In 2014, American band Future Islands went viral, after a spellbinding performance of their song "Seasons" on The Late Show with David Letterman, and found themselves touring relentlessly.
"Festivals that had previously turned us down were now calling us back to come and play," says bassist William Cashion.
Three years later, the Baltimore trio is back with fifth album The Far Field and they've sold out all three shows for their first New Zealand tour,
"We have no idea what to expect,” says Cashion. “That's always exciting for us."
Frontman Samuel T Herring's antics are a big part of what draws the crowds - for Cashion and keyboard player Gerrit Welmers, the bigger stages on this tour have come in handy.
"We've since moved back a bit, so Sam's not unplugging our instruments or stepping over our pedals, or knocking over the keyboard,” says Cashion. “All these things have happened before."
Their description of a Future Islands show is simple.
"You can dance, you can laugh, you can cry," says Welmers.
For many bands, the challenge is making the recorded songs sound as good on-stage, but Future Islands say they identify more as a live band than a studio band.
"The reason Sam sings the way he does has a lot to do with the audience and the audience being there, and him singing to the audience,” says Cashion.
”In the studio, there's no audience there. Maybe the trick is bringing people in for him to sing to."
Their music is both uplifting and heartbreaking, and that's all part of the plan.
Cashion and Welmers write the music, while Herring goes away and comes back with the lyrics, as a response to whatever emotions it pulls out of him.
"You can kind of catch people with the dance music and the pop element, but once you dig harder and read the lyrics, you realise there's a lot more to this than weird dance songs,” says Welmers. “It's like a nice layered cake.".
After 14 years playing together, the guys know how to keep things from boiling over - just about.
"Making fun of each other is a big part," says Cashion.
"We're passive aggressive with our anger towards each other," says Welmers.
They say their highlight of New Zealand so far is, for the first time in a long time, they've been able to sit down and have a home-cooked meal.
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