Mumford & Sons have shared the powerful advice that Neil Young gave them during the early years of their career, telling them, “You’ve got it all wrong, man”.
While speaking to the Daily Star newspaper as part of their Wired column (via Music News), the band’s frontman, Marcus Mumford, opened up about how they used to be focused on their live performances until the ‘Old Man’ hitmaker had them re-evaluate their priorities.
“I guess the first few years of our life as a band, we were like, ‘We’re touring musicians who need to make adverts for our life shows’. That’s what the records are,” Mumford told the publication.
He continued: “I remember I said that to Neil Young once, and he was like, ‘You’ve got it all wrong, man. Your live shows aren’t the things that are going to last. They’re moments in time and experiences that are beautiful and great, but your recordings are going to last. So you need to pay attention to how you record music’.”
Today (March 28), Mumford & Sons released their fifth album ‘Rushmere’, which marked their first new LP in seven years. The band’s frontman also revealed that he and his bandmates, Ted Dwane and Ben Lovett, stepped away from using any kind of social media during the creation of the album as a way to avoid being influenced by outside feedback.
“This is the first time I’ve put anything out and actually done what artists always say they’re going to do, which is not to read anything or look at anything. So I’m off it all. I feel really great,” he told the Daily Star.
He continued: “I took Twitter off my phone. It’s one of the best things I’ve ever done. I haven’t looked up any of it – and I’m like in blissful ignorance. I’ll see the feedback at the shows when we start playing. Historically, our band has always judged our success on ticket sales more than anything else, not comments.”
Mumford went on to confess that the folk rockers are “addicts” when it comes to performing live. “Let’s just see what the audience is like and how people feel about our music live, because that’s our only real way,” he added.
Later this year, Mumford & Sons will embark on a massive UK and European arena tour which will kick off in November and wrap up in early December. You can visit here to check out a full list of dates and here to purchase tickets.
The band have implemented a £1 donation to Live Trust for every ticket sold for the UK dates, with the money going to the new funding initiative from LIVE that offers financial support to those working in live music. They have also partnered with PLUS1 so that £1 from every ticket sold will go to War Child.
They are also set to embark on a 32-date North American arena and amphitheater tour later this summer. You can visit here to purchase tickets. The tours are in support of their new album ‘Rushmere’.
In other news, Jimmy Fallon recently gave a hilariously long intro for Mumford & Sons on The Tonight Show after Marcus Mumford called the host out over his painfully short intro for the band on Saturday Night Live‘s 50th anniversary concert, earlier this year.