It’s been a big few months for Plymouth quintet The Native. Having signed to This Feeling Records they’ve played all the big festivals this year and recently released their new EP ‘Looking Back’. We had a chat with Harry from the band to find out more….

Hello! How are you, and where are you in the world answering these questions?

Good thanks. We’re currently in Plymouth where we’re all from, it’s nice to be back for a couple of weeks

Let’s get started right at the beginning – can you tell us how the band got together?

Ben and Charlie met in school and formed a duo. They wrote songs in GCSE music class and recorded the first EP. Then when it came to gigging they decided to form a band and it all snowballed from there…

What was it like being in a band in Plymouth – is there a good Indie scene down there?

There’s a great love of music in Plymouth and some really good bands. The main problem is that you either play to 200 or 4000 in Plymouth – there’s not really a venue in the middle capacity wise.

You’ve recently signed up with This Feeling Records to release your new EP ‘Looking Back’, how did that come about?

Mikey and the rest of the This Feeing lot have always been super supportive since we released the Chasing Highs EP in 2020. They put on a load of shows for us on our first ever ‘mini tour’. Then at the start of this year we sent over the demos for the new EP and one thing led to another I guess .

‘Looking Back’ was produced by John Cornfield and Adrian Bushby who have one or two decent credits to there name to say the least! How did it come about to get those involved?

John is from the South West like us,  I can’t really remember how it came about but we’d been trying songs with different people and when we worked with John we all felt like it was a really good match. Working with John was amazing, he’s got so many good stories and he’s a ridiculously talented engineer too. Adrian I think was a contact through our management and he really helped bring the songs to life.

How would you describe the EP to our readers who may not have listened to it yet?

That’s a hard one, I’d say it’s an EP about reflection and looking at improving your own situation. Sonically, it’s big guitars and fat grooves.

You’ve been doing the festival circuit this summer playing some huge events – Leeds / Truck / IOW etc. How has that been and what has been your highlight?

It’s been really good playing to so many new people each weekend. Pretty exhausting at points but we’ve loved every festival. The highlight was Reading for sure, I think it’s the best festival show we’ve ever done. 

How do you find playing festivals as opposed to your own shows?

It’s a really different vibe. Love how sociable festivals are with so many bands knocking around and also you get the chance to see some good music. Our headline shows are usually in small sweaty rooms so it’s a different vibe to a big tent. Love both though!!

What’s next for the band – any more new music planned? An album? Any more tours?

We’re touring Europe in November with Bastille then doing our first headline show in Berlin too. Also off on another UK headline tour in December, so grab your tickets if there’s still some left. We’re still quite a way off the debut album so I’m not sure what’s next, definitely more music though!