The Lumineers on Chris Shiflett's "Walking the Floor" podcast: Listen – Rolling Stone



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Before "Ho Hey" catapulted the Lumineers and its founding members, Wesley Schultz and Jeremiah Fraites, to multi-platinum status in nearly a dozen countries, the band performed an independent tour in the country, playing many DIY shows. These modest beginnings have helped launch one of the greatest careers of modern folk-rock music. They also dominated the last part of the Lumineers' conversation with podcast host Chris Shiflett during this new episode of Walk on the ground.

"Ho Hey" is a phenomenon that has sold more than four million copies in less than a year while dominating the charts in many formats. As Shiflett points out, an omnipresent hit like this will make or break a band. "To each of [my children’s piano] recitals, "he explains during the introduction of the interview," there would be one or two children who would play "Ho Hey". This kind of success can kill a group or can make you stronger. "

In the case of the Lumineers, the song laid the foundation for a diverse career. The band turns a new page with the album III, whose creation and promotion are also detailed during the Walk on the ground interview. Below, we have summarized several highlights of the conversation.

To draw attention to their new album, III, the Lumineers have released 10 film videos created by Hollywood director Kevin Phillips.
"For me and Wes, explains Fraites, the album is different from the sound point of view. Conceptually, it's a bit darker and contains more elements than Lumineers fans were not used to. It was different to release the album, and what better way to do something different than with Kevin? "

The Lumineers chose to structure III as a combination of three unique "chapters", effectively breaking the album into a trio of EPs.
"I always admire Jack White's instincts, his ability to be interested in what he does," says Schultz. "It's a form of creativity we have never really bet on. [before]. "In addition, the decision to divide the album into three easily digestible EPs has been influenced by an audience whose attention continues to decrease. Wes adds, "We were joking about how people will look at three Throne Games episodes in a row, but if you give them a 35-minute album to listen to, it's like, "Whoa, man, I'll get there in a month."

Before the group embraced his folk-rock sound, he took a much more complex approach to his music, filling it with unique time signatures and complex chord structures. Simplifying their approach was a conscious decision.
"We were trying to draw a really complicated face, or a line of horizon or something," says Fraites. "And at one point, we said," Let's just try to make a circle – let's do it as well as we can, "and I think we've exhausted all these complex ideas and we've just overcome them."

Before turning in the country before the success of his career, "Ho Hey", the band is heavily focused on house shows in small towns.
"We have overcome the bullshit of big city gaming," said Schultz, referring to the prominent markets that typically dominate a group's tour schedule. "It's really good on your website, like" I play in New York, and that's where I play, "and you take a superficial pride, looking at all the dates of your tour, and then when you'll play that [big-city venue]everyone would wait for the next group or talk, but every time we play house, it's like having everyone there in the palm of your hand for an hour. "

Schultz 's advice to other booming groups: focus on concerts first.
"I'm trying to say to beginners, 'You can live anywhere as a musician,'" he explains. "The actors do not have this luxury. But musicians can live anywhere because you should do a tour while starting, if you try to spread the word. But also, home shows are much more valuable when you start. We would play a few times as house shows, and next time, if we played in a room, all these people knew the music, they paid the money and came to the show. Because you have understood them correctly.

When "Ho Hey" became a multi-platinum international hit, the band members were a blazing success. . making sure they do not become a wonder to be successful.
"I've always imagined it as if it was a vertical statue, and you're in its shadow, and you have to come out from beneath and go back to the sun," says Schultz about "Ho Hey." So you are in the dark. You have to fight very hard, for that lucky thing that has given you so much, to get you out of it. It is a very great blessing, but you must also fight very hard to get out of it. "

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