0:00:02 > 0:00:04This programme contains some strong language
0:00:04 > 0:00:05Come on, then, Glastonbury!
0:00:05 > 0:00:07You've probably heard of Mumford & Sons.
0:00:07 > 0:00:09They're one of the biggest bands in the world.
0:00:10 > 0:00:12# And I will hold on hope
0:00:13 > 0:00:17# I won't let you choke... #
0:00:17 > 0:00:20They started in a London pub almost ten years ago,
0:00:20 > 0:00:24reviving a fashion for English folk music.
0:00:25 > 0:00:26# Tremble for yourself, my man,
0:00:26 > 0:00:29# You know that you have seen this all before... #
0:00:31 > 0:00:34But recently they've ditched their distinctive banjo sound
0:00:34 > 0:00:35for something more hard-edged.
0:00:36 > 0:00:40# Stare down at the wonder of it all
0:00:40 > 0:00:41# And I... #
0:00:41 > 0:00:43This is an important year for them.
0:00:43 > 0:00:45They've toured three continents
0:00:45 > 0:00:48and in July will headline at London's Hyde Park.
0:00:49 > 0:00:51And this month they release a new album,
0:00:51 > 0:00:56recorded in Johannesburg with one of Africa's most revered musicians.
0:00:57 > 0:01:01I feel a sort of possessive interest in the Mumfords,
0:01:01 > 0:01:04because their lead singer, Marcus Mumford,
0:01:04 > 0:01:08is married to the actress Carey Mulligan, who played me
0:01:08 > 0:01:11in the film of my life, An Education,
0:01:11 > 0:01:15so I've always kept a sort of maternal eye on their career.
0:01:16 > 0:01:20They rarely give interviews, but they've agreed to speak to me.
0:01:21 > 0:01:23So, I'm meeting up with Marcus...
0:01:23 > 0:01:25- Thanks for coming.- Nice to meet you.
0:01:25 > 0:01:26Ben...
0:01:26 > 0:01:28Ted...and Winston.
0:01:29 > 0:01:32Oh, sorry! THEY LAUGH
0:01:32 > 0:01:33Did we get that?
0:01:39 > 0:01:41DJEMBES ARE PLAYED
0:01:53 > 0:01:56VERSE SUNG IN PULAAR
0:01:59 > 0:02:04Mumford & Sons are rehearsing at Maidstone Studios in Kent.
0:02:05 > 0:02:08They are preparing for the first UK performance of songs written
0:02:08 > 0:02:10with their recent collaborators.
0:02:12 > 0:02:13# I know I love you now,
0:02:13 > 0:02:15# But will I love you then?
0:02:15 > 0:02:17# You can see in my eyes
0:02:17 > 0:02:19# It doesn't really matter
0:02:19 > 0:02:20# Cos man, I'm cold
0:02:20 > 0:02:22# Man, I'm toothless
0:02:22 > 0:02:25# My love, my heart is so suddenly useless... #
0:02:28 > 0:02:30It's the first time they played together
0:02:30 > 0:02:33since a sell-out tour of South Africa earlier this year.
0:02:35 > 0:02:36SINGING IN PULAAR
0:02:46 > 0:02:50Joining them on tour was Senegalese singer Babba Maal.
0:02:52 > 0:02:55BAABA SINGS IN PULAAR
0:03:00 > 0:03:05Is he like a, sort of, charismatic sort of guru figure?
0:03:05 > 0:03:07I think Baaba, despite the fact that he looks,
0:03:07 > 0:03:12- like, 20 years old, he's actually in his 60s and...- Is he? 60s?
0:03:12 > 0:03:14- Yeah, and he's just got so much experience.- Yeah.
0:03:14 > 0:03:18But also he is a sort of political, cultural leader.
0:03:18 > 0:03:24Yeah, and he's iconic, so you just know that, yeah, when he opens
0:03:24 > 0:03:27his mouth to talk or to sing, you know you've got to listen, so...
0:03:31 > 0:03:34Do you think, sort of, African music is the way to go now,
0:03:34 > 0:03:39cos you've, sort of, shopped around a bit with...
0:03:39 > 0:03:40THEY LAUGH
0:03:42 > 0:03:45..with musical styles, but, I mean, are you now committed to...?
0:03:45 > 0:03:48It was more of the human connection than the, sort of,
0:03:48 > 0:03:50pursuit of an African journey.
0:03:50 > 0:03:54The music is, kind of, our way of just bonding further with these
0:03:54 > 0:03:57people and it's not so much like a journey into Africa for us.
0:03:57 > 0:04:02It's more like Africa just happened to be the centre of where
0:04:02 > 0:04:05these new friendships are kind of...
0:04:05 > 0:04:07- We're pretty slutty with our tastes as well.- Are you?
0:04:07 > 0:04:11Yeah, we get around quite a lot, so we have a pretty broad taste,
0:04:11 > 0:04:12especially amongst the four of us.
0:04:12 > 0:04:15- We like a lot of different types of music.- But, but...
0:04:15 > 0:04:18But that leads to accusations that you're inauthentic,
0:04:18 > 0:04:21because it's very sort of pick and mix, you know,
0:04:21 > 0:04:23you start being folk and then you...
0:04:23 > 0:04:26Yeah, and I think we're of the generation where music,
0:04:26 > 0:04:30world music especially, is massively more accessible to us than it
0:04:30 > 0:04:33might have been to our parents' generation because of the internet.
0:04:33 > 0:04:37And so you can listen to any type of music you want to
0:04:37 > 0:04:38at the click of a button now.
0:04:38 > 0:04:40You don't have to go to a special record store to go
0:04:40 > 0:04:42and pick up, you know...
0:04:42 > 0:04:43Congolese jazz.
0:04:43 > 0:04:45But it's a bit phoney if you're sort of,
0:04:45 > 0:04:47"Oh, this week's Cuban music," "You know, next week..."
0:04:47 > 0:04:48MARCUS LAUGHS
0:04:48 > 0:04:52- Do know what I mean?- I wouldn't call it phoney, no. I think it's being enthusiastic...
0:04:52 > 0:04:55I value that music because it comes from a very specific location
0:04:55 > 0:04:58and then, as it were, you float in and say,
0:04:58 > 0:05:00"Oh, we're going to be African", or...
0:05:00 > 0:05:05Maybe only lyrically, if we started singing like,
0:05:05 > 0:05:07"Yeah, we're actual...we're Cubans"
0:05:07 > 0:05:09and we started saying that, that would mean...
0:05:09 > 0:05:10That would be a bit...
0:05:10 > 0:05:14- Yeah, melody, it, kind of, doesn't, I don't think it is attached to any country.- Yeah.
0:05:14 > 0:05:18- It's not like were going in and pretending to be African all of a sudden.- Yeah.- No.
0:05:18 > 0:05:22We're still being ourselves and using our songwriting, but just marrying it
0:05:22 > 0:05:26with other musical cultures, marrying it with different rhythms, for example,
0:05:26 > 0:05:30so the rhythms that we've explored on the songs on this mini-album
0:05:30 > 0:05:32that we've done, Johannesburg, are rhythms that we wouldn't
0:05:32 > 0:05:36have used probably on a Mumford & Sons album, but were introduced to us
0:05:36 > 0:05:39through collaboration with players from different places.
0:05:39 > 0:05:44And so that, sort of, broadens our spectrum in terms of, like, our...
0:05:44 > 0:05:45And we like it.
0:05:45 > 0:05:49We don't see any reason why we should be restricted to what we necessarily grew up with.
0:05:49 > 0:05:51I mean, we grew up playing jazz.
0:05:51 > 0:05:55- You know, and we're not a jazz band. - You were at school together. - He grew up playing heavy metal.
0:05:55 > 0:05:57- Oh, right.- He grew up playing blues. - Oh, right.
0:05:57 > 0:06:00But folk was how you, sort of, started from that?
0:06:00 > 0:06:02Yeah, as a band, it was, yeah.
0:06:03 > 0:06:06# Roll away your stone, I'll roll away mine
0:06:09 > 0:06:13# Together we can see what we will find
0:06:16 > 0:06:20# Don't leave me alone at this time
0:06:23 > 0:06:28# For I am afraid of what I will discover inside... #
0:06:32 > 0:06:34We were all playing, sort of, acoustic instruments
0:06:34 > 0:06:37and were in London at the same time all together
0:06:37 > 0:06:39and started with that.
0:06:40 > 0:06:43Everyone was playing every type of instrument playing, like,
0:06:43 > 0:06:46banjos and we were, kind of, the backing band to a lot of bands.
0:06:46 > 0:06:49- Right.- And so...- Kept getting fired, though.- Kept getting fired.
0:06:49 > 0:06:53- Was Laura Marling the, sort of, glue in the beginning? - A huge part of that.
0:06:53 > 0:06:54- Huge part of that.- Yeah.
0:06:58 > 0:07:00# Your beauty is beyond compare
0:07:00 > 0:07:03# With flaming locks of auburn hair
0:07:03 > 0:07:06# Ivory skin and eyes of emerald green... #
0:07:06 > 0:07:08When we did finally become a band,
0:07:08 > 0:07:10she brought us on tour for a long time.
0:07:10 > 0:07:11Our first US tour.
0:07:11 > 0:07:14First couple of UK runs...
0:07:14 > 0:07:16She was very generous with our band.
0:07:16 > 0:07:19# Jolene, Jolene, Jolene... #
0:07:19 > 0:07:25In 2009, the band self-financed their debut album, Sigh No More.
0:07:27 > 0:07:31# Cos you told me that I would find a hope
0:07:33 > 0:07:38# Within the fragile substance of my soul
0:07:40 > 0:07:45# And I have filled this void with things unreal... #
0:07:45 > 0:07:49It sold millions, was nominated for the Mercury music prize
0:07:49 > 0:07:52and won Album of the Year at the Brit Awards.
0:07:52 > 0:07:54Everything got much bigger,
0:07:54 > 0:07:57quicker than we had expected or ever imagined.
0:07:57 > 0:07:59What do you mean, in terms of scale...
0:07:59 > 0:08:01- Scale, yeah. - Yeah.
0:08:01 > 0:08:05We never really thought that hard about the name of the band or any of those kind of things.
0:08:05 > 0:08:10And you've said, that you regret that the name Mumford & Sons
0:08:10 > 0:08:12because it singles you out.
0:08:12 > 0:08:15Well, you just don't... When you're starting out as a band, like,
0:08:15 > 0:08:1721-year-olds in a pub in London, you...
0:08:17 > 0:08:18You just don't think!
0:08:18 > 0:08:23You don't imagine ever getting much further than Brighton.
0:08:23 > 0:08:27And then, suddenly, we had this thing that we were kind of,
0:08:27 > 0:08:29not uncomfortable with, but stuck with,
0:08:29 > 0:08:32and we didn't like being stuck in a hole.
0:08:33 > 0:08:37# But it was not your fault, but mine
0:08:37 > 0:08:40# And it was your heart on the line ... #
0:08:40 > 0:08:43English folksy,
0:08:43 > 0:08:47fresh off the farm in hay carts or something,
0:08:47 > 0:08:52that had become a bit of an exaggerated stance and...
0:08:52 > 0:08:54It came up in every interview we were doing.
0:08:54 > 0:08:56- Yes.- And we were aware of the problems...
0:08:56 > 0:08:58What, you were being accused of being sort of...
0:08:58 > 0:09:00Not really accused, just people talked about it a lot.
0:09:00 > 0:09:04We had taken photographs in 2007, just wearing whatever we had lying
0:09:04 > 0:09:07around - suddenly became the image that was projected around
0:09:07 > 0:09:10- the world... - You were stuck with?- Way more than we had expected it to be.- Yes.
0:09:10 > 0:09:13And all of our singles that were on the radio
0:09:13 > 0:09:15- had pretty prominent banjo parts... - Yeah.
0:09:15 > 0:09:18And that was the kind of most recognisable instrument to people.
0:09:18 > 0:09:20So people just kept using the word "banjo" around us
0:09:20 > 0:09:24and kept talking about, you know, exactly the things that you
0:09:24 > 0:09:27just said and we thought it was quite funny, so we decided to
0:09:27 > 0:09:30parody it with some friends who we thought were really funny.
0:09:42 > 0:09:46With that video, you blew it apart.
0:09:47 > 0:09:52Sort of took the mickey out of your own
0:09:52 > 0:09:56folksy, English hayseed image.
0:09:56 > 0:10:01And that showed that you were aware that you had maybe gone as far
0:10:01 > 0:10:05as you could go down that path and you were ready for another path?
0:10:05 > 0:10:07Wasn't comedy, but, yeah!
0:10:07 > 0:10:08THEY LAUGH
0:10:13 > 0:10:16# And my ears hear the call of my unborn sons
0:10:16 > 0:10:21# And I know my choices colour all I've done... #
0:10:23 > 0:10:28In 2013, you announced an indefinite hiatus
0:10:28 > 0:10:32- and it was obviously a bit of a traumatic year... - May I just jump in?
0:10:32 > 0:10:35Because that was a quote that came from me having a conversation
0:10:35 > 0:10:38with a journalist from The Rolling Stone America.
0:10:38 > 0:10:40- Right.- And I said, "We are going to take some time off.
0:10:40 > 0:10:44"And what it definitely isn't is an indefinite hiatus."
0:10:44 > 0:10:45Oh, really! SHE LAUGHS
0:10:45 > 0:10:47- OK. - And so, that got taken and then
0:10:47 > 0:10:52the words "indefinite hiatus" were inverted, as is the way.
0:10:52 > 0:10:56So ... Yeah, no, we never felt like we were taking an indefinite hiatus.
0:10:56 > 0:11:00We just thought that after what was by that point, five or six
0:11:00 > 0:11:02- years on the road... - You needed a break?
0:11:02 > 0:11:06- It would be good to take a couple of months out.- I think we were... We were just exhausted.
0:11:06 > 0:11:08- Yeah.- I think it's like, most bands
0:11:08 > 0:11:10do generally have a little rest every now and then.
0:11:10 > 0:11:12And it never occurred to us to do that.
0:11:12 > 0:11:15Until 2013. Whenever it was, yes.
0:11:15 > 0:11:20But you actually said, it's all over and then your PRs picked it up
0:11:20 > 0:11:22and said, oh, no!
0:11:22 > 0:11:24So, did you actually think it was all over?
0:11:24 > 0:11:27I genuinely got into the catering industry.
0:11:27 > 0:11:28And had a great time.
0:11:28 > 0:11:30What were you going to do as a caterer?
0:11:30 > 0:11:33Well, the business itself didn't go very well,
0:11:33 > 0:11:35but I took a lot of joy out of it and...
0:11:35 > 0:11:39- Yeah...- Well, we were just continuing the cycle.
0:11:39 > 0:11:42Well, no, talking about the time that we ...
0:11:42 > 0:11:44LAUGHTER
0:11:44 > 0:11:47Inevitably, the band's personal lives have also been
0:11:47 > 0:11:49the subject of press attention.
0:11:50 > 0:11:54I noticed a photograph of you and Carey Mulligan on the Tube,
0:11:54 > 0:11:56quite recently.
0:11:56 > 0:12:01- Yeah!- And I mean, that sounds like a daring thing to do, was it?
0:12:01 > 0:12:02Did it feel like that?
0:12:02 > 0:12:05No, it doesn't feel very, no, it doesn't feel very daring.
0:12:05 > 0:12:09- OK.- Yeah. We make pretty intentional choices so we don't have to ...
0:12:09 > 0:12:12Because we want to play music, we don't want to be famous.
0:12:12 > 0:12:14Well, our reason for doing this is just to play music.
0:12:14 > 0:12:19People who do want to be famous maintain that I hate being famous,
0:12:19 > 0:12:23but I can't help it that outside my hotel are a billion girls
0:12:23 > 0:12:27screaming their heads off. But actually, I always believed
0:12:27 > 0:12:30that the PR has summoned the screaming girls, as it were.
0:12:30 > 0:12:33There are decisions you can make to intentionally try
0:12:33 > 0:12:34and avoid that stuff.
0:12:34 > 0:12:35Yeah, but, screaming girls ...
0:12:35 > 0:12:38LAUGHTER
0:12:38 > 0:12:43Do you know that your wife played me in a film?
0:12:43 > 0:12:44I did know that.
0:12:44 > 0:12:45- You did?- I did know that.
0:12:45 > 0:12:49- And does she happy memories of that? - She does.- OK.- She does, indeed.
0:12:49 > 0:12:50OK, thanks.
0:12:57 > 0:12:58# Wide-eyed
0:13:01 > 0:13:03# With a heart made full of fright... #
0:13:04 > 0:13:08Well, then you slightly reinvented yourselves for Wilder Mind,
0:13:08 > 0:13:09didn't you?
0:13:09 > 0:13:12And all started turning up in motorcycles
0:13:12 > 0:13:18and leather jackets and trying to look not banjo-y.
0:13:18 > 0:13:19As it were.
0:13:19 > 0:13:21THEY LAUGH
0:13:33 > 0:13:34# Sister,
0:13:36 > 0:13:39# You better keep the wolf back from the door
0:13:42 > 0:13:46# He wanders ever closer every night... #
0:13:47 > 0:13:49Was that a sort of conscious decision,
0:13:49 > 0:13:52or were you just a bit, you were saying let's try something new?
0:13:52 > 0:13:55It's been well-documented that we have worn leather jackets
0:13:55 > 0:13:57for our entire musical careers.
0:13:57 > 0:13:58- Oh, you have?!- Yeah.
0:13:58 > 0:14:00Yeah.
0:14:00 > 0:14:03- Yeah... - LAUGHTER
0:14:03 > 0:14:05No, it was one of those things, we...
0:14:05 > 0:14:09After having that hiatus that was indefinite or definite,
0:14:09 > 0:14:12whatever, we just created space and time to write
0:14:12 > 0:14:16and it was the first time we had really done that as a band.
0:14:16 > 0:14:19So, inevitably, we were going to evolve.
0:14:19 > 0:14:21And it wasn't, I don't know, it wasn't
0:14:21 > 0:14:24really a reactionary thing, it was just an inevitability, I think.
0:14:26 > 0:14:33# Hold my gaze love, you know I want to let it go
0:14:33 > 0:14:38# We will stare down at the wonder of it all... #
0:14:38 > 0:14:44Am I right in saying Wilder Mind was a more considered album,
0:14:44 > 0:14:48that you spent more time over, is that right?
0:14:48 > 0:14:50- Definitely. - THEY CHUCKLE
0:14:50 > 0:14:52With the writing of the album, we had a lot of time to
0:14:52 > 0:14:54reflect on lyrics, but at the same time,
0:14:54 > 0:14:57a lot of the origination of a lot of those lyrics was
0:14:57 > 0:15:02stream of consciousness, very quick and then they stuck.
0:15:02 > 0:15:08Do you have any sort of, voting system, as it were,
0:15:08 > 0:15:11saying, I like that line and I think that's rubbish?
0:15:11 > 0:15:14- Yeah.- I mean, how does that work? - Yeah, we do. We've had to...
0:15:14 > 0:15:17I think it has taken us a few albums to get better at it, as well.
0:15:17 > 0:15:20- Yeah.- Now we will feel a bit more secure around each other to be able
0:15:20 > 0:15:23to say, I love you, dude, but that's a crap line!
0:15:23 > 0:15:28Cos it's quite a vulnerable thing, you know, offering up what
0:15:28 > 0:15:32you've created to someone for them to criticise it to your face.
0:15:32 > 0:15:35And once a lyric got all four of us to sign off, then it was a keeper.
0:15:35 > 0:15:38A lot of Shakespeare gets in, doesn't it? Um...
0:15:38 > 0:15:39Well, it's free!
0:15:39 > 0:15:42You can just nick it, it's great.
0:15:42 > 0:15:46Can I please ask what the lyrics of Little Lion Man are?
0:15:46 > 0:15:49THEY LAUGH
0:15:49 > 0:15:52# Weep for yourself, my man
0:15:52 > 0:15:56# You'll never be what is in your heart... #
0:15:56 > 0:15:58- CROWD SINGS ALONG - # And weep, little lion man
0:15:58 > 0:16:02# You're not as brave as you were at the start
0:16:04 > 0:16:06# Well, rate yourself and rake yourself
0:16:06 > 0:16:09# Take all the courage you have left
0:16:11 > 0:16:14# And waste it on fixing all the problems that you made
0:16:14 > 0:16:17# In your own head... #
0:16:17 > 0:16:19I mean, do you get people writing theses
0:16:19 > 0:16:22- on the meaning of your lyrics? - Ha-ha!- Cos I've been sort of
0:16:22 > 0:16:24going through them, thinking, "What does that mean?"
0:16:24 > 0:16:27I get phone calls from my mum. She's like, "Is everything OK?"
0:16:27 > 0:16:29LAUGHTER
0:16:29 > 0:16:33- No, it didn't make me think that, but why Little Lion Man?- Ha-ha!
0:16:33 > 0:16:37- Whose...? Was that you, Marcus? - Er, I think it was, yeah.
0:16:37 > 0:16:40- I think it was me. - Little "lie-in" man, cos...
0:16:40 > 0:16:43- I love a lie-in.- ..he was always oversleeping and missing bus call.
0:16:43 > 0:16:47Oh, OK, cos I read something about it was from Chretien de Troyes
0:16:47 > 0:16:51and it was, er, I don't know, a medieval saga or something.
0:16:51 > 0:16:54- Anyway, to get back to... - That sounds cool!
0:16:54 > 0:16:56- Let's say that, yeah, yeah! - LAUGHTER
0:16:56 > 0:16:57Can you write that down?
0:16:57 > 0:17:00# It's not your fault, but mine
0:17:00 > 0:17:04# And it was your heart on the line
0:17:04 > 0:17:08# I really fucked it up this time
0:17:08 > 0:17:12# Didn't I, my dear?
0:17:12 > 0:17:13CHEERING
0:17:13 > 0:17:17# Didn't I, my...dear? #
0:17:17 > 0:17:18HUGE CHEER
0:17:19 > 0:17:23You're keen on touring and touring leads to collaboration,
0:17:23 > 0:17:26because you meet other interesting musicians.
0:17:26 > 0:17:30- Do you find it sort of musically nourishing to...?- Massively so.
0:17:30 > 0:17:34I think this band, ultimately, is a collaboration in its own way.
0:17:34 > 0:17:37You know, we just consider ourselves to be four collaborators
0:17:37 > 0:17:40and so we welcome people to the party.
0:17:40 > 0:17:42They've played with musical giants
0:17:42 > 0:17:47like Ray Davies, Elvis Costello and Bob Dylan and, every year,
0:17:47 > 0:17:52host a series of festivals in places off the usual gig circuit.
0:17:53 > 0:17:55- CHEERING - You all right?
0:17:55 > 0:17:57We're very excited to be here in Lewes!
0:17:59 > 0:18:02The line-up has included bands like The Flaming Lips,
0:18:02 > 0:18:04the Foo Fighters and The Vaccines.
0:18:06 > 0:18:10We love collaborating with all types of artists and some you
0:18:10 > 0:18:13would've never heard of and some you might've done, but for us,
0:18:13 > 0:18:15it's just meeting a new person with their own stories
0:18:15 > 0:18:19and own skills and you make music together and it's a really...
0:18:19 > 0:18:21- It is a very kind of enriching experience.- Yeah.
0:18:23 > 0:18:26HE SINGS IN PULAAR
0:18:30 > 0:18:32Their collaboration with Baaba Maal
0:18:32 > 0:18:35is one of their most adventurous to date.
0:18:37 > 0:18:41He has been singing for over four decades, is one of Senegal's finest
0:18:41 > 0:18:46musicians and, in his home country, is regarded as a cultural leader.
0:18:47 > 0:18:52I was very, very surprised to see these guys, er...
0:18:52 > 0:18:54to be very, very open,
0:18:54 > 0:18:58not just on the music, but like, human beings,
0:18:58 > 0:19:02because they go easily to people to talk to them
0:19:02 > 0:19:05and, er, to their audience, when Marcus jumps on the stage,
0:19:05 > 0:19:08and go into the audience, and to go give himself to the audience,
0:19:08 > 0:19:11it's something... it's an example of that.
0:19:11 > 0:19:14When I see them, with their crew that they're working with,
0:19:14 > 0:19:16it's not just the people who come to work for you,
0:19:16 > 0:19:21it's the people who go together in a kind of process, in a project.
0:19:21 > 0:19:23This is everything that I saw in these guys
0:19:23 > 0:19:27and I think this is why we became friends, because they were
0:19:27 > 0:19:31very open, very respectable to me and to all these people.
0:19:31 > 0:19:34# There is a time, a time to love
0:19:34 > 0:19:37# A time to sing, a time to shine
0:19:37 > 0:19:41# A time to leave A time to stay... #
0:19:41 > 0:19:44As soon as he opened his mouth to sing something,
0:19:44 > 0:19:47he has everyone's attention and then, that really led us
0:19:47 > 0:19:50to making this song that we made, like...
0:19:50 > 0:19:52- Yeah.- We had a few chords we started playing around with
0:19:52 > 0:19:54and, when something inspires him, he starts singing
0:19:54 > 0:19:57and you've got to press record, cos that'll be it, you know,
0:19:57 > 0:20:00all in one take, then, as a result of what he's sang over a few chords
0:20:00 > 0:20:02we're playing around with, we then wrote the whole song...
0:20:02 > 0:20:04- Right.- ..There Will Be Time.
0:20:04 > 0:20:08CHANTS IN PULAAR
0:20:10 > 0:20:13SINGS IN PULAAR
0:20:16 > 0:20:20And you actually recorded an EP in two days flat?
0:20:20 > 0:20:22I mean, that is extraordinary, isn't it? Is that normal?
0:20:22 > 0:20:26It was... Yeah, er... Well, er, I don't know if it's normal.
0:20:26 > 0:20:27- It's not normal for us.- No.
0:20:27 > 0:20:30It was the first time we'd done something that quickly.
0:20:30 > 0:20:32Does is it make a sort of spontaneity?
0:20:32 > 0:20:35Yeah, and it gives you an urgency that you might not get
0:20:35 > 0:20:37if you were in some fancy studio in London...
0:20:37 > 0:20:40- Yeah.- ..or in Los Angeles for weeks on end, you know.- Yeah.
0:20:40 > 0:20:44We're just in somewhere which is pretty restricted technology-wise,
0:20:44 > 0:20:48in terms of the studio itself, like a lot of stuff we had to bring in...
0:20:48 > 0:20:50- Yeah.- ..recording gear and stuff like that.
0:20:50 > 0:20:54And also, the fact that we had two days to try and do four songs,
0:20:54 > 0:20:56which we did, we just worked really hard
0:20:56 > 0:21:00and there weren't any distractions, cos we were basically in a bunker...
0:21:00 > 0:21:04- Yeah.- ..and, er, and, yeah, it was really exciting.
0:21:04 > 0:21:07- You seem to be writing the lyrics sort of on the hoof?- Yeah, we did.
0:21:07 > 0:21:09- Yeah, we did a lot. - Perhaps that's why
0:21:09 > 0:21:12I can't understand what they mean? LAUGHTER
0:21:18 > 0:21:20HE SINGS IN PULAAR
0:21:33 > 0:21:36PULAAR CONTINUES
0:21:41 > 0:21:44# In the cold light I learn to love and adore you
0:21:44 > 0:21:47# It's all that I am It's all that I have
0:21:47 > 0:21:51# And in the cold light, I live I'll only live for you
0:21:51 > 0:21:54# It's all that I am It's all that I have... #
0:21:57 > 0:21:59SINGING IN PULAAR
0:21:59 > 0:22:01HARMONISING
0:22:01 > 0:22:06PULAAR CONTINUES
0:22:11 > 0:22:15HARMONISING
0:22:15 > 0:22:18But isn't this thing, and with some of these world music things
0:22:18 > 0:22:22that you've been talking about, that you have to be authentic,
0:22:22 > 0:22:27you have to sort of be in that world, and - shock, horror -
0:22:27 > 0:22:33- when Bob Dylan played, um, electric music...- Mm-hm.- Yeah.
0:22:33 > 0:22:36..it sort of felt like people's world falling apart.
0:22:36 > 0:22:38- I mean...- There's a lot of examples of that.
0:22:38 > 0:22:41- Yeah.- A hell of a lot of examples in jazz music.
0:22:41 > 0:22:44A lot of people thought, every time someone came out with something new,
0:22:44 > 0:22:47whether it was swing, or bebop, or fusion, it was always, like,
0:22:47 > 0:22:49- "You're a heretic!" - Yeah!- "You've completely
0:22:49 > 0:22:51"torn down the walls that we've got to know and trust!"
0:22:51 > 0:22:55- And we were this tight little gang!- Yeah, so, actually...
0:22:55 > 0:22:59But those were some of the biggest heroes of those supposed genres,
0:22:59 > 0:23:03- right, so Dylan is still regarded as one of the best...- Yeah.
0:23:03 > 0:23:06..kind of folk musician storytellers of our time.
0:23:06 > 0:23:10Miles Davis, who constantly broke down those laws. Or Charlie Parker.
0:23:10 > 0:23:13You know, I think, for us, we just want to make sure we're constantly
0:23:13 > 0:23:16being honest about our expression and we're making music that
0:23:16 > 0:23:20we like and we care about, rather than necessarily serving...
0:23:20 > 0:23:23- Yeah.- ..to sort of whatever people think they want to hear from us.
0:23:23 > 0:23:26- Yeah.- You know, we're taking the front foot with our music
0:23:26 > 0:23:28and, hopefully, we'll always do that.
0:23:28 > 0:23:31Isn't it you who said something about you hate the banjo,
0:23:31 > 0:23:34but also, you love the banjo?
0:23:34 > 0:23:36I mean, what...? LAUGHTER
0:23:36 > 0:23:39I've got a very short attention span.
0:23:39 > 0:23:41- Oh, OK! So you can hate it... - So I love it again now!
0:23:41 > 0:23:43Oh, do you? OK! LAUGHTER
0:23:43 > 0:23:45Now I hate it. ..Now I love it!
0:23:47 > 0:23:50SINGING IN PULAAR
0:23:50 > 0:23:53# There is a time, a time to love
0:23:53 > 0:23:56# A time to sing, a time to shine
0:23:56 > 0:23:59# A time to play, a time to work
0:23:59 > 0:24:02# There is a time, a time to cry
0:24:02 > 0:24:05# A time to love, a time to live
0:24:05 > 0:24:08# There is a time, a time to sing
0:24:08 > 0:24:11# A time to love... #
0:24:11 > 0:24:15I read somewhere that you're meant to be collaborating with Kanye West?
0:24:15 > 0:24:17Is that going to happen? SOFT LAUGHTER
0:24:17 > 0:24:19He hasn't called us back!
0:24:19 > 0:24:21So, basically, forget it, I would say!
0:24:21 > 0:24:22LAUGHTER
0:24:22 > 0:24:24Well, thank you. Thank you all very much.
0:24:24 > 0:24:27I very much enjoyed meeting you.
0:24:27 > 0:24:30- Thank you very much.- Thank you. - Thank you.- OK, thanks!
0:24:53 > 0:24:56- MUSIC STOPS, CHEERING - Thank you!