With its driving rhythms and harmonious wails, LA-based band Local Natives has taken strides in the music world since the release of its 2010 album, _Gorilla Manor._ The band’s sophomore album, _Hummingbird_, released in January 2013, transports listeners to California, taking on a more somber and contemplative tone.

The band is noted for heavy fan interaction, frequently updating blogs, posting to Instagram and tweeting.

MOVE talked to drummer Matt Frazier about life on the road and the importance of fans’ individual interpretations of music.

**[MOVE]:** How’s the tour been going? You all just finished up with Kings of Leon.
**[Matt Frazier]:** Yeah, we finished with them about a week ago in New Orleans, and that was just great. It was a really crazy, different world of touring that we’ve never done before, the sheer size of the venues and all that. It put us in front of a lot of new spaces and I think we made a lot of fans, so that’s great. We’re kind of getting into three weeks of our own shows just now.

**[M]:** What’s it like playing in a college town as opposed to a big city venue?
**[MF]:** College towns tend to be very fun. (I don’t know) if it’s the younger crowd, but playing in a college town, there tends to be a lot of energy. LA and New York are great to play, but there’s something about being in the smaller, college town atmosphere where it seems like people are always really excited and the shows are always fun.

**[M]:** How did you approach writing _Hummingbird_, as opposed to _Gorilla Manor_?
**[MF]:** After _Gorilla Manor_, after we were touring, we parted ways with our old bass player. We went into the writing process for _Hummingbird_ writing as a five-piece band but with only four members… I think that made us rethink things a little bit and really pushed us…in a direction where we thought we wouldn’t have gone… We were going through pretty weird, crazy times between the two records. Parting ways with a member, losing loved ones. I think it kind of spoke in the record and I think that made it more of a melancholy record on the whole.

**[M]:** Is there anything you’d like fans to take away from _Hummingbird_?
**[MF]:** Our music is open to interpretation. The fact that anyone can listen to our songs and feel any sort of emotion from it is wonderful. I’ve had a lot of people come up and been able to relate, and I think even more so with _Hummingbird_, with it being an even more serious (album), kind of dealing with death and dealing with losing loved ones. Having relatability is really cool and really important. If we can just help people in any way with our music, then that’s great.