Los Angeles-based band Local Natives has been an indie household name for quite some time now. Nearly 10 years, two LPs and a member change later, the quintet has made a name for itself by bringing fans folk music with a California edge.
Local Natives’ latest album, “Hummingbird,” spawned a tour that stretched from Tokyo to Vancouver. Along with the tour, the band’s website released audio stems of “Hummingbird,” allowing fans to download and remix tracks.
Last October, Local Natives played a show at Tipitina’s in New Orleans, promoting Louisiana interest. This time around, the rockers plan to make a stop Saturday in Baton Rouge for a show at the Varsity Theatre before heading to New Orleans once more with touring mates Kings of Leon.
The afternoon before Local Natives’ Tuesday show in Tulsa, Okla., guitarist Ryan Hahn talked to The Daily Reveille about the band’s experience with Kings of Leon as well as what’s in store for the Baton Rouge show.
The Daily Reveille: How’s it been touring with Kings of Leon so far?
Ryan Hahn: It’s been fun. You know, these are kind of the biggest rooms we’ve ever been in. It’s just kind of a new experience for us so we’ve been having a good time.
TDR: How did a band like Kings of Leon set up a tour with you?
RH: We were actually wondering that same thing. Caleb [Followill] was saying that we both played ACL festival [Austin City Limits] last year, and he said that they were watching that year were like, “Oh, it’d be fun to tour with you guys.” Apparently they were all big fans so they just told their people to ask us, so that was kind of cool to find out.
TDR: Is the current tour to keep promoting “Hummingbird,” or is this something that you guys are starting to tour for?
RH: We’re still, I guess, on “Hummingbird,” I suppose, but we’re also writing new songs all the time. We’re just going to finish this tour up and then get back in our rehearsal space and focus on the new music.
TDR: Have you debuted any new material for fans on this tour yet?
RH: No, I don’t think it’s ready yet. I think it’s still kind of in the early stages of us tinkering around. Not even with a full band yet. So I don’t know if it’s ready to be played, but as soon as we get back, we’re going to start trying to get new ideas into a full band setting.
TDR: How do you think your show in Baton Rouge will compare to your previous experiences in New Orleans?
RH: We’ve got high hopes. It’s a place that we haven’t been before and so it’s always exciting to see some new people. You see what your expectations are and if they’re surpassed. We’re just excited to have our own show.
TDR: How do you think the “Hummingbird” stems project on the website has been going? Has it been well received?
RH: Yeah, it’s been really crazy to kind of hear all these remixes. We get, like, a lot of them and you know not all of them are super awesome. A lot of them are really cool and so it’s just been really awesome to hear reinterpretations. Our favorite ones are when they take the chord structure of the song and just change it to something that we never would have expected. It’s been really fun for us and for people that are fans of our music.
TDR: Next year makes 10 years for you as a band, doesn’t it?
RH: It’s so bizarre to think of it that way because I’ve been playing music with Taylor [Rice] and Kelcey [Ayer] since we were freshmen in high school. We’ve always just seen it as an extension of one band since we’ve been together. But maybe as Local Natives, that sounds about right.
TDR: Have you ever considered doing a reissue or something special?
RH: I guess we haven’t really thought of that. I think we’re so focused on doing record number three, just getting new music out there that I don’t know. Maybe I’ll go back and talk to the guys and see if that’s a good idea. Maybe there’s something we can come up with.
TDR: What can fans of Local Natives expect in the future? You mentioned a third album.
RH: You never really know with us. I think, with us, we’re really always pushing ourselves to write in different ways and never really know what comes out of that. We’ve been doing like some remix work and we’ve got some different projects coming down the pipeline. I don’t really know if there are any specifics that I can talk about right now. I think we’re just excited to be home and be able to focus on some things like that.
TDR: Outside of Los Angeles, has any show been a show that really sticks out to you?
RH: Last year was a pretty crazy year of touring for us. We had some of our biggest shows ever. We just played this show in Saskatoon [Saskatchewan, Canada] and, honestly, most of us hadn’t even heard of Saskatoon before, and we didn’t know what to expect and we showed up and it was just kind of a really, really fun show. The crowd was so awesome for us, so I think that one kind of stands out right now.
Local Natives will be playing at the Varsity Theatre on Saturday. Doors will open at 8 p.m. and the show begins at 9 p.m. Tickets are available at the Varsity Theatre’s website.