Mumford & Sons Interview

From auction house to the “hottest record in the world”, Mumford & Sons are just happy while it lasts.

Basking in the sunshine on a sunny afternoon in Dorset, it’s as if summer has finally arrived. We’ve been waiting for it for so long and then, pow, here it is, just one weekend of gloriousness before the rain comes crashing in and autumn arrives. At least we had it for a little while.

It’s the same kind of attitude shown by the chaps in Mumford & Sons, the hot new pick of the pops on the UK folk scene, although they dispute they’re folk at all. You may have heard the name, you may have seen the list of sold out concerts in magazines and MySpaces, you may have even seen a couple of them on stage with those other ‘I’m not folk’ folk artists. And while those other artists in question have hit the big time, your Noah And The Whales and your Laura Marlings, Mumford & Sons have been busily beavering away in the background.

It’s paying off for them. With a complete album under their arm, made with one hundred percent creative control, they were snapped up by Island. Yet even now, these four chums - Marcus Mumford, Winston Marshall, Ben Lovett and Ted Dwane - can’t quite believe it.

“We all had other jobs. In fact, a few of us were working in auction houses and were pretty comfortable there,” says bass player Ted, the “nomad” of the group, after opening End Of The Road festival’s main stage to a packed crowd, grasping every sun ray they possibly can in case it abruptly ends.

“I have a few antiques, just a few bits and bobs. I liked it, but when the music came along I sort of lost interest.”

“That’s not to say we feel like we have any secure future,” butts in organist and occasional percussionist Ben. “It’s surreal to think that we could be doing this for a while. We just love playing music and playing our songs.”

The enthusiasm and disbelief in these young men, who found each other in south west London at a time when Winston was putting on nights for other musicians, including the Noahs and Marlings, is sincere and endearing. Just like that sunshine, they’re enjoying every second of it, just in case they get soaked in a downpour.

But there’s no indication that’s going to happen, especially when their October-released album ‘Sigh No More’, packed with gravely vocals, turbo fast banjo picks, intricate and superb harmonies and woody double bass, is tipped to do great things. Radio 1’s Zane Lowe has even labelled it “hottest record in the world today” on his show.

In the two years since they formed, it’s been a slow, cautious kind of roller coaster, the tea cups of rock ‘n’ roll you might say. Most of last year was spent touring and most of the coming months will also be on the road, but the Mumford clan found just enough time to release an EP through Chess Club, record their debut and take the airwaves by storm.

“We made the record before we got signed, which meant we could do it on our own, at our own pace and we’re really happy with the result. It meant we could evolve as a band,” Ted says, preparing himself for the first cider of the day (it is 3.30pm by now after all).

“There’s a danger with labels that they can mess things up. We spent almost a year coming to a deal with Island and fortunately, we didn’t have to change the album,” adds Ben. “Working with Chess Club got us into the habit of working with nice people; we were friends before we worked with them. I think that’s continuing. And if you don’t look after your sound, how can you maintain your integrity? It’s at the heart of everything.”

That Mumford sound was created with the help of a top producer and a lightbulb moment during a workout. With a collective love of Arcade Fire, they simply asked Markus Dravs (Neon Bible, Bjork’s ‘Homogenic’) to produce ‘Sigh No More’.

“If there’s a band that stands for everything you want to be then there must be something right,” Ben explains. “We got the album to Markus and he said he was on a treadmill when it just clicked.”

Even with talk of making the album into a techno record, the band was filled with faith. The techno hasn’t happened…yet. With so many musical tastes in the group -especially the potential influence of Marcus’ love for Disney, Robin Hood and Bugsy Malone - who knows what the future holds.

Strangely, American electro rockers Passion Pit, a favourite of the more contemporary listener Ben, have already taken that step and started work on a remix. “We were blown away by them and apparently they were blown away by us. We thought it was hilarious when they asked us, but now they’re doing it,” says an excited Ben. “That has been one of the greatest moments for me, along with the first time I heard us on the radio, sandwiched between Beyonce and Jay-Z on the Jo Whiley show. What does that say about us?”

It may reinforce the band’s distaste to be pigeon-holed into folk when they dip a toe into so many other genres, or maybe that they are already bigger than they think.

But, as Ted says, “There’s no disillusions of grandeur, we just want to share what we’ve got. If this is it, then brilliant. If we can do it for another couple of years, then even better.” And with their contagious optimism, Ben adds: “Maybe in fifty years we’ll still be together, reforming for a guest slot on the garden stage at End Of The Road 2059.” I’ll get my ticket.

Words by Gemma Hampson

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Watch an ClashMusic exclusive video performance of 'The Cave And The Open Sea' by Mumford & Sons HERE.