This young band began as school mates in GCSE Music and developed into a five piece band with a recognised sound which has opened the doors for them musically.
The Native originated when vocalist, Charlie Noordewier, and guitarist, Ben Andrew, met at secondary school. Over the years new members joined including Tom Booth, Harry Youngs and Fergus Segrove.
They released their first EP in 2018 called “Fall Down” and have gone on to create a collection of singles and a new EP “Looking Back” which was finalised this August.
The band stated the first EP they released was a collection of songs Charlie and Ben had written in GCSE music lessons. They started playing in and around Plymouth quickly realising their sound had evolved from dreamy folk style to indie rock. They continued performing and writing as much as possible and said it “snowballed from there”.
The bands musical influences are The War On Drugs, Wolf Alice, Fleetwood Mac, Haim, DMA’s and said if they could perform with any artist it would be Kings Of Leon.
The Native supported Bastille on their Give Me The Future Tour and said: “It was an insane experience. We were lucky enough to play some huge venues and all of the Bastille lot were so sound and welcoming. We cannot wait to go back on tour with them!”
The band stated Reading had been their favourite festival to perform at. They said: “We weren’t sure if anyone was going to come down but the tent was packed and the crowd had so much energy. We managed to catch a load of other class acts that weekend as well”.
Their latest EP was a collection of songs the group had been working on for a few months, apart from “All Or Nothing” which is a track they had been playing for a few years.
Their favourite track from the new EP is “Looking Back”. They explained:”When we first wrote it it never really stood out to us as a single, we didn’t think much of it until we started playing it live on the Bastille tour and it became the highlight of the set. It’s amazing to see the effect its had on people”.
They have found working with John Cornfield who worked with them on their previous EP, “Signals”, that they all just get in the room together and play everything live. It helps them to capture the energy of the tracks and create a raw feel to them. They add in a few overdubs afterwards but most of the recordings are done live, in one take.
The band have had a packed summer of festivals, but are excited to play some headline shows which they have not done before.
The Native are performing in Nottingham on December 12 at The Bodega.
When discussing their gig in Nottingham they said: “We can’t wait! Being our first Nottingham show we are really looking forward to see what is in store!”
The band are heading back on the road supporting Bastille on their European tour, they have their own headlining tour coming this December and lots of new music to share with some new songs to be played at their upcoming shows.
Image Credits: The Native