Mumford & Sons try to ignore the folk tag

Mumford & Sons at Liverpool's O2 Academy (Pics: Sakura) ; YouTube: Video for latest single, 'The Cave'

The new poster boys of the folk revolution, Mumford and Sons are selling out venues across the country with their warm hoedown sing-alongs. They spoke to JMU-Journalism about why they’re bored of being asked ‘the generic folk question’ and how a bad show in Liverpool will make you feel a million miles from home.

The four-piece, who’s singles ‘Little Lion Man’, ‘Winter Winds’ and ‘The Cave’ are warming the hearts of a nation, are in the middle of a sell out UK tour. They say they’ve lost count of how many times they’ve been asked about their part in folk’s sudden hold on the mainstream.

“Far too much emphasis is put on genres,” says Winston, thoughtfully, “I’m guilty of it… I think everyone’s guilty of it because when you hear a new band, or you’re telling your mate about a new band, you’ve kind of got to put a label on them straight away.”

“Bands change though. it’s like if you try and pin down
The Beatles, your very famous… y’know,” Winston trails
off as if realising he’s reached that clichéd moment,
talking about the Liverpool foursome again to someone
from Liverpool, “it would be hard because they started
off as a rock n’ roll band but then did a lot of other stuff.”

Don’t be surprised then, if you see Mumford and Sons
coming back with a brand-new-rap a few times down
the line. How about Dub-step-folk or Riot-Folk?

“We don’t feel trapped by our instruments. You’re only
limited by your imagination and we just go with our gut
feeling the whole time,” says Ted with a look of genuine
excitement.

With so many artists in the charts singing about the subtraction of clothes or fireflies giving more than enough hugs, Mumford and Sons pay homage to a wealth of musical history that they can allow to influence them at the drop of a hat.

“That’s the best thing about making music in this day and age,” says Ted, “there’s so much rich musical heritage that, as young people, we’re in this incredible position where we’ve got all this music underneath us that we can take influence from if we want to.”

Where as most bands will hide behind their on stage ego’s and will tell you they could play death metal to the pope in the Vatican and be invited back on stage for an encore, Mumford and Sons admit to not taking Liverpool crowds for granted after having a bad experience in their earlier days.

“I was nervous before the Korova gig, definitely.” admits Winston. “Liverpool is a very difficult place to come for a band. If the show goes badly - it goes really badly and you know people don’t like you.

“Our first show in Liverpool was like that, no one turned up and those who did weren’t interested in us at all. When that happens, you can feel a million miles away from home.”

If everyone gets bored of the banjo and double-bass, and no longer has the urge to throw an impromptu barn dance… they’ll always just learn something else. For now, though, it seems Mumford and Sons are surfing comfortably on the crest of a folk-wave, and they’re loving it.

Mumford & Sons' Ted and Winston shortly after trying their hand at the scouse accent