Los Angeles based band Local Natives have been steadily building up a head of steam over the last couple of years. Their 2009 debut, Gorilla Manor, was followed up by the release earlier this year of the critically acclaimed Hummingbird. Over a bad telephone line from Georgia in the good ol' US of A we spoke to drummer Matt Frazier about their new album, working with The National's Aaron Dessner and losing their gear at this year's Longitude Festival.

As a band, Local Natives are known for dealing with emotionally laden topics in their songs and so it was perhaps no surprise when they recruited The National's guitarist Aaron Dessner to produce their sophomore album. When asked about this, Frazier mentions that it all sort of started as a joke. They had been on tour with the Brooklyn based band and back stage conversations led to Dessner, half seriously, stating that he would produce their upcoming album. When they returned home, they began work on the album but found that none of the producers suited what they were looking for. They wanted to work with someone who understood how a band functioned and Dessner was able to provide that.

The second album was infused with a sense of loss as the band dealt with the departure of bassist Andy Hamm and the death of guitarist Kelcey Ayer's mother. Frazier, although not specifically citing these two events as something they tried to use as creative fodder, admitted that taken together these tumultuous events could not help but influence the tone of Hummingbird. He stated that they always try to write about what is going on in their lives and so obviously Hamm's departure and Ayer's mother passing away cast a rather dark shadow over the album. The mood of the album, Frazier says, might also have been affected by some of the band members going through a 'Leonard Cohen phase' which may have helped inform tender and delicate songs such as 'You and I' and 'Colombia.'

On the subject of album highlight 'Colombia' Frazier confirmed that the 'Patricia' mentioned in the song was the name of Ayer's mother. It lends what is already a touching and heartfelt song an extra emotional bent. It is somewhat similar to 'Airplanes' from Gorilla Manor which dealt with Ayer's grandfather passing away and together these songs represent what Local Natives are about. They are a band not afraid to pour everything into their songs no matter how difficult or personal it may be and the results are often quite brilliant.

In an age when rap stars rule the airwaves, especially in America, and Kanye West recently stated that 'Rap is the new rock n roll' Frazier doesn’t seem overly worried about the band's place in the world as indie rockers. He thinks there will always be space for what they do, however that is defined, and that although he likes some rap music and is a fan of Kanye himself, a band like Local Natives will never be compared to someone like West or any of the young kids currently appearing in a headline near you.

On the subject of how they are perceived by the world at large I ask Frazier, in reference to a Pitchfork feature, how he feels about the pressure to become L.A's new indie rock darlings. He says it was a subject that never crossed their mind until they saw the headline in the Pitchfork article and, although they are proud Californians, trying to be the 'new' anything is not something they waste time worrying about.

When the band took to the stage at this year's Longitude festival, they started their set by announcing that all their gear had been lost on a flight from….somewhere, Frazier couldn’t remember… and they had been saved by those lovely lads from Villagers who kindly leant them whatever they needed. Frazier said they spent a frantic few hours desperately trying to get everything sorted for their set and that, of course, all their gear turned up right after they got off stage. From a spectator's perspective it certainly didn’t inhibit the quality of their set as they were one of the festival highlights.

We finished the interview with a brief chat about the band's upcoming return to these shores. Frazier talked about how they love playing here, and although that line gets thrown out as much as Miley Cyrus takes her clothes off, Frazier seemed like a thoroughly nice guy and the date in October will be their third visit here so we have no reason to doubt him.

The Local Natives play the Olympia Theatre on the 24th of October and the album Hummingbird is out now.