Sunday Sitdown with Willie Geist - Mumford & Sons on New Album “Prizefighter”

Episode Date: April 26, 2026

In this week's Sunday Sitdown, Grammy-winning band Mumford & Sons got together with Willie Geist in Brookyln to talk about their newest album “Prizefighter” which comes 11 months after they released “Rushmere.” Marcus Mumford, Ben Lovett and Ted Dwane talk about why they made an album so soon after their last one and that foot-stomping sound that has grown and evolved over the years.  Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Hey guys, Willie Geist here with another episode of the Sunday Sit Down podcast. My thanks as always for clicking and listening along. Got a great one for you this week with one of the biggest bands in the world, Mumford and Sons. Their latest album is called Prize Fighter. It's already gone to number one across the world. Crack the top 10 on the U.S. Billboard 200 as well. Doing big business. A really cool album with lots of great collaborations, including with hosier, with Gracie Abrams, and with Chris Stapleton. It's a great album, and it's their second album in less than a year. It came out 11 months after their previous album of 2025 called Rushmere. I'll let the guys tell you the story, but basically what happened was they were recording at Electric Lady Studios, the Fame studio, started by Jimmy Hendrix in New York City, and they just got inspired to keep going, and there were other artists around there, including a guy you'll hear about in the interview named Aaron Dessor. He is from the band The National, but also just one of the great producers in all music has worked with Taylor Swift and Ed Shearin. The list goes on and on. And they just kind of got

cooking with him and got to work on another album that became prize fighter. So the guys and I, it's the three guys, just I'll give you a visual. We're inside a place called the Music Hall of Williamsburg in Brooklyn. It's a small venue where Mumford and Sons used to play way back in the day before they were the Mumford and Sons that we know now, before they broke out with their debut 2009 album nominated for a couple of Grammys, had that crazy performance on the Grammys in 2011, performed with Bob Dylan that night and everything changed after that. But before that, they were playing at Music Hall of Williamsburg and they just love it. It feels like home to them. Very small venue where they had just the night before we talked played a pop-up gig.

They posted on social media a couple hours, said, hey, 8 o'clock tonight, we're going to be at the Music Hall of Williamsburg. Come if you can. Of course, the place sold out. And they played an unplug gig. They had no amplification, nothing. They just got on the stage and started playing. So we are inside that venue. Sitting left to right is Ted Dwayne on the left. He is the stand-up bass player with a deep voice. In the middle, the lead singer, founder of the band, Marcus Mumford. And then on the right is Ben Lovett, who's an incredibly talented keyboard player and vocalist, among many other things. So that's your crew, left to right. Try to use their name so you can keep track of who's talking as we go. I think you'll find the story of their journey to this. album and their journey together. Fascinating. So I will get out of the way and I will let you listen now to Mumford and Sons from the Music Hall of Williamsburg in Brooklyn here on the Sunday Sit Down podcast. Thanks for doing this, boys. Good to see you again. Thank you. How's everybody been? We're feeling good? Very well. Very well. Having a lovely time in you.

Especially last night because you were in this room in New York. I think with two hours notice, You posted on Instagram and the place filled up by 8 o'clock. What do you love about this room? What do you love about this building, this place? This was one of our first big shows in New York. And it's still, you know, I can kind of remember the feeling of that gig. I remember we would, Ted and I were doing an interview across the street. Because I remember some of those early interviews.

Like, it was so strange that people wanted to hear anything about us. And then we came in and did this performance as a part of it. of a series. I think Tempertrap we're doing that show with us, if you remember that band, great band. Touring again, I believe. And it's just really intimate to the point

where you feel like you can hear someone whisper, you can like feel someone blink, and it's great to be able to come and enjoy these rooms again. And we've been doing it quite a lot recently as a part of this album and Rushmore as well, which we released last year.

we've been playing a lot of smaller rooms. But this is one of the great spaces of New York City. Marcus, it must feel a little bit, I don't know, full circles the right term, but to think about that show, and then the show last night where you can kind of go like that and fill this place up because of everything you've done since then. Yeah, I mean, we still have the nerves, like announcing something, even with 600 people.

I still, you know, an hour before he came, I was like, is anyone going to be there? But it was full, and it was amazing. And we didn't use any amplification. I saw that. I played completely acoustic, unplugged. And it was really fun. But yeah, it does feel like a massive, massive privilege being able to just be like,

let's go play there. Yeah. This is a really iconic venue, you know, the idea of just, I literally Googled it, actually, and just to see if there was a show on. And there wasn't a show on. So I texted everyone was like, check, we can go in. And then three hours later. So it was really that spontaneous.

Yeah, yeah. Wow. That's incredible. It's fun. This is New York, you know. Yeah, yeah. That's the spirit of New York. I think the spirit of this record is.

They'll show up for you as well. Yeah, it's fun. Ted, what do you love about rooms like this? Because now you've played everything. You've played stadiums and arenas and theaters and everything. But what do you like about the intimacy of being in here? Well, I mean, firstly last night, we could come in and not plug in. So I think this is about reaching the kind of limit of the space that you can perform in without any amplification,

just singing, fill the space. I do remember really viscerally the first time I came here and being blown away by its size I'm thinking, you know, venues get any bigger, I thought it's so big and enormous and the fact we were playing it was so exciting to me. So it's funny how they kind of shrink as your, you know,

as your gigs get bigger. But they're just, this place has been here a long time and it is closing, I heard, which is really sad. But they carry the kind of atmosphere, They carry like a vibe, you know, that accumulates over decades. And they're important cultural spaces, you know. I love rooms like this. Playing songs off of Prize Fighter, the new album, congratulations.

It's fantastic, getting great reviews. I will say, it felt to me like you put out an album about five minutes ago. It was a little bit less than a year ago. So, Marcus, what inspired you guys to move so quickly under the next? That spirit in New York again, man, I think. We were at Electric Lady Studios. We were mixing Rushmere and Aaron Destner was upstairs. From the national.

From the national. He's produced Taylor Swift Records and National Records and does a lot of work with Bonnie Verr. Justin Vernon. I was working with Gracie Abrams, and he came downstairs to see us. We played him some of the stuff we've been working on. He played us some ideas he'd had,

which included a couple ideas for us. And we just right there and then started making another record. Chased him across Europe for a little while, and then eventually ended up upstate New York with him. at Long Pond, his studio, and made this record in a really sort of instinctive, kind of joyful way that just went back to the basics of making music with your mates, which is really what we're in it for and how we started, certainly. It could become a bit more worky as you go along.

And obviously, you have kind of task-oriented things. And this one, because we just made a record, felt like a freebie. It was just fun. It was extra. And it ended up being my favorite thing we've done. So, yeah. I heard you say that. is your favorite album what is it about this that you love so much um i think it feels the most free you know it feels the most um unconsidered in a good way and erin really helped us to to to chase that

vibe i think we've done great work with dave cobb and we've done some work with pharaoh williams those two guys really helped open us up open us up and then and then give us a bit more confidence in ourselves and in our band and our relationships as well with each other so that by the the time we got in with Aaron, we felt like we were match fit, you know, and then the songs just fell out of the sky. That's just luck, I think. It's what I certainly imagine. A little bit more than luck, then. I mean, there's anything to the idea that you all hadn't done music together before Rushmore for, I think, seven years, that you just were excited and energetic and full of ideas and full of songs that could fill a couple of albums? Yeah, there was

definitely a fizziness in the room. I don't think with such a long rest, there wasn't any kind of latent fatigue or anything from tour album, tour album. And instead, I think we were quite curious. And I think that curiosity is something that like breathes youthfulness into the relationship and also into the music. There's like poking questions in ways that maybe we were missing them with blind spots before. And there's a fun to that. There's like a kind of, like, why not? Why not go there?

Why not make that sound? Why not say that thing? And I think Aaron was, you know, we feel like he was such a huge part of the record because he was bringing that out of us and encouraging it when he saw it happen. Like he would like grab and stick, grab and stick. And it was like assembled through this kind of search of curiosity

and youthful vigor that we still have. It doesn't, even though we started making this record a year ago, it hasn't, it hasn't dissipated that energy. It's the same reason why we popped up last night. It does kind of feel like we're starting a band,

which is crazy because we're 18 years in, but there was a bit of a feeling like we've just started, Mumfrey and Sons. Has Ted the process of making these songs changed much since you started in 2007? As Marcus said, this album felt like the boys getting together to make music,

to still feel that way to you? Definitely. You know, each record that we've made has been unique, and each song that we've written has been unique. There's not really like a formula. But when you get in with a producer, there's always a bit of a plan of like what kind of record you're going to make, not necessarily like a sonic brief or a very specific destination,

but kind of a plan and you can play music to each other and get excited about stuff and get a feeling for, you know, what this is going to be. And when Aaron played us those first few songs, we were just like, yeah, this is exactly, you know, what we want to be doing. And the thing that attracted us to it, I think, was the freedom in that music. It was like, it was spontaneous. It wasn't overly complicated.

It wasn't overthought. It was just really emotionally engaging and really present in its ideas. And, you know, so with that as the genesis of this album, you know, when we got together to make more songs of him, that was sort of, that's why it happens so quickly. You know, there was just like a lot of free. freedom and a lot of joy in the room, really. Was there anyone telling you guys to wait a beat for the next album, let people absorb the previous one before you come out?

Maybe. A couple people, maybe. We've always been in control of our destiny. It's actually something that we set out pretty well at the beginning. And it's been nice to not have too much influence. I think it's been enough to kind of corral our own thoughts and set our own path. And yeah, of course people are like,

you guys are crazy, and this is not necessarily what you should be doing on a traditional basis. But we're like, you know, I think we go with, we allow things to lead us sometimes. And we try and follow that instinct. And it's got us here.

The collaborations on the album are phenomenal. Some of them, serendipitous, it sounds like. Some of them were, I'm thinking of here with Chris Stapleton, where I think you've said, Marcus, you didn't really know him that well. You admired him from a distance, and you said, let me shoot my shot with Stamilton.

Chris Stapleton's my Roman Empire, you know. So I called him out of the blue and said, look, man, there's this song, I think it's the first song on the record. I'd love to hear you sing it. No pressure, but can I send it to you? And within a week, he'd send it back and sung on it. And I really had a clear, creative vision for his voice on that song. because of the words and the world it lived in.

And the fact that genuinely, I think he's one of the great voices of our generation. I agree. He's a generational talent. And just I really love the way he carries himself in the world. He's a bad. So luckily he said, yes. That was the only cold call, I think. The rest of it was all mates, really.

So he kind of wrote Stapleton a proper country song too, right? It's our first pretty traditional country song. It always felt like it had to be the first song on the record. Aaron really helped us finish that song because it was a demo we had before we made Rushmere. It's like the first song we wrote together and we got back together. It was like a confession and a statement at the same time. And then we couldn't finish it.

And then Aaron came in. Sometimes it just takes like an outside influence to be like, hey, you should finish it. And I had the weird guitar sound at the front that I was obsessed with. And he was like, cool. and let's do cowboy chords. So cowboy chords plus the weird West Coast guitar made it into something

that then we could finish. And sometimes it's just about the sound, getting the sound right. And then the bridge came and we wrote it all. Then Chris sang on it. It came together really fast once we had that conversation. Beautiful song.

Yeah, it's a cool song. I like having a country song. You know, we've kind of flirted with obviously traditional Americana instruments and structures and certainly singing together with acoustic. instruments has an association with Americana despite like global roots and that music.

But to have a pretty straight out country song is a dream come true for me. Yeah. So that's the cold call. The serendipity I was thinking of is with Gracie Abrams, who happened to be at Electric Lady when you all were working on Rushmere and you sort of talked your way into a collaboration with her? Is that the way it went? You've known Gracie for a really long time, you know, since the beginning of her career, and followed it very closely. And obviously with Aaron working on that music with her all the way through that, just following in when she was on tour with Taylor Swift, and just following her career, just go bananas. It's been such a joy. And she was there that first day and we'd been in touch. And then she heard one of the demos that Aaron was going to play us and said,

you guys should really do something with this song. And so that day, I sent her a bunch of lyrics for, I think it was the banjo song, and sent her a bunch of lyrics. She was like, well, what do you think of this? And she was like, yes. And there was like an A-B moment. It was like, should we take the blue pill or the red pill on this lyric? And she was like blue every time. And became like kind of fairy godmother on this record.

She's been really sweet and cheerleading and supportive right the way through. Another beautiful song. I mean, the list goes on and on and on. But I'm also thinking about your friend Brandy Carlisle. Yeah. Who, I guess, texted you about a dream she had or something for a song. That might be a lie. I can't remember. I think I was the one that said it.

We never let the truth get in the way of a good story anyway. Yeah, she texted me some lyrics and said, I think I had these for you. Yeah. And I happened to be sat with Aaron in Paris at that moment, playing around with rubber bandman chords. And it just became the verse. And I remember thinking, saying to Aaron is something like, I don't know, man, it doesn't quite rhyme or whatever. He was like, don't touch it. It's exactly what it should be. And then, yeah, there were lots of moments of sweet serendipity. like that, like run together with Phineas, Electric Lady again, Kevin Garrett, who's a friend of

ours as amazing songwriter, who helped with Icarus, Gigi Perez, who came to one of our shows in Saratoga Springs and played, and we played at a demo, the song backstage. We rehearsed it once, we got on stage, she sang it. It sounded so good, we put her on the record. We were like, could you possibly? And she's just, yeah, so there's lots of, like, making music with your mates again, which just feels like a relief, you know. Hey guys, thanks for listening to the Sunday Sit Down podcast. Stick around to hear more from Mumford and Sons right after the break. Welcome back now more of my conversation with Mumford and Sons.

We were just talking earlier, Ben, about sort of reaching a point in life that I think we all have maybe here where you're a little more comfortable in your skin and maybe you have kids and it gives you some perspective. Does it change the way you feel when an album is going out? In other words, maybe at the beginning of your career, you're going, let's see if they like it. I hope this goes well, but now you can kind of just trust your audience that they're going to receive what you put out there and be happy with the result? I think yes and no. Like there's definitely some very familiar jitters and insecurities that have been there every single time. It's funny, like the patterns of behavior. I was actually thinking about it yesterday and noticing how we all react during this week of release.

And we're kind of at the same people that we were when we were in 19. But in the same breath, I think that we, when you kind of talk about the audience, I think we feel a lot more connected and aware than ever of the people that listen to our music. It's like we can see people more clearly than ever at the shows. Our levels of communication are better than they ever have been.

We really have welcomed in our audience into a pretty, like, yeah, transparent relationship. So I just think that's, there's a trust there. There's a trust there that I think that we know that we're giving them songs, that we're not worried about what they're going to do with it. You know, like, I think that, and that means that you don't have to kind of second-guess it in the studio, or be too worried about the day it comes out whether or not they're going to like it, because I think that we've started to learn that maybe people like what we do,

which is a bit of a prize-fighter attitude, honestly. It's like, it's okay to be. be okay with, you know, people liking our work. And that's always been a little bit like, oh, is that weird to kind of admit that? That's interesting, because it feels too commercial or something? Just self-aware or like, vain or, I don't know. We're just very British about it, I think. In England, you're generally very apologetic about any kind of formal success or anything like that.

So we've never sort of accepted it or looked at that. And I think, you know, you're talking about being more comfortable in your skin or whatever. And I think, yeah, like Ben was saying. we've traveled enough, we've done enough shows now. I think we can start to believe it, perhaps we're getting the hang of it. It's okay for people to like it, what I mean? So you can become a full d'clock now. That's really what this week's all about.

He's liberated. Yeah, finally. I'm like a butterfly. Do you still get those jitters, Marcus, on album? Joe, this is the first record I haven't looked up a single thing online. So, you know. So, yeah, I'm anxious for it to be. be out in the world. And the word release is a good word for the process of putting an album out

because you are letting it go. But we're so not in control or responsible for the reaction. All I know is that I'm really happy with it. I know the feeling we had in the room when we finished it with Aaron. Well, I was totally happy. And I listened to it again six months after we finished it. And I wouldn't have changed a note. And so I don't need to go online and look comments or reviews but this is genuinely the first first time we've ever put anything out where I haven't because I think most artists tell you they don't and they're lying sure but on this one haven't felt the need to because I know I like it and also I know we're going to make another one you know and another one and another one this is what we do now and I don't think we're in denial

about that anymore because we were for a while I was certainly for a while and now it's like being happier with my identity as an artist in a band like that's a good life lot. Happy with that. Well, I've been online. The news is good. I can share that. Every now and then I I do check in with the team. I'm like, how's it going? Yeah. I'm like, yeah, it's going to right. I was like, cool. Don't need the detail. That's great. Tell me where you leave me next. Let's go. There's also this amazing tour coming up. I mean, you're going all over the world. You just added a second and then a third night at Madison Square Garden selling out that place. You're going to be at Wrigley Field and Fenway Park and all these iconic buildings. Does the thrill bend of touring ever

go away when you get to go out and share these songs with people? I think it's the greatest thrill of all. There's amazing moments in the creation of the music and what we share behind closed doors, but part of the reason we did this in the first place was to play gigs, and this is our first time taking the stage in a lot of those spaces. So it's a big one, in that sense of newness,

in that sense of unknown, and the fun that comes with kind of walking out on stages that are less familiar. It's our first time playing three nights at MSG. But, you know, Fenway and going out to Folsomfield and Boulder. It's just going to be, I think we don't know what it will hold, but there'll be a lot of energy. And, yeah, we can't wait to get out there, really.

It's going to be such a fun year ahead of us, and we're already starting to think, what does 2027 hold? You're already there. We're starting to talk about it because you have to start thinking that, and it was just going to be like, we're just going to have the best year already. It's so nice to have it all announced now. So you don't have to feel like you're clogged up with information. It's like everyone knows the plan.

So now it's like, what's next? I love hearing Marcus from artists describe the feeling of writing a song in a room, with three of you being in this small room, a quiet room, and then a year or maybe longer walking out into Madison Square Garden and playing it for those people, but also hearing them sing it to you. What is that feeling? I mean, we had it here last night. It's a magical feeling and it is a drug. Like what it does to your brain chemistry is pretty impactful, you know, because you take these really private thoughts and moments and then you make them as public as they can be and you talk about

them and you promote them and you sing them every night. And it's a strange thing, but it's also an ancient form of communication and human connection. And so those moments of human connection from something that you were involved in the creation of, that's like a massive privilege. And it's a magical, it's a drug, yeah. And we can't get enough of it. We'll just keep doing it. But certainly, with these songs, I don't think I've ever been more excited to go on tour. Because, you know, when we headlined Glassonbury after two albums. And I remember coming off stage and being like, Laz, it's not enough. That was all of our songs. That we ain't got any more songs.

We've got to write more songs. And watching a Springsteen show and being like, how on earth does he put together a set list? With all the songs that he has and feeling so envious. And now starting to get to the point in our careers where we have enough songs to make a competitive set list. We're not like, you know, like ringing out the towel to just get those last drops of songs into a set list.

Now it's going to be genuinely difficult to rock because we want to play all the prize fighter songs. But we also don't want to keep people for too long, right? And we also just love the old tunes as well. So it's fun writing a competitive set list. That's just competition between songs. It's a nice problem to have. You have so many songs that people want to hear, you have to go through a choo.

So being able to do like multiple nights in the same venue is fun because you can change it every night. You mentioned Springsteen. Your backup performance that night was fantastic. Oh, yeah, yeah, thanks, yeah. Maracas, Wales. Next year, you mentioned 2027. next year will be 20 years as a band. Yeah, that's a wild.

For you guys, for Mumford and Sons. When you hear that number, Ted, and you think about where you are today versus where you were when you were first playing those quiet gigs, how does that hit you? Well, it's funny, you know, because it's so much of it feels the same. Like, obviously a lot's happened. But there's like a feeling between us that I think is like only, only sort of getting more intense and more,

more sort of fruitful and more loving and more, you know, it's just like a, it's a really magical journey. I think we've ever sort of appreciated it more than we do right now. So 20 years, it's a number. It's obviously a significant amount of time. But in terms of like what it's done to us and what it's done to this band, it's just making us kind of stronger. You know, I feel like, I feel sort of more energized and interested

in this thing than ever before, you know. That's amazing because that's not always the case, is it? I think it's really rarely the case. And I, because I was sick for record, right, Price Fighter. And I just, you know, I can't really, I can't really believe it. I can't believe it. Like, last time was a great example. We all went, we're on our way back to our hotels and whatever and texting each other

just being like, this is such a privilege. This is like the best, you know, we just feel very lucky. Brimming with gratitude. You don't take it for granted. No. You're not jaded by the success, right? Yeah, and I think there's a kind of a leaning in and an opting in. And actually the break that we took before Rushmere gave us the real options to do that.

Like that optionality wasn't just kind of like a figment of our imagination. There was a time when, you know, let's do this. And it was like that re-upping, I think does. And it was lucky none of us had like terrible cocaine habits or really expensive divorces. And it did. So there wasn't like a fiscal reason to get that. Yeah, no, right. And I do think bands are historically, historically tricky.

You're awfully quiet over there, Ben. Hey, we've stayed out of jail. I mean, that's the main thing, right? Yeah? Is that not enough for you, people? Sorry, I'm trying to do. I think bands sticking together is like a beautiful thing. It's a hard thing.

And I think that, I don't know. a lot of the time people stick together but not necessarily for the same reasons that they got together. And I really believe that the reason we stick together is for exactly the same reason we got together in the first place, which is probably the rarest thing. I don't know any other band, you know, I guess with the exception maybe you too, frankly, you know, I haven't had conversations with anyone who is sort of so purely in that space, you know. So we're very lucky. Marcus, what do you think the 19 or 20-year-old Marcus Mumford in 2007 would think

if he knew you were about to go play Madison Square Garden for three nights? He had a total inability to look ahead, that lad. But I mean, yeah, yeah, the idea of three nights at the garden is totally bonkers. It's totally bonkers. And we just want to make the most of it. You know, I think there were times a few years ago where I certainly was not making the most of it. I didn't feel like super present.

And I've worked on that bit. And I just don't think we want to miss a moment of this ride because it does feel like we're in a particularly good spot. Just internally, I don't understand the external so much. But just internally, we're in a really good spot. And I don't want to, because in a few years we'll look back and be like, that was a really good moment for our band. And if I feel like I, no regrets, but if I feel like I wasn't as present as I could have been, I think I'll be disappointed or feel like I didn't get the full potential out at the moment. So we are really enjoying it.

So three nights of the garden is, it's not lost on me what a joy and privilege that is. And I think we'll try and, yeah, just to make the most of it. And have a laugh. You know, I think for a while, I think you can just take this stuff too seriously. Do you know what I mean? And actually, we want to take the art seriously, but not take ourselves quite as. because it's a bit silly, isn't that really? Stick around for more of my conversation with Mumford and Sons right after a quick break.

Welcome back now to the rest of my conversation with Mumford and Sons. Was there something that woke you up, Marcus, to be present? He was running next to you at the New York Marathon. Oh, why would you raise the day you've dusted me? It was looking behind at you. I was hoping to escape this interview without Tom. No chance, me. I was just telling Ben, when I went past you guys on the Verrazino Bridge,

and I said, well, I guess they're just taking it easy today. And then somewhere in the Bronx, I'm wiping the caked salt out of my eyes like this, and Mumford and Sun sprits past me. Oh, they had a plan. You're an eager bunny that day, wouldn't you? I was. You clipped me. You clipped me that day.

I'll be back for more. Have you done another one since then? No. No. You have done a bunch, though, right? I did London, yeah. We're not quite Harry Stiles level where we build our tour dates around marathons. That guy runs fast.

I know. He's in the two hours and change. We just make sure we don't book shows on the same day as England games at the World Cup. That's much. See, that's a better show. Everyone's fired. In case we get to cool up. That happens to kick a ball, yeah.

Was there something, though, that woke you up to be more present and appreciate this phenomenon? I think it was a gradual pressure. I mean, like, I stopped drinking a few years ago. Like, that was a big part of it. Just feeling like I wanted to be able to wake up and feel present. I just feel better every day. So it's not for everyone, but certainly for me right now it is. And that's helped.

Yeah, for sure. I think at certain times during our career, I would like get excited and so have another beer. And that might be, I think it's quite simple math now. But that might be why I didn't feel quite as present as I do now. So I enjoy that. I'm thinking about milestones for you guys. Ben, we were talking a minute ago about the Grammy's performance, which is 15 years ago right now in February from 2011.

And I remember as a viewer, I've heard of you guys, but I hadn't seen you perform just leaning in and going, who is that? When you were stopping on the stage and we were talking about you hunched over the keyboard, doing your thing. How much did your lives change after that night, after that Grammy's performance? Yeah, I think a lot changed, especially in the States for us.

we had, before that moment, we had been incredibly well received in Australia at all places. That's where the band kind of blew up. And then back home in the UK, we had built up through the pubs and clubs and theatres, like a really solid foundation. But that performance, I guess, because we were like so scrappy and it wasn't just what happens on stage and in front of the camera, like, if you had witnessed us off camera, We basically approached that entire thing, like the circus that it is, and we were all over the place.

There was a moment in a lift for Justin Bieber that I won't forget. There's also only one room. In the old days, there was only one room where you could smoke cigarettes back there. And it was like a secret. It was like a secret room. It was everyone in there. We were. That was lovely, yeah. I watched Whitney Houston from that room.

Did you really? Yeah. I mean, it was amazing. I think, again, like the naivety, but really what happened transpired like 24 hours later is like suddenly people knew who we were. And we were actively on tour and suddenly our shows were selling more tickets and people were buying our records. And yeah, I mean, I think the kind of the platform that is the Grammys is still a great place for discovery for so many people. Like you don't have time to follow exactly what's going on with music at all times. You know, it's a celebration of all the things that have been going on.

And we got to celebrate alongside one of the most important musicians of all time, you know, playing Maggie's Farm. So that was like, that was a good way to introduce ourselves to kind of the main consciousness of the US, you know. Yeah, that had to be surreal with your stand-up base behind Bob Dylan. And my stand-up base was in front of Bob Dylan at one point. And we'd like practiced it so many times. And Kern went like that. we walked out and someone had moved my base to like the middle of the stage so Bob walked out and

he was like all right and he had to step over it did he really yeah it was like the worst thing I was like wow it was my base in now here you had tripped mr dillam imagine that'd be the end of it that's never here from mumford again yeah exactly yeah and that was that did that feel massive to you though that next day something had happened yeah I mean it did I you know talking about taking it in and being present to everything. You know, I think when, you know, we started very small, we very much start at the beginning and we do still sort of

have the opinion that we didn't miss many wrongs out on the ladder, you know, we played a lot of pubs and then they filled up and then we started getting some half-empty clubs and then they filled up and we got the way up to the arenas and everything. But the same time, it did happen sequentially quite quickly, we recognise that. And

I think when you're in your early 20s and with all of the, you know, sort of, and the exhaustion of it and the excitement of it all. There's no way you can really absorb it all. The Grammys is a sort of an island of an experience. It's a bizarre environment for people, you know, from England at that age to wander into. The whole thing was like a dream, you know.

It's probably taken me since then to process it. I'm sure. Yeah. I'm sure. Yeah. Now I'm like, wow, that was great. But, you know, for the years that followed it directly, I was like, that was weird.

Bob Dylan was there. And then two years later, you're there winning album of the year for Babel, and then you go on this ride, and then there's the wilder mine. It's a little bit like Dylan goes electric in 65. Mumford goes electric, and there are all these steps along on your run up to when you're, 2018 Delta, and then you have that seven-year gap. In that window, was there ever a chance that you guys were not going to make music together? It wasn't really seven years because we toured Delta for a long time afterwards, right, right up until COVID.

Like our last show was March 8th, Oktobery in Florida. And all the cruise ships were lined up off the coast, like floating petri dishes, you know, and everyone had COVID on the boats and they couldn't come. Do you remember? Yeah, they wouldn't want to march. Was that March 8th, 2020? That's right, because the world shut down in the 13th. Yeah, so actually it was only three years. Okay.

And a lot of that was COVID. And then I made a solar record and talked to you about it. Then we got back together in January 23. So it might have been seven years between records, but actually we'd only been not playing music together, which three years is a long time in the history of our band. Normally we'd crank out a record in that time, but basically we skipped one record cycle.

Right, right. And COVID was a big part of that. So, no, it didn't feel massively like the band was in jeopardy. It did just feel like we had a decision to make when we got back together in the same room, like, should we crack on and do this? and we got to renew our vows. It wasn't just an automatic, like, show up for work on a nine o'clock on a Monday morning

because that's what you do. It was really much more of a choice than that, which I think has made the last couple of years feel more like a gift. And we got back together in that little room in Los Angeles at the time and wrote songs like here and Malibu. You guys had started Malibu in Malibu. And where it belongs. a few ideas that have ended up becoming songs that we now really love that we've now put out.

And there's lots more to come, you know. I feel like we're just sort of starting to heat up the engines again. I know we'd put two records out in the last year, but it does feel like there's, yeah, there's a few more to come before we take our next break, I think. Was part of Ben renewing the vows going from four to three? Did that change the way you all had to think about making music? Yeah, I think the kind of the question answering. itself was through those songs that Marcus is just mentioning, like getting in a room without

kind of two like philosophical existential conversations. It wasn't like we sat and had a meeting. We sat with instruments on our hands and started making stuff. And it was the making that gave us the answers that we were looking for. And then we were like, well, this is great. It's going to be fine. But yeah, we hadn't collaborated just the three of us. And once we realized that we can we can write that way. Actually, not only did we realize that we also felt incredibly confident that we could write in that format that we felt better about welcoming people in to collaborate. Like, actually, it weirdly had this inverse effect where we felt more open than ever to bringing in people both playing and writing. So, yeah, I think the thing that's

often misconstrued, certainly when we end up talking about what we do, is like a sense that we strategize. There's a lot of happy accidents that get us where we get to, you know. Should we see if musical the Williamsburg is open in three hours? There's no strategy to that. It sounds like you just keep the spirit of who you were in 2007 with everything you do, a scrappy band, right? I think we found it, like we've renewed it. We found it again as well. We just love it, man. It's nothing else I'd rather do. There's nowhere else I'd rather be. It's amazing. No one else would rather do it with, you know.

There's a, you guys have heard this before, but there is this, like, school of thought that you guys didn't start Americana and folk and bluegrass and all that, but that you popularized it in a way that opened doors for Noah Khan and Zach Bryan and Randy in some ways, who are all talented in their own right. Do you accept that at all? I think we absolutely love being part of the tapestry.

of some of those stories and some of the, you know, shared DNA. And we can list you 20 bands that had that kind of influence on us and that maybe we didn't even hear, but because they were around that helped us, you know, gain some audience or whatever. But I don't think we ever take any direct responsibility for anyone else's career, for sure, because they're working so hard over there. A lot of those guys, and a lot of them are our mates, and we're really excited to see how they're doing.

But it always takes you yanks, a few Brits, to come and remind you who you really are and what you should really be doing, you know? You know, you think about the Stones or Amy Winehouse or Adele. Yeah. You know, we'll come with the Beatles, for sure. Led Zeppelin. You've had a few.

Yeah. You've looked like, look, you know. Okay, so you're talking about 2027. Do we have any idea what that looks like? Are we already working on another album? At the pace you're going, you very well may be. I think we just want to be intentional about not pumping the brakes. That's all we know.

We're going to take this year in our stride, enjoy as much as we can, and not plan to hit things so fast and so hard that we need to take a break. It'd be nice to find a way that we can... Like, time is not necessarily the measure. It's just like the feeling of being in it, staying in the flow and just keeping on going. And also that's like partly a product of... the way music industry has changed and you can have such a direct relationship

with your audience now. We had this thing called Agora, which is like our fan club thing that we just started last year, which has been totally magical. We can now, and because of social media, we can directly communicate with these people who are amazing that make our lives work. So you don't have to think of it so cyclically anymore. Like, we screwed up the whole album cycle

thing by doing two records in a year. You're not supposed to do that by the book. But, like, creatively, we want to be led by and led by the art that we're making. And also, I think music, the way people can see music at the moment, suits that, like, just turn the tap on. And then when it's done, turn it off. But we don't think the tap's quite off yet,

so we want to keep chasing it. And I think the closer we can draw our audience into our process, I like the idea of being able to turn out a song that you wrote last week and lots of artists are doing it and bang it out the next week. And we've been playing catch-up a little bit because of the, break. But I think going forward, I like the idea of certainly not turning the tap off if the creativity is there and then stopping when it's the right time to just give people a bit of a break, you know. And no fan's going to complain that there's more music coming from you. No one cares

about an album cycle. I've got new music from that favorite. As long as it's good. Well, congratulations, guys. Always a pleasure to see you all. I hope you stay busy so I can start out training you for the next year. I've got to catch you. I looked it up today. You beat me by five minutes. Was it fine? I'm going to find you next time. And now that I know about your negative split scheme, I'm on to you. Thanks, boys.

Thank you. My big thanks to the boys of Mumford and Sunts, Marcus, Ben, Ted for a great conversation. You can see them now on tour and hear their album Prize Fighter wherever you stream your music. And my thanks to all of you for listening again this week. If you want to hear more of my conversations with our guests every week, be sure to click follow so you never miss an episode. And don't forget to tune in to Sunday today every weekend on NBC to see these interviews with your own two eyes.

I'm Willie Geist. We'll see you right back here next week on the Sunday Sit Down podcast.