Introducing... Local Natives

“We were really excited because we could watch and feel something happening” says Kelcey Ayer, on the buzz that has been orbiting Silver Lake’s Local Natives ever since their mini-triumph at SXSW earlier this year, in which the group’s nine performances transformed them from the hopeful unsigned to a success story ready to release their debut single.

Kelcey is one third of the singing trio at the core of the Californian five-piece’s distinctive indie-rock harmonies, a sound which has coined their vocal-band tag.  He is sat in a London pub on the edge of Soho with the rest of Local Natives, who are four days into their first trip to the UK and full of wonder at their new found fame and friends in the UK. Kelsey continues with his explanation of the aftermath of SXSW:  “A lot more people have taken more notice and we’ve seen it really grow, especially in the UK. A lot of people that really dug it over there came back and started spreading the word, you could hear us being played on the radio and our Myspace plays were going up. It was really overwhelming coming over here now and playing our first show in London at The Lexington, it was completely sold out, and all these people knew the songs and were freaking out.”

At this point, drummer Matt Frazier leans in to explain the mutual feeling of surprise that Local Natives experienced during that first London show, three days earlier, “It was crazy. It was such a weird strange feeling, coming to a place we’d never been before. Having it go that well was really flattering.”

The group, who consist of Matt, Kelcey, singers and guitarists Ryan Hahn and Taylor Rice and bassist Andy Hamm have been living in a house together in Los Angeles since December, 2008. Matt and Andy have been with the band for nearly three years, while Ryan, Taylor and Kelcey met in high school and have been playing together for six years.

In their early years, the band played in a different guise with the name Cavil At Rest. Andy offers an explanation as to the difference between Cavil At Rest and Local Natives: “To us it’s a night and day thing. There’s obviously going to be similarities for people who listen to both. For us it was not only a musical style that we thought was completely different from what we were doing before, but also mentally it was really the first time that we had decided to be a band full time and put our full energy into it, and really give it a shot.”

When it came to the important decision to move from one band to the next, it was Andy who came up with their name, Local Natives.  “We needed a new name. We really wanted something that incorporated the feeling of the music that we were writing, while something that wasn’t too off-the -wall and everybody would say ‘what the hell did you just say?’. I actually hadn’t heard the term Local Natives before I think I’d seen it somewhere and thought that it conjured up visions of groups of people dancing around and all playing music together. That’s really the sort of community vibe that we try to put forth on stage, where everybody contributes.

Laughing, he describes the responses he got from other members of the band, “I really liked how it got a reaction, I remember when I first came into the room and I was like ‘I’ve got it, Local Natives!’ and a few of the guys were like, ‘Well that’s the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard! It’s super redundant. It’s two of the same word!’. It still was a reaction and I thought that was really cool.”

With three singers in a band of five, Local Natives do not have a front-man nor do they lack one, with their collaborative ethos and a harmony-led sound, a lead-man is not missed. Ryan explains the concept behind the approach to band and music structure. “Everything about this band is unique in the sense that it’s very democratic and collaborative, you know there’s not one songwriter so I think in that aspect there’s not really one front-man or centrepiece. I would feel confident of anyone in this band heading up anything with Local Natives.”