Local Natives is an American indie rock band formed in Orange County, California, and based in Los Angeles. The band consists of Taylor Rice (vocals, guitar), Kelcey Ayer (vocals, keyboards, guitar), Ryan Hahn (guitar, backing vocals), Matthew Frazier (drums) and Nik Ewing (bass). Before taking its current name in 2008, Local Natives was called Cavil at Rest.
Their debut album, Gorilla Manor, was first released in the UK in November 2009, and later released in the US on February 16, 2010. The album received mostly positive reviews[1] and debuted on the Billboard 200 and at No. 3 in the New Artist Chart.[2] Their second album, Hummingbird, was released in January 2013. Their third album, Sunlit Youth, was released in September 2016. Their fourth album, Violet Street, was released April 2019. Their fifth album, Time Will Wait for No One, was released in July 2023.
The band originates from Orange County, California, where Taylor Rice, Ryan Hahn and Kelcey Ayer grew up near each other.[3][4] Rice and Hahn began playing guitar together in junior high school.[5] Ayer attended a private Catholic high school,[6] while Rice and Hahn attended Tesoro High School in Las Flores. In 2001, during their sophomore year at Tesoro, Rice and Hahn formed the group Cavil at Rest.[7] The group went through several incarnations and Ayer began playing music with them in his senior year.[5] In 2004, the lineup consisted of Rice, Hahn, Ayer, Chris Filley, Andy Savage and Mike Rosenbaum.[8] Throughout college, the group played music and sang together.[5]
The band coalesced with the addition of bassist Andy Hamm in 2005, and drummer Matthew Frazier in 2006.[5][9] Cavil at Rest opened for Jimmy Eat World at Firestone Fieldhouse in fall 2005.[10] Hahn graduated from Pepperdine University.[11] Rice was a communications studies student at UCLA. Ayer, who was attending San Francisco State University, transferred to UCLA, but after Rice graduated in 2008, he dropped out in order for them to focus on Local Natives full-time.[12] In the summer of 2008, the band changed its name to Local Natives and started work on their debut album.[13][12] Except for Hamm, all of the members were living together in a duplex in Orange.[13] In December 2008,[14] they all moved into a house in Silver Lake.[12]
Everything the band creates comes from a complete collaboration between their members, from songwriting to artwork.[15] Their debut album, Gorilla Manor, was named after the house they all shared in Orange County, where most of the album was written. "It was insanely messy and there were always friends over knocking around on guitars or our thrift store piano," said Hahn. "It was an incredible experience and I'll never forget that time."[15] The self-funded Gorilla Manor was recorded by Raymond Richards in his own Red Rockets Glare Studio, in West Los Angeles, and was produced by Richards and the band.[15] The third track on Gorilla Manor, "Sun Hands", first appeared on the Cavil at Rest album Orion Way.[16]
It was announced March 18, 2011, that the band had parted ways with bassist Andy Hamm. A post on the band's website stated, "It is with extremely heavy hearts that we announce that we have recently parted ways with our bassist Andy Hamm. Due to unresolved differences within the band, we strongly feel that, in order to continue in a positive direction, this is the best course of action. We wish Andy the best and will miss him deeply."[20]
Local Natives onstage at Optimus Primavera Sound in 2013
At Lollapalooza the band announced that they built a new studio and were working on completing their second full-length album, Hummingbird, which was released January 29, 2013.[21]Hummingbird was produced by Aaron Dessner of The National, and though it departed from the "battle-cry urgency" of Gorilla Manor's Sun Hands, singer/guitarist Taylor Rice doesn't look at 'Hummingbird' as a darker album pointing out moments of optimism, and attributing the altered subject matter to the changes and emotions that came in the years since their debut, such as Ayer's mother passing away from breast cancer.[22]
Since 2012, the band has been joined with Nik Ewing as their touring bassist but it was announced at Austin City Limits that he has become an official member on October 11, 2013.[23]
In August 2014, at a concert in Salt Lake City, Utah, as part of the Twilight Concert Series, the band announced that they had already begun work on their third studio album.[24]
On April 29, 2016, Local Natives released a new single, "Past Lives", saying, "The world is not static, it's made new over and over again. But we tend to live the same patterns in a loop, loving the same way, wrestling the same demons, the same dynamics playing out around us again and again. Untangling every moment and decision that led us to where we are now can make fate feel concrete, inescapable. But our world is not fixed, it's constantly reemerging, and we can change it into whatever we want."[25] In May 2016, the band premiered the first songs from the album live.[26]
The album Sunlit Youth was released on September 9, 2016.[27] The single "I Saw You Close Your Eyes" was released on March 23, 2017,[28] followed by another one-off single on May 19, 2017, "The Only Heirs", a collaboration with Nico Segal.[29]
On September 22, 2017, Kelcey released his debut solo album, Tasha Sits Close to the Piano, under the name Jaws of Love.[30] On December 21, 2018, under the name Chewing, Nik released his debut solo album, Pacific Ocean Blue, a cover of Dennis Wilson's 1977 album in its entirety.[31]
On March 8, 2019, the band announced their fourth studio album, Violet Street, releasing a music video "When Am I Gonna Lose You", which featured actress Kate Mara.[32] Violet Street was released on April 26, 2019, and received generally positive reviews, garnering a 7.2 by Pitchfork's Ian Cohen.[33] The band have since made guest appearances on numerous television and YouTube music series, performing "When Am I Gonna Lose You" on the likes of Ellen, Jimmy Kimmel Live! and Enmore Audio.[34][35][36]
In October 2020, the band released an EP, Sour Lemon, recorded in September 2019 with producer Chris Coady. The release was supported by a one-off livestream concert on October 21, 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic as well as performances on Ellen and Jimmy Kimmel Live! with Sharon Van Etten.[37][38]
In November 2021, the band released the covers EP Music from the Pen Gala 1983, which the band recorded for the Apple TV+ series The Shrink Next Door. It features covers of songs by Roxy Music, Michael McDonald, 10cc, and Gerry Rafferty. The band also starred in an episode of the series as a cover band at the titular Pen Gala.[39]
On 14 August 2021, as they were halfway through creating their fifth album, the band performed at Greek Theatre in Los Angeles. Their first live performance in almost two years due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the band called it "one of the most emotional concerts of our lives". It occurred as members were confronting parenthood, isolation, loss, and identity crisis. After the performance, the band felt unsure of their future and were "on the verge of a collapse".[40][41] Experiencing their longest separation since they formed, the members were forced to redefine how to work together again. They worked toward developing deeper trust and honesty. As a result, the band found themselves in a prolific period where they wrote more music than they ever have before.[42] Recorded with producers John Congleton, Michael Harris, and Danny Reisch, Time Will Wait for No One was released on July 7, 2023.[43]
^Capó-García, Paola (December 7, 2009). "Local Natives". Bomb. Retrieved November 21, 2023. We've been a band for four years and we changed our name to Local Natives a year and a half ago.
^Capó-García, Paola (December 7, 2009). "Local Natives". Bomb. Retrieved July 24, 2023. I graduated from Pepperdine [University] and Taylor went to UCLA. Kelcey [Ayer] went [to UCLA] for a semester
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