Local Natives: Leaning on your mates through the hard times

“We’d worked through all of these personal things like grief and depression and then re-found joy in making this album together.”

Local Natives singer-songwriter Taylor Rice chatted to CALM following the release of the band’s brilliant new album Time Will Wait For No One. Taylor told us that the record was born out of some difficult times, how friendship got them through and why we should all lean on our mates a little more.

It’s been 14 years since Californian indie rock band Local Natives released their debut album and over that time they’ve become super close mates. When lockdown pulled apart this close knit group, they were going through some big personal challenges, struggling with grief, depression and isolation. It brought home just how much they lean on one another for support. Taylor says:

“I met Ryan when I was 12 and we started playing guitar together. Then I met Kelcey when we were 15. Seeing each other’s been a huge part of our lives, so when Covid happened it was really hard because we ended up spending the longest time apart since we met. A lot of people experienced how difficult it was not seeing friends.

“When we reconnected everybody took a pause and took stock of their lives. We came back together in my backyard with acoustic instruments and that was how the record started. It felt like how we created our first record, when we all lived in a house together.”

This sparked an album about the passing of time, an ode to their friendship and how it’s evolved over the years. Time Will Wait For No One was mostly written in Taylor’s back garden at the end of lockdown, when the friends were finally able to hang out again.

“I think the story of how we support each other comes after a pretty hard period of isolation where everyone was just in their own world taking care of their own families. The album is called Time Will Wait for No one and the end of that line is “but I'll wait for you”. A lot of the themes tie to feeling stuck in time, because Covid felt like this weird freeze.

“When people reflect back on those couple of years they feel like a black hole, because it felt like time stopped, even though in reality everyone was going through shifts and changes. It was this force that changed everything and within that was the choice that you make - what to do with your life and what's important to you. Our creative relationship is like a family, so for us it was our friendship and creativity that mattered.”

"A lot of the themes tie to feeling stuck in time, because Covid felt like this weird freeze."

Taylor champions connecting with friends and knows how valuable these relationships can be in making the shit stuff in life a bit easier.

“I do this thing called small group with a few friends where we get together once a week and it’s this deep conversation about what’s happening with everyone. That space has been an amazing support to help me deal with whatever I’m going through.

“Reaching out is so valuable, as is finding the people you feel like you can share everything with, where you’re not embarrassed or ashamed to feel what you’re feeling. Sharing that stuff with people you love can only help you through things. Everybody should do it, because it really helps.”

"Sharing that stuff with people you love can only help you through things. Everybody should do it, because it really helps."

It’s also why Taylor wants to shout out our life-saving services for making sure people don’t have to deal with things on their own. He thinks the sense of community and support that charities like CALM give to people can be really beneficial.

“Community really helps, because if you’re dealing with something on your own it builds up and goes undetected. After the band’s own experience dealing with depression and mental health issues, we know how important it is to shine a light on these things, because you really don’t need to suffer alone. It’s the first step towards getting through it.”

Time Will Wait For No One is out now - check out Local Natives’ latest album and check in with a mate who might need it.