Local Natives Biography

Local Natives (previously known as Cavil at Rest) are an indie rock band based in Silver Lake, Los Angeles, USA. Their debut album, Gorilla Manor, was first released in the UK in November 2009, and later released in the US on February 16, 2010. The album received mostly positive reviews and debuted in the Billboard 200 and at No. 3 in the New Artist Chart. The Local Natives were at many times mentioned to be a "band with magical powers."
Their sound has been described as "afropop-influenced guitars with hyperactive drumming and hooky three-part harmonies". Clash Music has also described their style as psych folk, or modern worldly folk.

The band came together in Orange County, where Kelcey Ayer, Ryan Hahn, and Taylor Rice attended Tesoro High School. One year after graduating college at UCLA, they were joined by bassist Andy Hamm and drummer Matt Frazier. In December 2008, they all moved to a house in Silver Lake and started work on their debut album.
The self-funded Gorilla Manor was recorded by Raymond Richards in his own Red Rockets Glare Studio, in West Los Angeles, and was produced by Richards and the band.
Everything the band creates comes from a complete collaboration between their members, from songwriting to artwork. Their debut album, Gorilla Manor, was named after the house they all shared in Orange County, where most of the album was written. “It was insanely messy and there were always friends over knocking around on guitars or our thrift store piano,” said Hahn. “It was an incredible experience and I’ll never forget that time.”
The band started to attract the attention of the music press after playing nine shows at the 2009 SXSW festival in Austin, Texas, where initial reviews drew favorable comparisons to Arcade Fire, Fleet Foxes, and Vampire Weekend, as well a "sort of a West Coast Grizzly Bear."
In 2011, they embarked on a European tour, served as opening act for Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros, and made their debut in Australia at St Jerome's Laneway Festival
It was announced March 18, 2011 that the band had parted ways with bassist Andy Hamm.
At Lollapalooza the band announced that they built a new studio and are working on completing their second full length album.