Local Natives perform in The Current studio
by Mary Lucia
May 21, 2019
Local Natives' latest album, Violet Street, came out on April 26, 2019, and it was recorded in a warehouse studio in downtown Los Angeles, guided by producer Shawn Everett. But a vital ingredient in the music-making is the band's friendship and their desire to collaborate. "A lot of [the recording] was all set up together live in a room, playing off of each other," Local Natives' Taylor Rice explains. "With modern production, obviously there's lots of other ways that you mess around and make songs in the studio, but we wanted the core of this album to be the five of us playing off each other. That was really integral to the album."
Now touring in support of Violet Street, Local Natives stopped at The Current for a session hosted by Mary Lucia before playing a show Tuesday night at First Avenue.
Many of the band members have known each other since their days in high school in Orange County, Calif., and the others came along not too much later than that. In addition to being great musical collaborators, Local Natives travel well together too. "It's pretty much a prerequisite for our line of work," says keyboardist and vocalist Kelcey Ayer.
"I don't think you can make it a decade as a band together without that," Rice adds. "I think we're especially democratic as far as bands go. One thing that we really do take a lot of care in is our relationships and talking all the time."
Use the audio player above to listen to the complete session with Local Natives, including stories of some of their favorite accidental encounters with other musicians in the thriving Los Angeles scene.
More Video
Songs Performed
"Café Amarillo"
"When Am I Gonna Lose You"
"Megaton Mile"
All songs from Local Natives' 2019 album, Violet Street, available on Loma Vista Recordings.
Hosted by Mary Lucia
Produced by Derrick Stevens
Engineered by Michael DeMark and Johnny Vince Evans
Visuals by Mary Mathis and Helen Teague
Web feature by Luke Taylor
External Link
Local Natives - official site
