Recently we had the opportunity to check in with the Plymouth based quintet The Native who have just inked a record deal with This Feeling Records and who are picking up some great airplay from Radio X and BBC Music Introducing. Check out what we spoke about below.
For those who are unaware of you as a band, can you give us a few lines about The Native, who you are, how you came to be etc?
We first started in 2018 when Ben (guitar) and Charlie (Singer) wanted to take their acoustic duo to the next level, since then our music has moved away from the more mellow folk sound to a grittier indie rock sound.
How would you describe your sound for those who are new to your music?
Indie Rock
What first got you into music?
We were all close mates before the band came along but all shared a common interest in our love for music, we made it a ritual every year to head down to at least two local festivals every summer. When we were down there we would look at the bands on stage in awe and I guess that’s what made us want to become a band.
Who would you say have been your biggest influences to date as a musician(s)?
As there’s five of us in the band we all have our own different inspirations, but there’s definitely a few which we’ve all seen as idols since the start. Bands such as Catfish and the Bottle Men, The 1975 and Foals were a big part of our scene when we were younger so they have played a part in our music along with Oasis, Kings of Leon, Arctic Monkeys and many more. These days we love listening to artists like Inhaler, Sam Fender, Spacey Jane etc, each of their songs giving us ideas for our own music.
Do you tend to work collaboratively as a band when writing the songs or work alone and bring it back to the table to piece together?
When we write a song it usually starts with a certain chord progression or drum beat, we then get that down onto logic and get together and work from there. We’re quite demo heavy and basically have the final version of the song ready on our demos we do at home. Some songs come differently though like when we’re practising and someone plays something that catches our ears and we’ll take it from there.
How did it feel to sign to This Feeling Records?
When we heard Mikey and the rest of This Feeling wanted to work with us we felt really honoured. They’re a great label both behind the scenes and combining this with the gigs and festivals they put on we’ve had a great time with them and hopefully more to come.
Your first EP ‘Looking Back’ is due for release on 19th August – how does it feel to be putting this out into the world?
This EP that we’re currently releasing is one of the pieces of work we are proudest of so far. We can’t wait to hear what people think of it and hopefully they enjoy it as much as we have recording and writing it.
You reference the songs on the EP being about topics of feeling adrift and being disillusioned in young adulthood- is this drawn from personal experiences or more so observations?
I think everyone has felt adrift from things in their life, whether that’s with friends and family or from themselves. As a band we’ve all experienced that to certain degrees and I don’t think it’s anything you can control or feel bad about. Sometimes it can feel hard to stay true to yourself with the amount of information the internet and social media feeds us and it can be hard to find a path through it all. We find these are topics that effect a large group of young adults so we wanted to write about it to show to our fans that we’ve all been there before.
You recently supported Bastille on their UK Tour, how was that for you as a band?
The tour with Bastille was so surreal, the venues we played at were like nothing we’d ever played before, we’d only dreamt about them. It brought us a lot closer as well after spending so much time in the van driving round and surprisingly we didn’t have one fall out. The band and all their crew were the nicest people to be around over those three weeks and we can’t wait to catch up with them at festivals this summer over a few beers.
Are there plans to work towards a full album?
At the moment an album is a bit too far down the line to comment on. We’re going to keep writing and releasing new music until we decide that the time is right. We want to make sure it’s released at the right point in our career.
Is there any particular artist/producer out there right now that you would love to collaborate with?
There’s so many incredible producers around at the moment who have such a varied genre of music yet such a unique sound. We’ve been lucky enough to work with John Cornfield who has worked with the majority of all big Britpop artists and has passed his knowledge onto us. We’d also love to work with Mike Crossey as he is the indie king but would also be interesting to see what producers like Jack Antonoff and Fred Again would add to our music as they both seem to think outside the box in terms of producing and what they add to a track.
Festival season is in full swing, how’s it been so far for you
Festival season has been a dream so far, we’ve managed to see most of the country and play to loads of new fans. The weather has also been on our side so far so long may it continue!
The Native released their debut EP via This Feeling Records on 19th August – be sure to give it a listen when arrives and let us know what you think!