Stoked PR

The members of Mumford & Sons share a common purpose: to make music that matters, without taking themselves too seriously. These four young men from West London have fire in their bellies, romance in their hearts, and rapture in their masterful, melancholy voices. They create a gutsy, old-time sound and their incredible energy draws us in quickly to their circle of songs, to the warmth of their stories, and to their magical community of misty-eyed men.

It is a purpose that has resulted in them inadvertently becoming one of the most successful and hard-working young bands of the past twelve months. The British folk-rockers have toured the globe relentlessly from one sell-out tour to the next, selling over 2 million copies of their acclaimed, Brit Award winning debut album, Sigh No More, in the process.

Widely regarded as one of the most exciting live acts around today, Mumford & Sons showed us that they can make a performance in front of thousands of fans feel both intimate and jubilant, and having since filled fields and concert halls from Sydney to Nashville, Mumbai to Rome, it is a hugely deserving position they now find themselves in.

It’s all a long way from the band’s beginnings, when they were playing various instruments in various bands in London throughout the summer of 2007. They were first united to perform impromptu renditions of Marcus’ earliest attempts at song-writing in front of crowds of friends in sweaty underground folk nights in the capital. They bonded over their love of country, bluegrass and folk, and decided to make music that sounded loud, proud and live – taking music that could often be pretty and delicate, and filling it with enthusiasm, courage and confidence.

“It was a very exciting time, and though we loved it and were in awe of the music going on around us, we didn’t consider ourselves contenders in the pretty daunting London music scene. There was never any idea of competition, just pure enjoyment”, says Marcus. They loved live music so much that they would practise their sets on pavements outside the venues, and also act as backing musicians for the peers with whom they played.

This sense of playing music for the love of it has continued as the main theme through the band’s short history. They booked their first rehearsals in the late autumn of 2007: “As soon as we sat down together, just the four of us, we knew we had become a band cos what came out was unique to us four as individuals,” says Ben.

As soon as they had their first rough cluster of songs, they hit the road. Straightaway, they won the hearts of their audiences with their harmonies, the way they engaged with their instruments, their bandmates and their crowds – and chased the friendly live reception they got all over the country.

Word spread quickly. With each release, the music of Mumford & Sons got brighter, bolder and brawnier, with an increasing focus on their empassioned and intimate lyrics. “What we write about is real, and we sing and play our instruments more passionately cos we feel like we need to. We love honest music,” says Winston.

The time came to record their debut album – and then came the extraordinary producer who wanted to work with them. Markus Dravs recorded Arcade Fire’s Neon Bible, Björk’s Homogenic and Coldplay’s Viva La Vida, and he saw similar crossover potential in the Sons. He took them to the legendary Eastcote Studios in London where Arctic Monkeys,
Brian Eno, Tindersticks and Laura Marling have honed their music on its vintage equipment; made the band buy good instruments; set them a daily routine; and encouraged them to try and work even more instinctively. “He wanted us just to sound like us”, explains Ben. “He talked about us working on our music’s most jubilant and melancholic moments, and make them even more evocative. And over those four weeks, everything came together.”

“We never dreamed things would take off in the way that they have,” says Marcus. “But it’s been incredible. We genuinely couldn’t be happier.”