http://www.teletext.co.uk/planetsound/interviews-features/default.aspxen-gbWed, 15 Jul 2009 22:22:52 GMThttp://www.teletext.co.uk/images/Logo64x64.gifhttp://www.teletext.co.ukBy John Earls - "I like it that people are confused as to what to call us. We&#39;ll never be just a punk band or just a pop band. We&#39;ll always change it up."<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/entertainment/planet-sound/interviews-features/~4/WGimJdx1QJg" height="1" width="1"/>
So says Andy Hamm of Local Natives, the biggest buzz band from South By Southwest for their mix of tribal percussion and heavenly harmonies.

"Our manager always compares us to Eagles," adds Taylor Rice. "Of all the comparisons, that's been the oddest."

Three of the band have played together since meeting at school in Los Angeles, with bassist Andy and drummer Matt Frazier joining two years ago.

"Their personalities were more vital than musicianship," says singer Taylor.

"We all live together, and there aren't any sombre people in the band. There's always a skit going on, usually inspired by Saturday Night Live, and you need to keep up with the humour."

The harmonies in songs such as debut single Sun Hands came to the fore when Andy and Matt joined.

"You suddenly had three people in the band who love singing," explains Taylor. "Pretty quickly, the vocals became naturally more layered.

"Other vocal harmony groups - past and current ones - are one of our biggest shared influences too. Now, we spend the most time writing our harmonies."

All five of the band contributed to the writing of debut album Gorilla Manor, which is due to be finished soon.

"There's nothing easy about five people trying to write a song," admits Andy.
"There's always tension in the room, and a lot of butting heads.

"Sometimes one of us will have a melody and it falls into place quickly. Just as often, we'll pick over a song and change the structure endlessly."

Currently being courted by every label going, the frenzy started after their series of gigs at South By Southwest.

"I'd have been an idiot not to realise something was going on with us," says Andy. "But we played nine gigs in four days, so we didn't get any chance to realise how big the buzz was.

"We went from playing to 20 people to 1,000, but we couldn't be sure if they were there for other acts on the bill."

The band were initially called Cavil At Rest, changing to Local Natives when Andy and Matt joined.

"I came up with Local Natives as it gets a reaction, and it's fun without being too novelty," says Andy. "Two of the guys hated it at first, but they were won over once we discussed it."

Taylor adds: "My own idea was The Zoo, to fit in with Gorilla Manor. On reflection, Andy's is way better..."

]]>93efb855fa7815e41cd1a72e4fe3e386http://feeds.teletext.co.uk/~r/entertainment/planet-sound/interviews-features/~3/WGimJdx1QJg/Local+Natives+go+global.aspxhttp://www.teletext.co.uk/planetsound/interviews-features/93efb855fa7815e41cd1a72e4fe3e386/Local+Natives+go+global.aspxLocal Nativeshttp://www.teletext.co.uk/planetsound/interviews-features/93efb855fa7815e41cd1a72e4fe3e386/Local+Natives+go+global.aspx