LA-based band Local Natives released their debut album in the UK in November to widespread critical acclaim. A few weeks ago, as the band’s UK tour drew to a close, guitarist and vocalist Ryan Hahn spoke to Live4ever to discuss, amongst other things, the British weather, being a SXSW sensation, and rethinking their living arrangements:
Live4ever: Hi there, thanks for taking the time out to speak to Live4ever – The Britrock Daily.
Well we may as well begin with a proper British moan about the weather! You arrived in the UK during of one of our coldest winters in years, how long did it take before you stopped missing the California sun? Maybe you still are!
Ryan Hahn: I’d be lying if I said we weren’t missing sunshine and Mexican food at this very moment. I guess it’s all a bit relative, we pretty much started this tour in Scandinavia and that was the absolute coldest I’d ever been. By this point, the UK feels like a cakewalk.
L4E: Could you take a moment to introduce our readers to your band, and tell us how you all met.
RH: We’re called Local Natives and we’re from Los Angeles. There’s Kelcey, Taylor and myself who sing and play keyboard and guitars. Andy and Matt play bass and drums respectively and do most of our artwork. Taylor and I met about 10 years ago in junior high school and started playing guitar together. We formed a band in high school with Kelcey. Andy and Matt joined us a little more than 4 years ago through friends of friends. About a year and a half ago we all decided to put everything else aside and focus on this band. That’s when we started calling ourselves Local Natives.
L4E: So you’re right in the middle of a UK tour at the moment. Is this your first visit to Britain?
RH: I was actually born here, in Portsmouth, and I’ve been twice since. But for the band this is our fourth visit.
L4E: How has the tour been going? What’s been your favourite gig so far?
RH: Its been incredible really. We just played Leeds for the first time last night and it was sold out, people singing along and getting rowdy. It was a lot of fun.
L4E: After the tour you’ll be returning to the US for the SXSW Festival in March. You’ve become known as one of the real success stories of last year’s event, it sounded like an amazing experience with a lot of great memories. As well as gaining a lot of new fans, do you think you emerged from it as a much stronger group?
RH: I’d say so. We’d been working so hard leading up to SXSW that it felt like we were starting to see some of the fruits of our labor. Even though we were completely exhausted, the van ride home was a really gratifying one.
L4E: There seems to be a real independent streak at the heart of the band, what with a self-funded album and designing your own artwork etc, and you gained a lot of attention while still un-signed. Did this independence stop you rushing into a deal that maybe wasn’t right and help to make sure you chose the right label?
RH: I think so. We decided a long time ago that the only people who were going to make this happen were the 5 of us.
L4E: And what made you settle on Infectious Records?
RH: Korda Marshall, the owner, has been in both the indie and major label worlds and has an insane amount of experience and success. More importantly, when he sat down with us back in July we realized off the bat that he shared our passion and vision for our band and that ultimately we could trust him.
L4E: New record ‘Gorilla Manor‘ was released last November in the UK. How did the album take shape – are you the type of band who’ll write in the studio and end up with a whole new batch of songs, or were you already settled on most of the tracks before you began recording?
RH: Since it was our first time doing any proper recording, the whole process was new to us. We didn’t have the money or equipment to tinker in the studio so we spent a few months demoing out most of the songs in our practice space and trying them out live. That said, we did end up going back and adding more songs a few months after the initial recording session. Those songs were “Wide Eyes”, “Shape Shifter”, “Sticky Thread” and the cover version of “Warning Sign”.
Wide Eyes
L4E: ‘Gorilla Manor’ is a fantastic debut, but is there anything you would change about it? Were you all completely satisfied when you finished the sessions?
RH: There’s always things that I’m going to wish we’d played differently or recorded differently or mixed differently but I guess that’s just how it goes. There was definitely a sense of pride and accomplishment when we’d finished recording it and that sense has gradually overtaken any anxieties or regrets I might have had.
L4E: Since the release a lot of reviews have likened your sound to that of Fleet Foxes and Arcade Fire. Does it become annoying to be constantly linked to the same bands, or do you find comparisons with such well-recieved groups can encourage people to check your stuff out?
RH: I try not to concern myself with all that too much. Of course its annoying to hear people try to make a formula out of your music but I’m confident in our songs and I want people to hear them, however they might discover them.
L4E: You all share a house back home in L.A. Now that you’re out on the road a lot as well are you expecting anyone to be packing up their things when they get home because you all need a break from each other!?
RH: Well, Andy and Taylor have already moved out to live with their girlfriends. The rest of us are keeping the house but I’m sure everyone will take some much needed time apart when we get home. We love each other, but it’s only natural to take a break.
L4E: As mentioned, you’ll be leaving the UK in March, what are the future plans for the band? When can we expect you to be back?
RH:The album has only just been released in the US so we’re going to tour over there and play our first festivals in the States. We come back to London in June for a show at Shepherd’s Bush Empire, which we’re all stoked about because it’ll be the biggest show we’ve ever headlined. From there we were throwing around the idea of getting a flat in London because we’ll be around most of the summer for festival season. The general goal is pretty simple – tour as much as possible and write more songs.
L4E: …and finally, what was the last song that you skipped on your iPod?
RH: I just skipped ‘You Can Call Me Al’ even though I love that song.
Local Natives return to the SXSW Festival this week, and will be on tour in the US throughout April and May. Dates are listed on their Myspace page at www.myspace.com/localnatives
(Dave Smith)
