“Just in the last few weeks we’ve had our two biggest sold out shows in Denver over New Year’s, and then we had SNL last weekend. The Grammy’s is in a few weeks, it’s all just kind of hard to take in.”
Neyla Pekarek has just returned to her hometown of Denver after a “whirlwind” weekend which saw her band, The Lumineers, play the seminal slot on Saturday Night Live, alongside The Hunger Games star Jennifer Lawrence, who she describes as “really cool and nice.”
The performance capped off a huge 12 months for the American three-piece, one that’s seen the release of their debut, self-titled record, which reached #11 on the Billboard 200; the perpetual rise of single ‘Ho Hey’, and countless sold-out performances across the globe.
“It’s really wild, it was not really long ago that we were playing to very empty rooms,” cellist and vocalist Pekarek explains. “I think we’re all really pleasantly surprised by it”.
Upgrading to these substantially bigger venues hasn’t been without its slight complications though, with The Lumineers’ penchant for audience interaction proving to be more difficult in the expansive surroundings.
“You have to be a little more creative with it. We like to go out into the crowd a lot, so the bigger the venue the harder that gets. We usually like to do some sort of unplugged thing in the crowd,” she enthuses. “As the venues get bigger we’ve found it’s a little bit difficult. We managed to do it on New Year’s though, and that was a 1,600 capacity room. That’s about the biggest we’ve done I think.”
The Lumineers will be visiting Australia for the first time for Bluesfest in late March, but Pekarek is already well acquainted with the country.“We did a lot of house shows when we were first touring… and there was all this excitement just in seeing people playing instruments.”
“I’ve been twice,” she says shyly. “I got roped into dating an Australian in college, so it was this epic, extremely long distance relationship obviously, for about two years. I’m really excited. I made a lot of friends when I was there.”
The band will also be playing a handful of sideshows for their adoring Australia fans, which are nearly completely sold out, with Sydney the only show left with tickets after upgrading to the Enmore Theatre.
“It’s always pretty high energy, I think more so than the record. I think our record’s a little more mellow than the live show,” she says of what fans can expect from the gigs.
“We only have the one album out so we play pretty much all the songs, and include a couple of covers to give the people their money’s worth. We’ve got a few new songs in the works too.”
Although all this success has been achieved in the space of a year, it was a long time in the works, with guitarist and vocalist Wesley Schultz and drummer Jeremiah Fraites, the three began to make music together in 2005.
“It was a very long process. Wesley and Jeremiah, they grew up together in New Jersey and they’ve been playing music for about seven years together, and I’ve been with them for about three,” Pekarek recalls. “‘Ho Hey’ was written about five years ago, so for us they’re not really new songs, but we’re happy to play them.”
Pekarek sums up succinctly how she came to make music with the pair by saying: “They posted a Craigslist ad for a cellist, and I answered it”.
“I’d just finished school and didn’t have a whole lot on the dockets so I was kind of looking for something to keep me busy,” she continues. “I’d never been in a band before, never really considered it, so it was quite a nice surprise. I guess I picked a good one to be in.”
Breakthough single ‘Ho Hey’ has proved to be the catalyst to the band’s success, with the song reaching platinum status in the US, featured on numerous TV shows and commercials, and placing at #43 in Triple J’s Hottest 100 of 2012.
“I don’t think when we recorded the album that ‘Ho Hey’ really stood out to me, as better than the rest, and I still don’t think that,” Pekarek muses.
“I think it has this draw to it, and it can kind of cross over into many different genres and on different radio stations, so that’s really appealing. I’m sure management and things like that saw that as very appealing, and picked it as a single. ‘Stubborn Love’ has just started to get some radio play recently, and that was one we got to play on SNL [along with ‘Ho Hey’], it’s nice to be able to show people we have more than one song, it’s always kind of everywhere right now.”
“That’s been really fun to do live, it’s short and sweet, it’s a little bit different than the rest of the set, it’s just the two of us.”“It’s kind of like when you’re not supposed to pick your favourite children, I love them all equally,” she jokes.
Despite attracting attention from numerous major labels, the band chose to sign with independent label Dualtone Records to release their debut record, which finally came out in April last year.
“They basically just offered us the fairest deal,” she states confidently. “We were approached by some major labels and some independent labels, and it just seemed like a really good fit, and the deal we signed ensured we were able to keep a lot of our rights, we approve everything that goes out with our music. I think you sign away with major labels and it’s really hard to have a lot of control in contracts.”
“They (Dualtone Records) have a lot of really hard working people, you know everyone by name and face and I think it’s really nice to have a really good relationship with our label,” Pekarek says enthusiastically.
The self-titled album was co-written by the trio, along with assistance from two added touring members, who will “probably end up making our second record with us,” reasons Pekarek.
“The lyric writing is all done by Wesley, and I think he’s a pretty private writer, he likes to be at a certain place before he brings it to the rest of the group,” she explains. “Jeremiah does the same, where he writes a lot of the melodies, and then after they’ve come up with these ideas and put them together, that kind of makes the skeleton, they bring it to the rest of the group and we flesh it out.”
“The songs reach a place where you don’t just have a ton of people jamming, we have ideas, I think that works for some bands but for us it’s a little bit more organised I guess.”
The Lumineers has proven to be another cog in the continually growing resurgence of the folk genre over the last few years.
Something that Pekarek can’t quite peg for its returning popularity, “we did a lot of house shows when we were first touring, playing in peoples living rooms and things like that, and there was all this excitement just in seeing people playing instruments,” she reflects.
“It was almost a novelty, which seems silly cause that’s what musicians do, but in an age where everything’s kind of digital, I think it’s almost refreshing to see people that are actually playing instruments.”
With their late night performance and two Grammy nominations (for Best New Artist and Best Americana Album) now on their playsheet, 2013 is already shaping up to be just as exciting for the young band, who are already beginning to create the groundwork for a second album, even while on tour.
“It’s just wild to me that people are even listening to our music that far away.”“It’s not the easiest for sure,” Pekarek says, describing writing while on long bouts of travelling. “It’s not very easy to find any time, even alone, to experiment or even write anything, but we’re finding ways to do it for sure.”
“January was potentially supposed to be a writing break so maybe we’ll come back together and have some new ideas,” she says, adding, “but we’ll see.”
Australian fans will also get a sneak peak at a handful of new songs for their March tour, including a duet between Schultz and Pekarek.
Which the singer is “kind of excited for,” saying, “I didn’t sing very much on the first album, and so I think that I’ll be singing a little bit more as these songs get written,” she reveals excitedly. “That’s been really fun to do live, it’s short and sweet, it’s a little bit different than the rest of the set, it’s just the two of us.”
This year will see The Lumineers on an almost never-ending world tour. “We just got our schedule for this year, and it’s something like 245 days on tour this year, so we’ll be very, very busy,” she states, without a hint of trepidation.
Despite this massive schedule and constant days on the road, Neyla Pekarek is still surprised and overwhelmed that there are now fans of The Lumineers around the world, especially in Australia.
“It’s just wild to me that people are even listening to our music that far away.”
The Lumineers is out now through Dualtone Records, read the Tone Deaf review here. The Lumineers play three headline shows at the end of March as well as Byron Bay Bluesfest 2013, full dates and details below.
The Lumineers 2013 Australian Tour
Thursday 28 March – Enmore Theatre, Sydney – ON SALE NOW – DATE AND VENUE CHANGE
Tickets through: www.handsometours.com
Friday 29 March – The Corner Hotel, Melbourne – SOLD OUT
Saturday 30 March – The Hi-Fi, Brisbane – SOLD OUT
Bluesfest 2013 Tickets & Dates
Tyagarah Tea Tree Farm, Byron Bay
Thursday March 28th – Monday April 1st, 2013
Tickets: www.bluesfest.com.au
ph: 02 6685 8310
