Face-to-face songwriting and musical interplay put to tape: the classic studio setting is juxtaposed on Local Natives’ fourth full-length, VIOLET STREET with modern production and visuals to form a timeless album. The band’s signature soaring 3-part harmonies are augmented by loops of tape, physically spliced and transformed by hand, the result of experimenting in the studio with producer Shawn Everett is a band renewed.
In essence, Local Natives [Taylor Rice (vocals, guitar), Kelcey Ayer (vocals, keys), Ryan Hahn (vocals, guitar), Matt Frazier (drums), and Nik Ewing (vocals, bass, keys) return to the methods of their 2009 debut Gorilla Manor, but with the bonds of their union fortified and with the growth of wisdom accrued in the studio and on stage in front of millions of worldwide fans.
“The record is about us reconnecting to playing off each other,” states Taylor. “We didn’t go into separate corners, produce our own songs, and bring them to the group. Back when we made Gorilla Manor, we lived together in one house and made a frantically creative environment. This time, we were in a massive warehouse with Shawn, jamming, and relying on each other often until three or four in the morning for several nights straight. It was fun, but also pushed us to outdo each other. We got back to our strengths. We’ve always been super collaborative and democratic, as we have three songwriters and singers, and all five of us have a lot of creative input. This was the most collaborative and open we’ve been. We were raw and vulnerable. It’s the first time we didn’t do any pre-production, we went in and built the record out of nothing.”
Named after the Downtown address where Shawn operates his studio, the album encapsulates the spirit of the city. “Los Angeles is an important character in the music,” explains Kelcey. “Everything came to life in this place. All of our emotions and ideas were represented by VIOLET STREET".
Ryan Hahn: "The producer of our last record seemed to use the FabFilter equalizer on everything. I'd watch over his shoulder while he kept pulling up that plugin over and over again and finally asked him about it."
"I obviously love the Pro-Q and I use it on everything. I also use it to sidechain and balance mid/side info. I've also started using Pro-C 2, Pro-MB, Pro-G and Pro-DS a lot and it's made my workflow super streamlined. During quarantine I've also started experimenting with the Twin synth and Saturn."
"I think the plugins standout for their clean, design forward aesthetics and for how intuitive they are."
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