The sold-out crowd at the Bijou Theatre Friday night forgave Los Angeles-based Local Natives for taking so long to come to Knoxville — in fact, they forgot all about their absence once they started playing.
“We’re definitely coming back here,” guitarist and singer Taylor Rice said on stage.
The setlist for the concert consisted of songs from both of the band’s albums, 2011’s “Gorilla Manor” and 2012’s “Hummingbird.”
As the band played fan favorites like “Airplanes” and “You and I,” audience members crowded the stage, jumping and stomping their feet to the beats of the indie rock music.
Moses Sumney was the opener and has toured with the band since January. Although he played a short set comprised of only a few songs, the LA native proved his musical talents, using his voice as an instrument and looping his vocals live to great effect.
Managing Editor Melodi Erdogan talked to Kelcey Ayer of Local Natives before the show about collaboration, production on their two albums and details about their upcoming album.
Melodi Erdogan: Local Natives has been touring their last album, “Hummingbird,” for around a year and half now, is that correct?
Kelcey Ayer: We toured most of last year, and for this year we’ve only been going since the end of March. We had a few months off before that, but I’m feeling pretty refreshed, not totally tour cracked-out yet.
ME: So you guys have performed all across the state of Tennessee, including Memphis, Nashville and Manchester for Bonnaroo. According to my research you guys have not come to Knoxville?
KA: No, I don’t think we have ever come to Knoxville. It’s really awesome, we just got to see the venue and it’s a beautiful theater and it’s sold out. It’s such a great feeling.
ME: Does it make you nervous that you’re playing a sold out show in a city you’ve never toured before?
KA: I feel like when you’re in a new city, you don’t have any expectation. That really allows you to be free and unhinged by anything — like if you had played a show there in the past and it wasn’t so good, or it was amazing and you’ll never live up to it. When you get a new city it’s always really awesome because it’s a blank slate and you get to kind of just give it your all without overthinking it. The more nerves we get is if we’ve played somewhere at a show before, and it was really amazing and we have to live up to it, or it is a bigger market that we really love or a place that’s more home to us like L.A. or London or New York. We’ve played a ton of shows at this point so mainly it’s about focusing and not losing yourself.
ME: Does the set list ever change while on tour or is it always uniform?
KA: We have found something that works really well, so we use it for a lot of shows, but we’ll change out little things here and there. We try to make it a really well-oiled kind of thing so that it just feels really good for everyone there. It’s kind of the same.
ME: Does being on the road so often help or hurt the writing and production of new songs?
KA: It definitely is hard on the road, so it doesn’t help. But I guess in the way that it does help is that you’re kind of restricted and not able to be as free and creative as you would be at home or just with the other guys in the studio. It really kind of adds energy where as soon as you get on tour you’re in this flow and have this yearning to be creative. A lot of really great stuff happens after the tour I think, and it helps in that way.
ME: So is it like finding a balance with everything that’s going on?
KA: You’re making records and touring them, but once you’ve made a record at a certain point, you’re just so dying to get on the road. That energy is really great for playing live but toward the end of the year when you’ve done a hundred shows, you’re really ready to get back in the studio and stop playing and that energy really helps the recording process.
ME: How would you describe the differences between your first album and your second album?
KA: I think the first record we were just really excited to play music together, and we wanted to sell out a local venue in LA, not even that, just get booked at one. So, when you have that kind of mentality you’re really free from overthinking anything and free from any expectations and I think it makes for a really free sounding album, kind of light. The second album definitely felt a lot heavier, not only because we were being watched – which we tried to ignore – but also because we knew that a second record, after the first one is doing really well, can definitely make or break a band.That tension was there, but it was unsaid… It was never something we wanted to focus on because that’s not going to help anything. But then my mother passed away in 2011 at the beginning of this writing process and a lot of us had relationship issues and health issues. It was a darker, heavier time but it kind of made for a heavier record. I think we’ve gone through so much that I think this next record, everyone’s really excited to see, to feel really positive again and really good again and feel really optimistic. I think it’s definitely a good chance of being a brighter record for this next one.
ME: You have known Taylor and Ryan for quite a while now, is that correct?
KA: We’ve been singing and playing together for 10 years now. Me, Taylor and Ryan.
ME: How does the relationship you have with Taylor and Ryan reflect in your music?
KA: I’ve got to imagine that the music has closeness to it as a result of us being together for so long. It’s always so hard to describe the relationship of being in a band to someone because it’s like taking a coworker and you’re working all the time and you live together and you’re also really good friends. It’s like all these things mixed in a pot that definitely makes for some interesting dynamics – really good friends, but then you need space, but then they’re like brothers to you. It’s like this crazy thing that at times can be really difficult to manage but I think everyone’s in a really good place right now. No matter what kinds of disagreements we have – and we definitely have a lot because everyone is really opinionated – we’ll still be able to laugh and enjoy each other’s company. I think that’s really important so I think we’re always trying to circumvent that and being as close as you can be to another person without sleeping with each other.
ME: There are a lot of young, talented performers in Knoxville looking to make it big. What advice would you give to aspiring musicians who are looking to make it local, national and international like Local Natives did?
KA: Really get songs right, and then play live as much as you can. I mean, we really did everything ourselves when we started out. If you think someone else is going to flip on some switch that’s going to help you in some huge way, it’s just not true. You definitely need to do everything yourself until you can’t do it yourself. It’s really just DIY, and if people aren’t listening to you, you just got to figure out something else. With everything on the Internet and everything you can do yourself, you might as well not have to be holding onto some record label or cost promoter. You can just do shit yourself.
ME: So, you enjoy trying things that aren’t necessarily in the whole daily routine? Like doing a cover with other artists and long form music videos?
KA: It’s always really refreshing to step outside of the weightiness of playing songs and doing something more fun like doing a cover or working with someone else or working on a remix of something. I think it’s even healthy to find other ways to creatively express yourself besides the band. But still, with the band.
