Local Natives

“Airplanes”
from the album Gorilla Manor
Unreleased

Jonk Music: Can you share a little information about yourselves?
Kelcey Ayer: We are Local Natives from Los Angeles and have been together for around two and a half years now with this line-up, but Ryan and Taylor have been playing music together since they were wee little junior high kids. I was born and raised in San Clemente and ended up attended a neighboring high school of theirs (we all grew up in Orange County, CA), where through friends we met and noticed a common interest in playing music. Since then we’ve gained Matt and Andy, drums and bass respectively, and Local Natives were born. Ryan, Taylor and I share guitars and keys, as well as vocals, so there’s a lot of harmony going on in our sound. There also is a strong percussive element to the music; I play a drum along with Matt, creating these tribal rhythms we really dig. We’ve just recorded our debut full-length, which should be released in ’09, and are going on our first trip to the east coast in January. We’re really excited but at the same time we’re from California and don’t know what cold means; I think we might be screwed.

Now that it seems the Internet isn’t a fad, what are your thoughts on the power of the web in relation to helping or hurting an artist?
I think the Internet has definitely been in the favor of the artist. It has opened so many doors enabling the artist to make things happen without ever using the help of a record label or a booking agent; something near-impossible ten years ago, but now completely attainable. The one catch is that since the Internet’s inception CD sales have plummeted, backing up labels and the like into corners where if they have not gone bankrupt yet, they are certainly trying desperately not to, meaning taking less risks. So in conjunction with the willingness to develop and experiment with new talent dwindling and the number of bands that have sprung up because of the Internet, a band nowadays is going to have to work their tails off to get any sort of success.

Could you describe the recording process of your full-length debut?
Our band writes in a much more collaborative way as opposed to other groups I’ve found; everyone contributes to the song as a whole; sometimes I’ll write a drum part or Ryan will write the bass line, but it’s not what we play in the band. What may be a blessing and a curse are our strong-willed opinions during the writing process, and with even all five of us butting heads at times, it takes us a while to come to a compromise that everyone is satisfied with. So due to the agonizing yet enjoyably long hours of arguing over a melody or lyric, we decided to all just move into a house together in Orange, CA, which became lovingly known to us as Gorilla Manor. We took from November of 2007 to June of this year writing 15 songs we liked, and then found Raymond “Bear” Richards (Red Cortez, The Broken West) to help produce and engineer the record in his home studio in West LA. We had worked the songs pretty thoroughly beforehand, so it took only seven weeks to record the album, doing 4-5 day work weeks from 12-9pm. After it was all said and done we had to find a name for the album, and so we settled on Gorilla Manor, which we felt was fitting as that’s where the album came from: a house full of animals making yelps and stomps into something nice to listen to. It will be released sometime in 2009 and we are looking to release it off a label.

Are there any current bands or records or sites that you enjoy and would recommend people seek out?
There are some great rock bands in the southern CA scene that we are friends with and love what they’re doing musically; check out The Union Line and Voxhaul Broadcast (who we’re actually going out on tour with starting later this month), as well as a band called Aushua. There is this great feeling of being a part of good music sprouting up locally that makes me actually feel proud to be from Orange County. As far as music I’ve been really into as of late have been rather quieter, somber artists like Jose Gonzalez and Bon Iver. There’s something about being able to captivate a listener just by playing a guitar, tapping your toe, and singing a melody, something these two artists do quite beautifully.

Parting words?
Check out the tunes and come see us play on the tour if we’re in your city; we’ve been accused of being the nicest band alive, so it’s an understatement to say we are approachable, please come and say hello! Thanks so much for talking with us Jon, and hopefully we’ll see you out on the road.