance to catch up with Kelcey (vocals, keys, drums, guitar), Andy (bass, vocals) and Matt (drums) from the band I jumped at the chance.

And so before their sell out Shepherds Bush Empire show in London, I found myself sitting in an empty backstage bar, with these lovely boys and their pre-show food, chatting about music, their home state of California, and Guinness.

Lets start with that age old question, musical influences?

Kelcey: It’s kind of different for everybody. Everyone is a songwriter in the group so we all have our own influences. We have Zombies and Beach Boys influences coming through on the vocals and harmonies. CSNY is definitely a factor for writing. And we enjoy newer bands that do harmonies in different ways, for instance we are all huge Animal Collective fans. And then big bands like Broken Social Scene who have a big wallop sound.

Matt: Yeah thats kind of like a general all encompassing idea of us, where we meet in the middle. If we had to all five choose those would be good options. But otherwise you could go to the recently played songs on any one of our iTunes and they will probably all be different.

How did you all get into music? How did you start playing as a band?

Matt: Well Kelcey, Ryan and Taylor have been playing together in some form or another for close to 8 years now. Taylor and Ryan met in Junior High, and then they met Kelcey at a neighbouring highschool. They kind of all grew up in the same similar area of Orange County. So they’ve been playing together for a while, singing together. Then Andy came into the mix about five and a half years ago through a mutual friend and then I joined about 4 and a half years ago. It was a different name and slightly different music when we all came together almost 5 years ago but I guess it’s kind of evolved into what it is now.

Kelcey: When we started we would play together and were trying to figure out what kind of sound we were gonna be and we were doing college and jobs, so had one foot in and one foot out kinda deal. So it was about a year and a half or two years ago when we wrote some songs and thought we would be able to do this as a career. So thats when Local Natives started really.

How did you get into playing music in the first place? What made you first pick up a guitar or drum sticks or whatever?

Matt: None of us are classically trained, we all just started dabbling in our own ways. For me, my Dad played bass so I was always surrounded in some way or another with musical people. I tried multiple instruments before I started playing drums but drums just stuck with me and I’ve been playing now since I was in Junior High. I think Kelcey had a similar thing with your Dad right?

Kelcey: Yeah, my Dad played guitar and sang, so he’d always play like early Beatles songs and Peter, Paul and Mary folk songs and stuff when I was growing up. I think that’s definitely where I got my stuff from.

Who are your underrated artists or ones to watch? Anyone we should go and check out?

Kelcey: We really like this band Bear in Heaven. Have you heard much of them? I think thats a record that we all have been listening to a lot in the last year. Some friends of mine from LA are in a band called Pepper Rabbit that I think are wonderful. They’re gonna release something a little later this year but I definitely think you should check them out.

Matt: Yeah Bear in Heaven is one that we have all been listening to. I can’t think of any more off the top of my head.

Can you tell us about a day in the life of Local Natives? On tour or back home, even though it seems you guys have been on tour forever!

Matt: Yeah it seems like the days at home are few and far between these days, which is fine as we love touring. We’ve been on the road pretty much since the album came out. We just spent about seven weeks touring in the US. We are just constantly on the road playing shows.

Got any good tour stories to share? Or that you shouldn’t share?

Kelcey: We just started this tour so we don’t have any stories yet I don’t think.

Matt: We spent from January to the middle of March touring out here, the UK and a lot of Europe. It was a really cold winter apparently? And a lot of really chaotic scenarios getting to venues happened because road conditions were horrible. We were in Sweden and our van broke down so we had to take a train across country and the train in front of us derailed and it was just a clusterfuck for like seventy two hours.

Did you make it to the gig?

Matt: We did! We made it within like thirty minutes of our set time but we did.

Kelcey There was this long line out of the venue and we rolled up and I’m carrying my keyboard through the snow and everyone’s like “They made it!”

Matt: It was amazing. Even tough it was hectic I look back on it now and it makes that time that much more meaningful I guess, in a weird way.

So you guys released your album, Gorilla Manor, in the UK first and are now getting more noticed by the US press like Pitchfork. How come you released here first and how are you managing being at different points in your career in the two countries?

Matt: Well it all stemmed from when we played South by South West in 2009. We went into that having just started playing as Local Natives and our record wasn’t even done so we just had a five song sampler we were passing out at shows. You kind of always expect, being an American band, that naturally you would grow from the inside out. We always wanted to tour in the UK and Europe but never would have thought it would happen so soon you know?

But we played 9 songs at the festival and we started to notice that we were meeting a lot of people from the UK and it seemed like people were really taking a liking to it and they brought it back over here. I think about four months later we were playing our first gig over here, actually it was this venue, we opened for Of Montreal. It just progressed a lot more quickly over here.

Do you feel you are less well known in the States now or has it evened out?

Kelcey: To our surprise it has caught up and even surpassed it over in the US which has been amazing to see. When the album dropped there a lot of people really got into it. It’s been so good to see it grow. We’ve been touring there since November of 2008 on the West Coast, just playing and playing and playing. We pretty much worked the record which wasn’t out for a year and a half and then it came out and it’s been great.

If you could do a duet or collaborate with any musician, alive or dead, who would it be?

Matt: That’s a big question. There’s a lot of really influential people out there.

Kelcey: I’d love to write a song with George Harrison. The few times he was given a chance to speak in the Beatles it’s incredible stuff. That would be pretty cool.

Andy: I’m not too picky really, but I’d love to write with Prince. That’s a good one. We were talking about Prince earlier so that would be cool.

Kelcey: He’s going to play a festival this summer we are playing. Roskilde in Denmark.

You guys are playing a lot of festivals this summer aren’t you?

Matt: Yeah we are basically playing festivals all summer.

What is your favourite type of venue to play or dream venue?

Matt Being from LA I’ve always wanted to play the Hollywood Bowl. I’ve seen a couple of shows there. I remember Kelcey and I saw LCD Soundsystem and Arcade Fire a couple of years ago. I think it was probably the first time I’d ever been there and it was amazing. It’s such an incredible venue. Favourite venue I have ever played? To be honest it is probably this venue, having played here before. Even as an opening band with no soundcheck it still sounded amazing on stage. The acoustics are amazing, the people are so close to you and it’s just so beautiful.

So where do you see Local Natives in five years? What is the plan?

Matt: Hopefully touring as much as possible and working on our third, fourth, fifth record. Wherever we are at we are just happy e are finally able to do this as our jobs. As long as it just keeps growing naturally and progressing and we are able to keep doing this then we’re happy.

For the uninitiated, can you describe the sound of Local Natives for us? I have tried and am not sure I have done you justice.

Matt: Yeah we find that one hard as well.

Kelcey: I don’t know. If you like voices and you like drums you’ll probably dig it in some way, in some form.

Andy: I hate drums! Drums? No way!

Matt: It’s very harmony laden, percussion driven indie rock

Andy: Yeah you got it.

That’s a pretty good description I’d say. Ok, last question and it’s a silly one. Your favourite food or drink, or favourite restaurant?

Matt: (to Kelcey): I know what you’re going to say

Kelcey: What?

Matt: Cafe Stella

Kelcey: Oh! I feel like maybe I’d have to frequent a place more than once to say it’s a favourite but there is this place in Silver Lake called Cafe Stella and nothing has really lived up to it since, but I’ve only been there once. It’s really good

Matt: Dude, I’m afraid to go there. I feel like it’s going to be a let down cause it’s been hyped so much.

Andy: I’ve been there a couple of times and it’s pretty good, but I personally wouldn’t put it at the top. Pizza is my favourite food, and what was the other bit? Favourite drink? Guinness.

You’d be a good Brit with those choices

Andy: I’d probably fit in anywhere in the world with that combo.

Kelcey: When we first came over here we’d never had cider. Cider in the States is almost non existent, people just don’t drink it. But here it’s maybe 50% drinking cider and 50% beer. But I like this drink I hear is kind of a girlish drink, Snakebite? But I love them! (Brit note: Snakebite is a pint of half lager, half cider)

Matt: I remember when someone first introduced us to Snakebite and we didn’t know it was seen as girly. The next time we were in a bar we were like “we should get some snakebite” and the barman pulled us aside and told us off for ordering it.

The three of us are probably the beer drinkers in the band anyway.

Kelcey: I really like local brews in beer of we can get them, the IPAs and stuff.

And so I left the boys to get ready for their gig, with promises to meet at Glastonbury for pizza and guinness. The gig was amazing and we were lucky enough to be invited to their after party. It is rare to meet such a lovely and talented bunch of blokes, and I wish them every success, not just because I selfishly want many more Local Natives albums in my collection.

Gorilla Manor is out in the UK and US now, and the boys can be caught at all manner of festivals this summer. Check their myspace for more details