In a time when breaking out as an artist poses all sorts of new obstacles, Houndmouth has fought through them all. Their breakout record, “From the Hills Below,” has gained them international success. From Late night television to their own festival, they are moving at a record setting pace towards superstardom. Recently, we caught up with Katie Toupin to discuss body paint, surprise performances and armed robbery.
Festivals are always interesting. The people wandering around can leave you guessing as to what exactly it is that they are doing in everyday life. “The wildest thing…there was a guy who came to Lollapalooza and he was wearing body paint that said “I love Katie.” So that was weird…(Laughing) and I have a picture with him to prove it.”
If you haven’t checked out Houndmouth’s video for “Bad Things” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lSccfq31t7w), take a moment and do that now. Ok, now that you are back, lets talk about it. “There was a contest that we did to make a video. We had 30 submissions and that was the one that we chose. Most of them were really literal and they went with the story line of the song. We got to that one, and by this time are very burnt out on watching videos, are were dying laughing at these girls. I’m not sure what they did (with the mask at the beginning). It just seemed like that they didn’t have anything better to do, so they went nuts and let loose and robbed a candy store. We just loved the idea of it. It’s quirky and it’s fitting.”
Sometimes, in the life of a band, it becomes apparent that this is the only thing that makes sense. That chasing a dream is the only option. “It started before the band. When we got together, we liked the art that we were making and the sound that was coming out and we still do. We still love to do it. More so than when we started, we have a passion for playing live shows. I wouldn’t say that there was a moment, but that there was a moment, long before the band, when we decided music was going to be a part of our lives forever. All the boys had been a band for about a week before I joined. I got into that first practice and things were really, really rough. I remember leaving practice. I was in the car with Matt, and we said this is it, this is how we want it to sound. Without a thought of it growing and becoming our full time career, we knew that we had found the sound that we wanted. On that note though, the sound that you are looking for is going to constantly change as your grow as a musician and as a person. There is never really a stopping point when it comes to making music.”
In the song, “Coming ‘Round Again,” the feel of something much older is present, as is with a lot of Houndmouth’s music. “I think a lot of our songs have that feeling, because we romanticize about a different time. I think that is natural. If you have ever seen “Midnight in Paris,” that is what humans do. They romanticize about a time that was before them. At the same time, when you do write a fictional song, there is something that comes out in you. The whole idea of selling cocaine and making money and kind of being the scum of the earth, coming from a suburban lifestyle is intriguing to us. Songs that we listen to, all sort of romanticize the same thing. That song and “Penitentiary” were written about the same time. They were written a year before Houndmouth and they were written acoustically. There was a banjo in it when we first wrote the song. We had a song called “Tex-arcana Nights” that we have dropped. It was a murder song. A lot of those really old folk songs are murder songs. We really like the idea of that too. Robbery and murder and old time gangs and things like that all kind of appeal to us.”
Big things are coming. Houndmouth has a lot in the works and it is going to blow you away. “Right after tour, we are going to head off to Portland, Oregon to work on the next record, which we are excited about. It probably wont come out until 2015. We are working on all the songs for that. We are recording with Richard Smith, who was the drummer for The Shins and he did Foxygen’s record. He was just on Ray Lamontagne’s record which comes out in May. It has that gritty sort of sound to it that appeals to us.
Over the Summer, we have a lot of festivals that we are doing that I am really excited about. We have a festival that we are curating in our hometown in May. It’s a small street festival. We will have a nice, mid level, nationally touring act headline the outside stage and a lot of local bands. There is an outdoor flea market, over the river in Louisville every weekend, and they are going to come over and set up. What I am really excited about, is the Humane Society is going to be there and I am going to give away puppies all day. At night, there will be an indoor show at The Grand, which is a 1,300 person room, which sold out in two days, which as pretty incredible. We are thrilled about doing that. We are also doing Red Rocks with Iron and Wine and The Head and The Heart. We are really excited about doing that.”
This has been quite the year for Houndmouth. So much has changed. So many new opportunities have arisen. “I have enough of those to last a life time. Letterman and Conan, Newport Folk Festival, The show at Newport Folk Festival with Dawes, Jim James of My Morning Jacket sang “This Magic Moment” with us at our last hometown show. We have always respected him and looked up to him, and for him to come out and sing with us… It was like him putting his stamp of approval on us. It meant the world. He is a personal friend of mine, but for him to come out professionally, is more than he ever needed to do. Touring with the Alabama Shakes, and playing to their 10,000 people crowds. Touring with Grace Potter. We went to Europe twice last year. (Laughing) I think that’s enough…And we now get to curate a festival in our hometown.”
Houndmouth is playing The Bijou Theater on Saturday night, March 22nd, 2014, at 8pm with Rayland Baxter. For ticketing information and all tings Houndmouth, check out https://houndmouth.com/.
