They came, they saw, they conquered. On April 8, Mumford & Sons, arguably one of the biggest bands of today, made their way back to Copenhagen for the first time since they played Christiania’s Loppen.
“It just took us a while to get back to Denmark,” Winston Marshall, the band’s token banjo player and resident sarcasm expert, said.
But they were happy to be back, fresher than ever and running off the euphoria of their second album, ‘Babel’, and the stardom it’s piled onto these four lads from West London.
We sat down with Marshall and keyboardist Ben Lovett before their show at Forum, chatting about their meteoric rise, their love of touring and fondness for football.
CPH POST: How has Copenhagen been this time around?
Winston Marshall: Copenhagen is probably one of the coolest places in the world. It’s been great.
You played Loppen three years ago, and now you’re playing Falconer Salen. How has that transition been?
WM: It’s a big step up. Obviously, the last few years, a lot has happened with us, and we’ve played hundreds of gigs. They’ve all been gradual steps up around the world, but it just took us a while to get back to Denmark.
Do you remember what ‘back then’ was even like?
Ben Lovett: I remember most of those gigs. In a non-pessimistic way, a lot of my highlights came from our first couple of years as a band, because everything was so hands-on. We didn’t talk to anyone about what we were doing. We were very much being a band: a lot of sweat and blood. But you get real satisfaction from that in a different way. No big decisions, no promo, no crew, no responsibility …
WM: It’s an adventure, because we’d never been to anywhere before.
BL: We were just four single guys going around in a car, being complete idiots, playing music, and it was great.
Did it come as a shock that people started loving your music?
WM: Definitely. It’s always a shock when anyone likes your music, and it’s always consistently flattering. Even though we don’t really know what we’re doing, we do work hard and try hard to make what we’re doing good. It’s always flattering. And at the beginning, it was definitely shocking. You’re like: “What? Really? You’re actually enjoying yourself? Wow.” We get so much love. We’re a spoiled little band. We’re very lucky.
You guys get a lot of love here and in America, but I hear people in the UK are not your biggest fans.
WM: Well, it’s funny, isn’t it? I don’t think that’s true, because we’re headlining Glastonbury and all our gigs still sell out. We did a month-long arena tour, which sold out. Haters are gonna hate and, on the internet, anyone who writes something is because no-one in real life is listening to what they have to say, so they vent off because no-one is going to listen to them anyway.
Have you guys learned anything from touring?
WM: We never learn – that’s what we’ve learned.
BL: We learned about a lot of places we want to go on holiday. It’s an absolute tease. You go somewhere for a day and you’re like –WM: ‘Hey! Copenhagen! Okay! Bye!’
BL: Basically, we’ve extended the bucket list of things to do after being in a band of places to go and see and explore more.
WM: [whisper] Christiania!
Okay – what are your secret talents?
WM: [about Ben] He’s a very good cook.
BL: I think we’re refining our football skills. We’d be happy to take on a challenge!
WM: Yeah – I reckon we could beat any band.
