MUSIC

Good old Mumford and Sons. The London-met folk-rock spirit-lifters have been together barely three years, but in that time they’ve won over a huge fanbase with their triumphant, unifying live shows, seen their Mercury-nominated debut album ‘Sigh No More’ go platinum, and conquered America. Some critics have slated them, others have eulogised, but wherever the Mumford boys go – as their sold-out-in-minutes world tour testifies – the people love them. In a rare quiet moment as he walked across West London for a rehearsal, Mumford’s Ted Dwane spoke to Venue’s Mike White. Everyone loves him, too. But in a different and much less lucrative way.

Mumford’s a London band, of course, but you have a Bristol connection, don’t you? Yup, I went to UWE for three years – I still get nostalgic about it. I used to do a lot of walking – along Gloucester Road, up over Cotham Brow, and I used to live in the Old Duke, basically. Well, I didn’t actually live there, but I had my little spot, up at the back corner, propping up the bar to watch Code Red and Eddie Martin and all the rest. And the Corrie Tap – I think I’ve retained some kind of dependency for Exhibition cider. I have to get a few half pints in every time I’m back. Good old Brizzle – such a glorious place.

You’ve done 30 or so festivals this summer, and another big tour’s imminent. Do you miss home when you’re away? Touring really is what we do. We only made the album because we’d toured so much that we’d developed a fanbase and they were beginning to ask, you know, ‘Where’s the album?’ So we went and did one – but we always thought of it as an advert for the live shows really. We feel at home on the road. Which is convenient, since we’re never at our actual homes!

At Green Man this year, The Flaming Lips really had to work to get the crowd going, but you just walked on and they seemed to be in the palm of your hand. A triumph of passion over special effects perhaps? Oh my goodness. I couldn’t say – I didn’t see their set because it was one of our busy weekends and we were all over the place. My girlfriend was there and she had a great time – but she had had a lot of cider… It was so nice going back to Green Man: we played one of our first proper festival gigs there – in the tiny Folky-Dolky tent, early afternoon. Just as we were making our way on stage the heavens opened and, it being a tent, everyone came inside and we accidentally had a crowd, which wasn’t what we expected at all. A lovely festival.

Marcus described the lyrics on ‘Sigh No More’ as “deliberately spiritual, but deliberately not religious”. What place does the spiritual have in your songwriting process? Our songwriting process is very un-cerebral. It’s instinctive, trial and error. So what ends up coming out is just all the things we’ve been exposed to growing up: being English, schools where you had to go to church in the mornings, stuff like that. It draws on gospel choirs, four-part singing, a nod towards anything from Welsh valley choirs to spirituals. So there is this choral, almost worshippy element to it, but there’s no intended religious sentiment behind it. It’s just that rousing of the spirit thing. It’s a beautiful sound when people sing together; it’s so powerful, so we really prioritise it when we’re writing. I’d never sung in a band before, I didn’t think I could, I was too shy. It’s funny, Winston had never sung either, Ben didn’t sing, even [lead singer] Marcus didn’t really sing very much. So it was weird that when we first got in the studio we did ‘White Blank Page’ and ‘Awake My Soul’, a couple of the first ever songs we wrote as a band, and they were full of four-part harmonies. We’re not really churchgoers but I think we are spiritual: we believe in the spreading of a good vibe, we like to be mindful of others.

You’ve recently aired new tracks ‘Lover of the Light’ and ‘Whispers in the Dark’ on the radio. Are those already in the can for the second album? We haven’t done any recording, no pre-production. We wrote the first album from all the touring we did in the UK, the songs evolving in front of an audience. With the second album we want it to be a similar process, so we haven’t booked any studio time, haven’t nailed down a producer or anything. Life’s been absolutely chocka for the last year and a half, so we’re gonna give ourselves a little holiday to travel and be inspired, and then get back together in maybe February and start writing in the only way we know how, really – the most natural, organic way we can.

Go on, you must have some idea as to the kind of direction you’d like to go in next? Honestly, no. And I don’t think there should be any sort of forethought. A few of us came from a bit of a jazzy background and enjoy that spontaneous element, so that’s how we do it. We’ve got a mound of songs to work on. We were working through a couple yesterday in rehearsal, to try and get more new ones ready for this tour. So there will definitely be new songs to look out for, but no plans beyond that.

Rumour has it you’ve been recording with Ray Davies for his next album. Did he live up to expectations? Marcus was very excited when it was first announced back in February… The Kinks are a band we grew up with, so it was an amazing experience. We went to Konk studios, where The Kinks did a lot of their stuff, and I thought we might not even see Ray; that he’d just come in after we’d left and lay down the vocals. But he was there in the live room with us, playing and throwing around ideas and it was such a humbling experience. When he left he said, “You know, you guys are really lucky, you’re in a band; take care of each other.” And then he walked out and got into his bright orange Fiat Punto. It was one of the most memorable experiences of my life.

As your success grows, there’s been the inevitable backlash from certain critics. Do you read reviews? No, never. Well, I bought the post-Glastonbury NME, but that was really for my mum – she likes to collect press cuttings. In interviews people often refer to “that Pitchfork review” but I don’t know what they’re talking about and I think it’s best to keep it that way. It’s important to avoid self-awareness. As soon as you start reading that stuff, you’re suddenly on the outside looking in. I’ve heard some people take a stab at our authenticity, because we have a banjo but we’re not American or something. But the banjo started a long way from America – and we have all sorts of influences, too. The music we make is always true to us.

You’ve now got your own tribute band, Sonford and Mums. Any plans to invite them on tour for a comedy warm-up? The guys who did that video of ‘Winter Chins’? [Beard-themed spoof of the Mumford song ‘Winter Winds]. The amusement factor would be awesome, but when it comes to choosing supports and all that, we actually take it quite seriously. So sadly, no, I don’t think so. Not yet anyway.

You say you’re a live band, that the albums are an advert for the live shows. Where do you plan to go next with it? More of the same? We’ve been incredibly fortunate, but nothing that’s ever happened to us has ever been planned. The whole thing, us meeting, forming a band, it’s all been an amazing coincidence. We’ve never had a strategy. We’re just immensely thankful for this last couple of years, all the adventures we’ve had and the music we’ve played. We have a great sense of belief in what we do. We get up there, just the four of us, and stand at the front of the stage and look out, and people – for whatever reason – really respond. So if there is a plan, it’s just to keep sharing the music with as many people as we can. People really get something good from it, and that’s more than we ever could have hoped for.

MUMFORD & SONS PLAYED THE 02 ACADEMY, BRISTOL ON WED 6 OCT.
 

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