It’s been quite a 2013 for Local Natives. After a shuffle in the band lineup and the untimely death of band member Kelcey Ayer’s mother, they regrouped and kicked off the year with their solemn and stunning sophomore effort “Hummingbird”, an album that almost cracked the Billboard Top 10 albums on its opening week, immensely expanding their fan base. Since then, the L.A. foursome has been touring nonstop in support of “Hummingbird”, playing from Tokyo to Chicago, and everywhere in-between. I caught up with lead guitarist and vocalist Taylor Rice and drummer Matt Frazier hours before they rocked the Red Bull stage at Lollapalooza to chat about how far they’ve come and what lies ahead for Local Natives.   

Q:  You guys have been everywhere this year, touring all the big festivals. Can you give me the low down on the best/worst things about festival season?

Matt: I’d say the best is the fact that we get to have a three month long summer camp for dudes in bands, and we’ve gotten to play some really amazing festivals all around the world with some artists we really love.

Taylor: Tell him about Fuji Rock.

Matt: Oh Fuji Rock, we played in Japan. I had never seen NIN before, and this was their first show back. It was literally a drenching downpour, lightning streaking across the sky; it was pretty insane and amazing.

Q: What about the worst part Taylor? Anything you despise?

Taylor: I can’t say that I really despise anything. The only thing is that for a band often you’re doing three to four festivals a week sometimes. Like, we went and played Glastonbury, and we were only there for maybe five hours, so that was a total bummer because that festival is so incredible and we only played our show and got out of there, so, that can be kind of a hard thing, traveling across the globe to get to one place, and leaving right away.

Q: When you guys get days off between festivals, do you guys get to be tourists? What are some of the best non-performance moments from this tour?

Matt: It’s rare that we get a chance to be total tourists, but I think the most touristy thing we’ve done recently was we went to Normandy in France, where D-Day happened, and seeing that in person was an incredible experience.

Taylor: Yeah, it was on the fourth of July, which was pretty weird too. It was kind of intense, but it definitely amazing.

Q: The last time you guys played Lollapalooza in 2011, you were still working on “Hummingbird”. How did that album all come together?

Taylor: We built our own little studio out in L.A., and we recorded ourselves for about eight months, and that’s where we wrote most of the record. Towards the end of that period we went on tour with The National, and that’s where we met Aaron. (Aaron Dessner, member of The National and producer for “Hummingbird”) We just kind of became fast friends, and then I don’t think any of us expected it, but a little later we thought, ‘How bout we get Aaron to help us make this record?’ He was super psyched on the idea and we really clicked immediately. So we recorded the record in Montreal for a few weeks, and then in Aaron’s studio, which is in his backyard in Brooklyn.

Q: What was Aaron’s influence on “Hummingbird”? That record is based off of very solemn experiences for the band, how did he guide you through that?

Matt: I think the biggest thing Aaron added to the record, was that on our one recording experience for our first album, everything was totally flushed out before we went into the studio. So there wasn’t that much experimentation. It was sort of more, ‘Ok we have these parts, we’ve played them live, they’re ready to go’ so we’d go lay them down and then it’d be done sort of thing. But with Aaron, he kind of eased our nerves if we didn’t have a part ready that was fully flushed out. He drove us to be more spontaneous, just press record and see if something good come out of it.   

Q: After two recorded albums and tons of touring, where do you guys feel like you’re at with the band right now? What are some of the experiences you’ve had that you think will influence your next record?

Taylor: Well, I think that with Hummingbird, we took this big step in terms of instrumentation. Our first album, “Gorilla Manor” was more really plug and play, there are almost no effects on the guitars or anything. On “Hummingbird” we really branched out with all the arrangements and everything, so having both those experience now, it paints this broader picture for us. When we play live, we play songs from both albums, and they really work well together. So I don’t know what will happen on record three, especially since the way that we write now is not really blueprinted out, it’s sort of just experimentation. But we’re already starting to work with new ideas, and I’m definitely excited to keep pushing it and see where it goes.

Q: Who you catching at Lollapalooza after your show?

Taylor: Well The National are playing on the same stage right after us. We’ve played a bunch of shows with them already this year, but I think we’ll stick around for them.

Matt: I’d like to see Phoenix, that’d be cool. Is Kendrick Lamar tonight? I’d probably check that out too. 

Q: What’s better; walking on the stage to thousands of screaming people, or playing that final cymbal crash or rock chord?

Matt: I think the walking on is always the most exciting, especially at festivals. It’s always exhilarating, walking out and feeling all that energy.

Taylor: I think with walking on, there’s a better sense of anticipation, so in a mind way, walking on is better. But on pure endorphin levels, on that last song and then walking off, I think that’s probably the best purely physical high ever. 

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