Local Natives on evolving gracefully in indie rock

The New Exchange with Ken Grand-Pierre

Having gratitude for life is something that’s a perpetual journey for me. It’s something I’ve admittedly been pretty bad at over the years. That said, the gratitude I feel for today’s episode is something that can’t be overstated. Local Natives are a band from Orange County, California that I’ve loved since I was in college. It’s always a special thing when you get to grow with a group of people, and it’s that attribute that’s a major fixture of today’s podcast: growth. Recently, the band has released two albums, last summer’s Time Will Wait for No One and this spring’s But I’ll Wait for You. The albums are companions to one another, with the most recent being the rare occasion where the sequel can also stand on its own. Lyrically, both albums feature the band being their most open, with the songs exploring the emotions behind isolation, loss, parenthood, and crisis of identity. It was such a starkly emotional thing for me to take in these works, and again, I have so much gratitude that I get to experience art that echoed feelings and experiences I’ve had in my own life. I’m sure many of you who’ll listen to this episode will also relate to those feelings, and yeah, these are exactly the things I chat with Taylor Rice (vocals and guitars) and Nik Ewing (bass, keyboards, and vocals) on today’s podcast.