Local Natives : Interview

You could be forgiven for thinking musically LA is all about soundtracking empty vessel TV shows like The (sadly now defunct) OC and The (shamefully addictive) Hills.  But scratch a little below the shallow surface and aside from jingly jangly easy on the ears indie-pop, hip hop, punk and even third wave ska have prominent representation from artists across the West Coast of America.  FACT.

But more specifically (thus continues the lesson) the district of Silver Lake has become the center of the alternative and indie rock scene in Los Angeles.  With its hipster inhabitants and notable muso names residing there, it seems only right that comparisons have been drawn to NYC and its borough of Williamsburg.  Why, you ask, is this relevant? Well, it’s not really, except to set the scene for the subjects of this interview; a band amongst the Silver Lake clique, who wowed the hoards of industry hacks at this years SXSW, are about to release their debut LP Gorilla Manor and have just come off of the highly publicised NME Radar Tour. 

Yes dear reader, we are of course talking about Local Natives whose brand of exquisite textured indie-folk is both inspired by soulful harmonising and driven by an amalgamation of tribal rhythmic structures and climactic drums.  Furthermore their song crafting itself is both beautiful and meticulous; the lyrics that when delivered by the multiple vocalists convey such intimacy and depth, yet with a vivacity that makes Local Natives an energising must see in the live environment.

Now signed to bespoke independent label Infectious records, their originally self-produced and self-funded (aided by a parental cash injection) record has found the right home.  And as comparisons to Fleet Foxes, Arcade Fire and Vampire Weekend are flung their way, Local Natives are setting the bar high for new music in the States and over here.

We chatted with Local Natives at the Hawley Arms while they nursed serious hangovers and we marveled at the nice paint job that Camden’s (wannabe) hipster haunt has had since that fire. No sign of Johnny Borrell thank god.

Local Natives are: Matt Frazier (drums), Andy Hamm (bassist), Ryan Hahn (guitar, vocals), Taylor Rice (vocals, guitar), Kelcey Ayer (vocals, keyboards).

4TR: Local Natives, welcome to the UK! You have been a band for about 3 years, but were previously known as Cavil At Rest – why did you change the name?

Ryan: I think since the beginning we have been trying to figure out what we wanted to be musically and then about a year ago we kind of finally formulated what we felt was the Local Natives sound.

Taylor: Yeah it was all really based around that, everything coalesced and we kind of all decided to make the band our first priority. We had moved in together, wrote the album and then when we started recording it was coming out completely different to what we had done previously, but it was pretty awesome, so we said its time to start a fresh as Local Natives.  [Laughing] And that’s what we did last summer.

4TR: The album Gorilla Manor was made and funded by you before you went and secured label support.  Was that because you wanted to retain complete creative freedom to figure out the bands potential?

Ryan: Yeah I think it was just a natural progression kind of thing for us.  We'd all been putting aside jobs and stuff and had been writing a whole lot and just knew that we wanted to get an album out because we had never done that before, so we just borrowed some money and hunkered down and tried to record the songs as cheaply as possible.  The whole thing was done over 6 weeks because we just wanted to get it out there I suppose and just make the music we liked.

4TR: So the last 12 months have been pivotal in the history of Local Natives in terms of getting the sound right.  And then you were promoted massively by this years SXSW when you played 9 shows.  Were you prepared for the buzz that was created about you after that?

Taylor: No way, like we had no idea because we heard that it’s just so crazy there with so many bands playing that we were expecting not to get noticed at all, so to compensate we thought it would be good to play as many shows as possible.  We were really worried about people in the States and trying to break over there, but then to have all these people talking about us in Europe was a huge deal.

Ryan: South By was crazy; we had no idea what to expect and would play a show and then like run across the street and play another one. The whole thing was so much fun. 

4TR: Gorilla Manor was recorded at the end of last year right?

Andy: Yeah mostly but its been sort of in pieces; we did the majority of it about 9 months ago but since then because we had done it all ourselves we had a chance to listen to certain songs and either cut them or redo them.  Plus we then added 3 new songs just a month ago.

4TR: Was the entire record a collaborative effort, in terms of songwriting - both lyrics and music?

Matt: Yeah we’re extremely collaborative to the point of every last detail. Like there are some definite downsides to being that kind of band in the creative process because it takes us a long time to hash through ideas but at the same time we create something that none of us could have made on our own. 

Ryan: And we know that at the end of the day we’re all going to be happier with it because everyone put their input in, its not just one person dictating it you know like take it or leave it.  That means everyone can be excited about it.

Video for 'Camera Talk' : Out 19th October 2009

4TR: So with it being so collaborative and also self-produced, I imagine it was very hard at times to put songs down and leave it alone.

Andy: [Laughing] Oh god its near impossible; even to this point I will be riding in the van listening back and being like damn we should have changed this part, but that’s just how it is and you are always going to be your worst critic.

4TR: Why did you call it Gorilla Manor?

Ryan: We all live together in LA and it was kind of the name we gave the house because there was always so much crazy shit going on. Plus we wrote the majority of all the songs in that environment so we thought it was a fitting name for the album.

4TR: You took a while to figure out the right sound for Local Natives, but in how would you describe that in your own words?

Kelcey: Yeah it was a long incubation period for the band to be able to get to this point where now we know each other and the common threads we gravitate towards and so I think it’s a really communal kind of sound.  It sounds like its from 5 different minds and we latch onto lots of tribal types of rhythms, plus the harmonies and melodies are the 2 probably strongest threads in our music that we all kind of gravitate towards.

4TR: And is that sound easy to translate into the live environment?

Taylor: It’s actually the opposite; it’s a lot more difficult to get it right on recordings because it’s such a live type of sound, especially with the intricate drum work.

4TR: We have heard certain tracks and they all seem to gravitate towards a prominent live sound really successfully!

Ryan: That's so great to hear because that is what we were trying to go for on the record.

Andy: Yeah and it was really hard because we are just really picky of the recordings.  One of the main goals when we went into this was for it to sound very natural in that live setting, but I guess that we are always so picky that sometimes when we listen back we don’t hear that, so it’s awesome that you hear do because it means we have accomplished something.

4TR: What is a Local Natives live show like?

Andy: It sounds cheesy but we do put our all into it every night, so we get people saying it’s a very energetic show, especially ‘cos we are all trading instruments through the show.

Ryan: I think what separates us from maybe other bands where the vocals are at the forefront is the percussive tribal energy underneath it, so it’s really participatory.

Taylor: And I think its actually beneficial that I don’t think people will come to the show and say oh it sounded exactly like the album, I think it will give people a different look at it.

Ryan: At the same time you hope people wont be disappointed by hearing the album where we didn’t really go with a ton of production, so you’re not going to come and be like oh it wasn’t as good as the album because where it was the giant string horn or super thing that made that song for me.  I think our songs really live in the live setting so I hope that’s a strength for us.

4TR: You are now signed to Infectious Records, but what was it about that label that made you want to work with them?

Taylor: I think the main thing was the passion that Korda Marshall at Infectious had; you know he was just so adamant and passionate about signing us.  It is really important that we’re a band that wants to be doing this for a really, really long time so we only want to be working with people that really believe in us as a band and our music and that we are a band with a career and he definitely proved that.

Kelcey: [Laughing] and his daughter told us she is sick of our songs because he plays them all the time, so I guess that kind of shows he is into what we do and that he’s in it for all the right reasons.

4TR: You are part of this years NME Radar tour along with Golden Silvers, Marina and The Diamonds and Yes Giantess. Excited?

Kelcey: [Laughing] Very excited clearly.

Ryan: Yeah we’re just hoping it’s going to be like a carnival kind of thing, where everyone is just friends and hanging out; a big family I guess.

Andy: It’s seriously a dream come true, we have high hopes and are really proud of the album and think its going to do well, but already at this point we are on cloud nine. Just the fact that we are here and people are actually talking to us is just amazing.

Kelcey: You know you work so hard hounding people to talk to about the band, so to actually have people contacting us is just amazing. [Laughing] Especially when my mom is trying to get me to go back to school and I am constantly saying no!

4TR: Zane Lowe loves you guys and there has been some great radio pick up of Local Natives music.  Has that surprised you?

Andy: Well you see we didn’t know what to expect because in the states radio is shit, but over here we didn’t have a clue. So it was really cool that people were playing it because they had just found it naturally from word of mouth and with that in mind it was just awesome that those djs took a chance on us from being a nothing band.

Taylor:  Yeah its good for us, like we don’t want to be a flash in the pan you know, because a lot of people can write off buzz bands. But we're hoping to play good shows and live up to everything that has been said about us and hopefully people will see that.

4TR: Lyrically speaking where are you guys coming from?

Ryan: Man that’s such a varied question because literally it’s coming from all these different minds.

Andy: It’s a song-by-song process, so there’s not like one uniformed method that we have tried to put across in this album especially because some of the songs were written so long ago, and some were written just 8 weeks ago.

Kelcey: But as far as lyrical content is concerned I think we just all like to say something and have some sort of meaning or substance to what we are doing.

Matt: Yeah there’s no like throw away lyrics like baby baby baby…there is a lot more going on in there.

4TR: In terms of back home in LA, there doesn’t seem to be a cohesive sound going on, so where do you think you fit in if at all?

Andy: Yeah like you said there’s no big scenes going on in the states and in LA; you know we have our network of friends in bands and stuff but there’s not really like one cohesive sound going on.

Ryan: And that’s quite hard from an artists perspective I think. 

Andy: Well we feel like it’s a good thing that we’re not being immediately lumped in with something, because our influences and our songs do vary quite a bit so it’s good that we’re not considered one type of band.

4TR: And finally, after the NME tour and the album what is happening next?

Taylor: Well as soon as we get back to the States we do CMJ in New York, then a tour with a band called White Rabbits on the West Coast and then a big national tour after that.  

Ryan: And next year I think we are going to spend a lot of time here in the UK, I mean its all just starting to be formulated but we are planning on never being home [laughs]. 

Words: Francesca Strange

Images: Gareth Jackson www.jacksonfoto.com

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