Colorado indie stalwarts the Lumineers have had a breakout few years, vaulting themselves into the upper echelons of mile-high pop-folk. Their hits “Ho Hey” and “Stubborn Love” remain permanent radio fixtures four years after their release. Colorado Public Radio’s Ryan Warner recently spoke with frontman Wesley Schultz and percussionist Jeremiah Fraites: Here are some highlights from that interview:
On if they get sick of hearing "Ho Hey":
Fraites: "I don't think I've ever get sick of any of our music. ... Songs like 'Ho Hey' and 'Stubborn Love,' they really gave us the keys to the world. They allowed us to tour to foreign countries and allowed us to shine light on the rest of the songs off that album."
Schultz: "To this day, it's still being played. That's odd to me because I don't know if any song deserves that much play. That's not natural. ... We would stick it second or third of every set eventually because we had a whole album that we were proud of and connected with. I felt like, if that's what you're here for, then here, I'll make it easy for you. Then you can leave after that or you can stay and see what else is on this record."
Fraites on the band's name:
"We were sort of given the name. You don't chose your first name when you are born and it's kind of the same thing. We were under a different moniker... 'Wesley Jeremiah.' The [announcer at a club who had his weeks messed up] said, 'Up next, Lumineers are playing' ... We started playing our set and, maybe that night or a couple days after, we thought, that name was pretty cool."
Schultz on the story behind "Gun Song":
"This song was [from] the time when my dad had just passed away -- so soon after that that the clothes were still in his drawers. And so, I was running late for work and realized I didn't have black socks. I knew I'd be sent home without those. I was a bartender at a pretty crappy job. I ended up reaching into his sock drawer in a hurry... and unexpectedly pulling out his pistol that I didn't know he ever had. I was disappointed I couldn't ask him about it... and what else did I not know about this person that I supposedly so close with."
