"Marcus Mumford"

7:16Will Arnett:How about that for a guest? How did you know that?

7:17Sean Hayes:Because he's a smart person. Marcus, I... I liked my hints. Can I get on with my hints? No, your hints were terrible. I didn't know he was born in California.

7:25Will Arnett:Well, but his band sounds like a family law firm specializing in personal injury.

7:30Sean Hayes:You didn't even say... Personal injury. It does sound like... It sounds like a plumbing company. Mumford and Tom. It does. But that was on purpose, right, Marcus? No, but Marcus, I knew I was just talking about I'm so excited for the doc, and I was just talking about you 10 minutes ago. So excited to come and see it.

7:47Will Arnett:Are you going to come? Yeah, man. Are you going to come? Oh, sweet. It's just down the street. I might, I might. I might be working, but I might be able to make it. I think my wife will be there, which that's all anybody ever cares about. She's my date.

8:00Marcus Mumford:Have you ever guessed a guest from their laugh before they've done the reveal. Because I was really, they freaked me out, man. Your guys freaked me out. They were like, don't breathe until the reveal.

8:14Will Arnett:And I wanted to laugh because you're very funny. Did they make you think that we're prone to rage? Like if we hear the guests?

8:23Marcus Mumford:No, they made me feel, you know, in a very polite way, like I would ruin the entire show if I squeaked.

8:30Will Arnett:The whole surprise thing is so, it's such a waste. It just saves us from doing homework. And the audience already knows who it is. We're the only two dicks that don't know who the guest is by the time the episode is up. How dare you refer to me as the dick.

8:43Sean Hayes:But listen, it's fun. We're having fun. Okay, Jason? Fun times. Look into it. Marcus, welcome to SmartList. It's about time.

8:52Marcus Mumford:I'm genuinely so... I was early on SmartList. I was very early.

8:58Sean Hayes:You came to the show in LA. I remember you and I... We went to an early screening of Maestro together. We did, yeah. And you said, and it was right after our show, and you said, I came to the show, and I said, I was so surprised.

9:16Marcus Mumford:It was the night you guys were filming, and it was really hectic.

9:20Will Arnett:Wait, was it, you mean like the live show? Oh, in the dock?

9:25Marcus Mumford:Yeah, yeah, the one downtown. Yeah, yeah, yeah. At the theater, I can't remember what it's called. Orphan. And I didn't want to bother you because it was super hectic. But yes, I came to the show. But I've been listening to your show for a very long time. It's crazy.

9:39Will Arnett:You're ready for notes. Do you have any notes? What would you do? You've got a few notes. How would you change it? We're looking to improve.

9:45Marcus Mumford:You know what? Well, the hair shit was a low point, I think. Yeah.

9:49Sean Hayes:It's all low points. What we do is we establish the bar low early, right? Just to make the guest seem perfect. Everything feels like a win.

9:58Marcus Mumford:The only way is up. I love it. It's just very cozy. I love it.

10:01Sean Hayes:I'll tell you something, Mark, because what's interesting, you brought up something and we're about to tap into a runner thematically, is that you told me that you were at the show and I vaguely remember at the time sort of saying, I wish you had said hi and then you just mentioned it was hectic and you didn't want to say hi. You came to our show and didn't come backstage and say hi and Jason has thoughts on this.

10:22Marcus Mumford:Hold on, hold on. We're not talking Broadway theater. Let's do it, right? I need your opinion on this.

10:28Will Arnett:It's adjacent.

10:30Marcus Mumford:I went to see, do you know who I went to see last week in Exeter was Tim Key. Now, do you know Tim Key? Oh, yeah, he's brilliant. He's one of my favorite comics of all time. I think he's a genius. And I went and watched his show and was about to leave and thought to myself, now he knows I'm here. He helped with the tickets. It is rude to leave. Well, that's different. If someone has helped you with the ticket. Amen. Without saying, great show.

10:56Will Arnett:But so how about this, right? So you are a musician. and you are in live venues and theaters. And so there are some famous people that come see your shows a lot. Does the same rule apply there? Are you aware who's in there? Are you offended if they don't come back and say, hey, great show?

11:15Marcus Mumford:No, culturally very different in music. Very different. Very different.

11:19Will Arnett:See, so I'm more of a rock and roll guy at heart, guys.

11:22Marcus Mumford:Wait, what's your position, Jason? Are you a no-show? Are you a no-show at the show?

11:26Will Arnett:I think it's presumptuous for people in the audience who are famous or even pseudo-famous to think that, oh, they'll be welcome backstage just because you share fame. That's also my instinct. To like come say hi. It's just like, it's so arrogant. Like just get the hell out and let the people rest.

11:43Marcus Mumford:It's more like you probably want to see me because I'm really famous. So I'll bless you with my presence.

11:48Will Arnett:Yeah, and let you know how great I think you were.

11:50Marcus Mumford:Or not. Or talk about how great the program was or the lighting. or find something polite to say. There's that famous clip from the Madonna documentary, Truth or Dare, when Kevin Costner comes backstage. Did you see that? Oh, really? And he goes, yeah, I thought. And she just spent three hours, you know, she's drenched in sweat, you know, performing for 5 ,000 people. And he goes, he says, yeah, we thought it was really neat. Yeah, yeah. And she turns to the camera, she goes, anybody who calls my show neat has got to go. Right in front of them. No, he left and she goes, like that on camera. My favorite backstage moment like that when I was invited, very explicitly invited backstage was after Kendrick Lamar played Bonnaroo.

12:37Marcus Mumford:And there was a sort of message that came down from on high that Kendrick would like to see you. And when Kendrick calls, you come, right? Because he's the king. Sure, yeah. I learned that lesson the hard way. And it was like, you can go in now. and he took off almost all of his clothes as I walked in. It was amazing.

12:57Sean Hayes:Sounds more like Bonaroo.

13:01Will Arnett:We'll be right back after these messages.

13:04Marcus Mumford:It was amazing and I thought like the gumption, you know, the gumption to be like, yeah, come on back after the show and it'll be the very moment where I take all my clothes off and I'm just down to my undies. It's confidence. And then we'll have a chat. It's confidence. Real confidence. But aren't you comfortable with that? Even on a TV set or a film set or whatever, people knock on my trailer door. I'm like, come in. I'm dressing. I don't care.

13:27Will Arnett:It is a dressing room.

13:28Sean Hayes:Yeah, that is true. You know, Marcus, you bring up Tim Kee, whom I also adore, and he did that incredible film with your wife. He did. The Ballad of Wallace Island,

13:37Marcus Mumford:which I loved that film. I did too.

13:41Sean Hayes:Brilliant. Brilliant film, wasn't it? We're not going to get into Carrie's career, but I mean, I'm amazing.

13:45Marcus Mumford:Good, because I haven't seen a lot of it, but that one I've seen three times. I love that one so much.

13:52Sean Hayes:So, me too. You guys, I urge anybody to see The Ballad of Wallace Island. It's such a beautiful little film. It's so funny and poignant and just amazing. Beautiful, beautiful film.

14:01Marcus Mumford:Well, I got so into Tim's podcast. He's got like a radio for, it's not a podcast, it's a radio show in the UK on public radio. And I got so deeply into it in COVID that when he wrote to Kerry with a script, I was like, you absolutely have to do this movie. Him and Tom Basden together are phenomenal. Tom Basden, amazing too. Yeah. Amazing. And just for my sister, your wife is Carrie Mulligan. Just for Tracy, my sister, in case she doesn't know. Yeah, hi, Tracy.

14:30Sean Hayes:Tracy almost crashed. She was trying to Google.

14:37Will Arnett:Hey, Siri.

14:40Sean Hayes:Who is Marcus? She's pulling into Kohler, Wisconsin with her phone in her head.

14:45Will Arnett:Wait, so Marcus, getting back to that for one quick second, she can't possibly see all your shows because you're playing almost every night.

14:53Marcus Mumford:No, she actually broke a record.

14:54Will Arnett:So are you allowed to not see all of hers?

14:56Marcus Mumford:Yeah, yeah, she came on tour. I think she, in one year, maybe was at 48 shows and watched two. Not the whole thing. Top and tail. Yeah, she really... And she says she likes our band, our recorded music. There's some caveats. The first time she saw our band play, she thought we were quite shouty. And to be fair, I think she's right about that. But then, you know, she's put up with it for a long time. But then, yeah, she doesn't feel like if she's on the road, she has to come to every show.

15:35Sean Hayes:Wait, Marcus, did you guys meet at summer camp? Am I right about that?

15:38Marcus Mumford:Yeah, we met at Bible camp. Really? I was 10. She was 12. What? Nice work. Ah, yeah, nice.

15:45Will Arnett:So you guys were, now she started to tell some of the story, I think I remember when she was on, about her. They were pen pals, right? Yeah. We were pen pals, yeah.

15:52Marcus Mumford:And she still has the journal entry from the day we met, where my cousin was there, who was two years older, who was age appropriate for her, and he got an eight and a half out of ten, but I, who was definitely not underlined boyfriend material, got a nine out of ten. Wow.

16:11Will Arnett:Go figure. So then what made you not boyfriend material because you were just...

16:15Marcus Mumford:I was two years younger and I was also a foot shorter.

16:20Will Arnett:Oh, it wasn't because you were a monster running around and being a pain in your ass.

16:27Marcus Mumford:No, well, she did write in her journal that I was a bit aggressive on the soccer pitch. Yeah, sure. That I'd gone in a bit heavy on some of the tackles, which lines up. but then we stayed in touch as kids, I guess, and then we reconnected in our 20s. I just love that.

16:46Sean Hayes:And did you lighten up? Are you still a heavy tackler? Well, yes, yeah, yeah.

16:52Marcus Mumford:It's one of the few times I'll drop a C-bomb in earnest. Co-ed soccer in the States particularly. I lived in Denver, and I used to play co-ed soccer, and you can't retaliate, at least where I come from. you know, a woman tackles you really hard, you can't retaliate. So, yeah, I get it. Yes, the rage comes out on the football field sometimes. Oh, God.

17:14Will Arnett:It's a big, big game on right now, Willie. I bet you're taking it. I know, I know. I know, guys, whoever organized this. I know. I can't believe we've done this. I know, I know. I'm watching it.

17:23Sean Hayes:I've got it too. Have you got it on? Okay, great. I just turned it off. But don't spoil it, right?

17:28Will Arnett:Because I'm going to watch it afterwards. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. It's really intriguing right now, by the way.

17:33Sean Hayes:It's really intriguing. We're at an intrigue. They've just come out of half.

17:35Marcus Mumford:I haven't got a live feed because I was thinking about it and then I didn't press record. Should we take a break and record? Are you in the UK?

17:43Sean Hayes:Marcus, are you in the UK or are you here?

17:44Marcus Mumford:Yeah, and so I thought on Champions League final day we'd be safe to do a chat at five or six. Turns out it was an early kickoff, five o 'clock.

17:53Will Arnett:But do you honestly want to take a two-second break and go hit record so you can see the second half?

17:59Marcus Mumford:I'll, uh... Do it on your phone, yeah, for sure. No, no, no, no. No?

18:02Will Arnett:Don't worry about it.

18:02Marcus Mumford:Don't worry about it. It's fine. If it was an England game. So we have a fairly new management team last couple years. Who's we? They haven't managed us. Thomas Tuchel. They haven't managed, sorry, band management.

18:13Will Arnett:Oh, okay.

18:14Marcus Mumford:They haven't managed our band through a World Cup summer. And it's a big deal trying to manage our band during a World Cup summer because if there's any kind of, we tend not to play on England days because they're big days. I take this stuff very seriously. and I sat them all down for the third time in about February. We delayed the announcement of our tour because they hadn't yet announced what dates and days the group games were going to be. And so business-wise, it was almost a disaster. But we waited for so long because we waited to announce the tour so that we knew we weren't going to be on stage when England were playing, right?

18:50Marcus Mumford:And I sat everyone down. I said, look, guys, management's going great. You're doing a really good job. But just so you know, we've had this conversation now three times. I'm deadly serious. If you double book us when England are playing, everyone is fired. Everyone is fired. And I think they've got the message pretty clear now. And I think I'm going to manage to sneak to a couple of games. But it's a big summer. It's a big summer.

19:14Will Arnett:Yeah. So let's go back to being a kid. Yeah. And we're right in there around summer camp. Where did you grow up? Jason said you grew up in California? No, I was born in California.

19:27Marcus Mumford:Oh, you were born, okay. But evacuated to England at six months old. Oh, so not even... I grew up in London.

19:35Sean Hayes:What were the conditions under which you were born in California? Why is that?

19:38Marcus Mumford:My parents were working there for a couple of years down in Anaheim for a church. And so I popped up along the way and then they came back home to plant a church in London from the Californian one.

19:53Will Arnett:Got it. And then at what point then was music introduced to you?

19:58Marcus Mumford:Yeah, I mean, it was the kitchen. My mum listened to a lot of music and had a vinyl collection that I was allowed access to quite early on. And then we would listen to music. What were some of those vinyls? It was a lot of classical music and a lot of choral music because she was in a choir at university and stuff. That's cool. And then the only two kind of pop records she had or non-classical records were Blood on the Tracks. Amazing. And House of the Rising Sun by The Animals. Wow. Oh, wow. And so I played them to death. And then we leaned heavily into the greatest hits by Bruce Springsteen.

20:33Marcus Mumford:That was like the family car record.

20:36Will Arnett:So that explains that you don't have an aversion or rather you have an attraction to or an ability to incorporate these other instruments and instrumentation around your music. Some people call it folk. I know that that's not really accurate. But the fact that you can work in all these different sounds and your music, your sound, the band's sound is so full and varied. Agreed. Does that have some roots in the classical music that you were all the multiple instruments?

21:07Marcus Mumford:Yeah, maybe. I think that's partly a reflection of the taste amongst the band members. Me and Ben and Ted all have real different tastes in music and it covers most genres. Ted's the best guitarist. He's the bass player. He's the best guitarist in the band by a long way. He plays jazz and blues and kind of studied it but plays the bass in the band, which is very kind of kind, actually. And then Ben grew up playing lots of classical and jazz on piano and saxophone. He was a better drummer than me at school. And then, you know, yeah, we cover most of the genres together. And I think we've always felt like whatever instruments suit the song that we're writing at the time.

21:45Right.

21:46Marcus Mumford:So we leaned heavily into like electric guitars and stuff on the third and fourth records. And now I've kind of come back more to the acoustic stuff. and it's just fun, man. Yeah. We love it. We'll be right back. Sherwin-Williams knows color is the difference between this room feels calm and this room feels like a dentist's office from 1988. That's why they make it easy to try out paint colors before you commit. With color chips, peel and stick, or color-to-go paint samples, you can find the perfect color with confidence. No guesswork, no regrets, and no emotional breakdowns halfway through repainting your living room.

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24:56Will Arnett:And now back to the show. what about you playing so many different instruments that that's not super common

25:04Marcus Mumford:right i mean well the key is learning three chords on lots of instruments yeah but i mean

25:09Will Arnett:there i'd be playing drums is so not the same as playing a guitar is what's more difficult seems like the drums would be very difficult to master or is it just well i mean that was my

25:22Marcus Mumford:instrument at school and i took it fairly seriously and you know did the grading system and and that started with pots and pans in the kitchen with my mom and dad and then yeah and then and then i played all the way through high school i played at college just for the year that i'd lasted at college and then and then got hired as a drummer right in a band for laura so i quit college for laura marling yeah so i got a little bit of research i played for laura well done um and and that was my first job in music and that's really nice and um so i got hired as a session drummer and i still like to play drums for people when i get the chance honestly because i love it um but then and so and then i learned open tunings on the guitar so that i could play it like a percussion instrument really without having to read i can read drum music i can't read you know other music oh really drum music look like yeah drum music x's it's still on a stave yeah there's

26:19Will Arnett:x's and there's noughts and crosses basically and so like this the snare is an x and the kick drum

26:25Marcus Mumford:Yeah, the bass drum goes at the bottom and then the snare is like two down, you know, where the C would normally be. And the hi-hats are on top and they're normally Xs and then the cymbals are on top of that. They stack it. So you know the note? Like there's this line and then the black dot. Instead, it's a line with an X and that's percussion. For cymbals, it's an X, yeah.

26:49Will Arnett:Huh. Wait, Jason and Will, did you guys ever, try to learn an instrument or no? Piano. I played as a little kid and then when I got too big to be pushed around, I said, I'm out. Yeah, sure. I understand that.

27:04Sean Hayes:So you always had a great attitude. Is that what you're saying? You're consistent.

27:10Will Arnett:No, it wasn't I wish I had.

27:13Sean Hayes:I wish I'd stayed with him.

27:15Will Arnett:But, you know, it's like my parents, like they said, you know, it's a form of discipline. You're going to have to do your practice for an hour every single day. Yeah, so they made it fun. Exactly, that was a problem. They should have made it fun. Like any kid, you're going to try to cheat and not practice. And so they set up a tape recorder that I had to put on the piano and press record during my one-hour practice to prove that I was practicing. Of course, it was the same music that I was practicing each and every week. So you just played the same. So you record it once and just turn that in.

27:48Will Arnett:Record it once, and they bought it. I mean, it's just, you know, no, you're not getting any better by Friday each week.

27:54Sean Hayes:That was your audition for It's Your Move. That sounds like a thing in your character in It's Your Move would have done. The show Jason did when he was like 15, it was so funny, Marcus. I played over here. It was a brilliant show where he just played a kid who did shit like that all the time. I wish, yeah, I wish I had, I did a couple instruments here and there during school and I wish, I just wish I'd stuck with it. It's one of those, like I wish I'd, I can play four chords on a guitar really sloppily. I just. But let me ask you this, Marcus, Just to Will's point is like, once you learn and become proficient, as you have in so many areas of music, and not only music, singing and all that, is you don't listen to other music the same way.

28:35Yeah, that's true. Whereas somebody like Will or Jay who... I love music. Yeah, you have a different appreciation for it. Not that you don't if you know it, but it's just a different ear. We had this conversation the other day.

28:50Marcus Mumford:we had a party at home. It was Kerry's birthday. And someone came and they were like, there's no music. And I was like, yeah, we don't really play music. I can't do background music. Because if music's on, I want to lean in and listen to it. And I can't switch that part of my brain off. So then Kerry doesn't like having music in the house because I just stop having a conversation. Like if music comes on, I just... And she'll be like, you've gone. I was like, oh, sorry, let's turn it off then. And then when you listen to it, do you analyze it? The chord progressions, the melodies? Yeah, normally.

29:28Marcus Mumford:And a lot of the time, then sort of store it to try and copy it. Yeah, sure.

29:35Sean Hayes:Do you listen to a lot of new music at all?

29:38Marcus Mumford:Yeah, I listen to probably mostly new music, actually. And if I'm on my own, that's when I listen to music.

29:46Will Arnett:And how are you finding the new stuff? is somebody giving you tips on like oh you should check this out or how about this all those streaming services they figure out what you like and then they send you suggestions and stuff, do you find that helpful? do you follow some of those?

30:02Marcus Mumford:sometimes, some of my favorite music I've found on TikTok when I was on it and now I'm not on it my new music has dried up a bit actually I was enjoying that there's an amazing British band called Divorce great band name who became my new favorite obsession i was completely obsessed with them we got them to come on tour with us which is fun oh i just found the algorithm you know fed them to

30:28Sean Hayes:me so you found them and said hey let's get these guys come on tour with us yeah and then we ended

30:32Marcus Mumford:up recording a song together and yeah i love that wait you did you you had to cut yourself off from tiktok is that what i'm sniffing out i did yeah i just i just well i did it ahead of putting out the new record because I just wanted to be insulated from how other people felt about it because I knew how I felt about it. And I didn't need some like comment somewhere spoiling my experience because I was happy with it. And I couldn't change it. It was done. And this is the first time I've ever put a record out where I genuinely have not read a word about it. And I feel free. I love that. It's cool.

31:08Marcus Mumford:I mean, it's a privilege, obviously, but it's cool. So other people do our socials and stuff and you know we send stuff over and we think about it we're intentional about it but i don't have to do any of it or be on any of it which is cool you must

31:20Sean Hayes:come across you must come across bands and stuff when you're when you're touring too or if you do a festival do you like all of a sudden you find yourself going oh wait what is that going on over there and like and here's somebody that way does that ever happen yeah yeah and and a lot of the

31:33Marcus Mumford:time it's just recommendations from mates you know they're like you should listen to this and and sometimes when we're discussing who to come on the road one of us will pipe up with something we've been listening to, you know, because we're very intentional about who comes out and supports us on tour. Because those are the shows I go to now.

31:48Sean Hayes:Yeah, right. You know, mostly.

31:50Marcus Mumford:And I'll go, and every night I don't like playing a show without watching the support band first because it just gets me in the mood and it makes me feel what the room's like.

31:57Sean Hayes:Yeah, of course. Yeah. There's a new English band that I've been obsessed with, West Side Cowboy. Have you heard these guys? Yeah, yeah, yeah. They're so fucking good, man.

32:05Marcus Mumford:Didn't they support Geese on their run? Oh, did they? I think they support, yeah, them and dove ellis so so that i found i found dove ellis through geese because i knew he was on the road with with them and i'm like you know the rest of the internet obsessed with them and um and yeah that's how i found dove ellis so a lot of the time it's just like who's playing with who and these little communities that pop up you know which we were part of when we first started as a band and that's really how people discovered us because they'd come to a law that's how carrie found out about man she booked a ticket to a laura marling show and then we started shouting sort of an hour before Laura went on.

32:40And then she was like,

32:42Marcus Mumford:oh, Mumford, I knew a kid called Mumford. I love that. No way. Yeah, she left a note with our tour manager. She didn't come backstage. No, she left a note. See, that's classy. That's really classy.

32:57Will Arnett:Wait, so I'm embarrassed. She probably told us this, so I apologize for forgetting. So on the note, did she say, hey, so I did know this guy named Mumford. I forget his first name. is his name no do you know what

33:09Marcus Mumford:we were both I guess on Facebook for like a six month window when I was still at college and we connected there and then this was like a couple years after that when we'd started the band and I was still playing in Laura's band and so she left a note with our tour manager with her email address on it I think

33:28Will Arnett:wow so knowing that it was you once she saw you on stage maybe yeah

33:32Sean Hayes:yeah yeah

33:33Will Arnett:you know what's great

33:34Sean Hayes:about this Marcus but also email not the phone number just another layer you know what I mean yeah lovely slow play real classy she's got skills

33:42Marcus Mumford:she's a classy broad yeah a classy broad

33:46Will Arnett:when did you know that music might actually be a path towards a living for you as opposed to just fun still not convinced

33:54Marcus Mumford:still in some state of arrested development what a bass now that was a band for Sean for Sean that's a TV show

34:03Sean Hayes:that was on

34:03Marcus Mumford:I gotta write that I gotta write that for Sean not really crazy for Sean is it playing now? was also a good band I think it's like I was at college I got offered a job playing music I wasn't having a great time at college so I stopped and took a sabbatical where'd you go to college? and I think Edinburgh and I think in my head I'm still on until quite recently I've been on my sabbatical from college sure

34:31Will Arnett:you mean thinking that you would probably go back yeah

34:35Marcus Mumford:And what would you have studied if you'd gone back? I was doing classics. I was doing Greek and Latin. What, literature? To do what? Unclear. You know, it's not a vocational degree. No, it isn't. Just reading? It's what a lot of lawyers end up doing. To be a monk? Yeah. Classics in the UK particularly is seen as like a good, honest, old school degree to do if you're doing something. But what do you do with that degree? I don't understand. He said lawyers, yeah. Oh, lawyer. Well, what's cool about it is... Become a member of parliament. Yeah, a lot of those. A lot of prime ministers do it. But I wasn't on that track.

35:14Marcus Mumford:What's cool about it is it gives you access to poetry and philosophy and storytelling and language and linguistics, anthropology, ancient history, all these things that you study through the original languages.

35:28Sean Hayes:Jason, you're drooling. Your mouth is open. You're drooling.

35:30Marcus Mumford:So it's really geeky. And you get your geek goggles out when you're talking about it.

35:34Will Arnett:I bet it helps you when you write lyrics.

35:35Marcus Mumford:And it's how I got introduced to poetry. It's how I fell in love with words, honestly. Oh, wow. And then I started reading T.S. Eliot really pretentiously as like a 17-year-old. Yeah. And suddenly words had a new depth to them. And, you know, he was a classicist too. And the references, a lot of classical references, and I'd sort of read a bit of Homer and then switch over to Eliot and be like, oh, cool, look at the way he's joined up and referred back to this.

36:03Sean Hayes:Can't you just see 17-year-old Marks just riding a bicycle through some field and then just dropping into a field and reading poetry?

36:11Marcus Mumford:Yeah, with a baguette and a basket on the bike. I was that guy. I was sat on the train to Edinburgh wearing thick fabric and a collar that I cut the collar off my shirt because I'd seen the assassination of Jesse James and just got deep into poetry. And honestly, until this last record, I've been in denial about that too. Like, you know, I've been in this process of being like, this is kind of who I am now. This is what I do. So for Prizefighter, I'd go and sit in the coffee shops in Hudson, New York, because we were recording with Aaron Destin at Long Pond, and I'd sit in the coffee shop for two hours every morning.

36:49Marcus Mumford:I'd do my artist's way, like, morning pages, and I'd sit and read poetry like a real twat

36:56Will Arnett:and just really lent in to, I guess, my identity at this point.

37:01Marcus Mumford:and it helped me write lyrics, you know.

37:04Will Arnett:Let's hit Babble for a second here. So what did the incredible success of that album do for you? Personally, was it jarring to sort of have that next step of success and recognition and treasure? And did you adapt well to that? Was it a fun thing or was it a bit disruptive? That's a great question, actually.

37:32Marcus Mumford:Thank you. Finally. For once. I don't think anyone, unless you're maybe one of Simon Cowell's projects, I don't think you're trained, you know, to have that kind of level of success. We started playing music because we loved playing, we loved each other, and it was just fun, and we got free beers. And then suddenly, we were playing 250 shows a year, and then suddenly you know the first record starts getting gaining some pace we took six weeks off tour to make Babel which our producer at the time was really frustrated about he's like why do you have shows booked on the other side of a recording process that's really dumb creatively but we rushed it and I think we we got it right but it was pressurized and then and then the success of that record around the world really and particularly in the states just opened us up to a world we weren't like ever anticipating or planning for and um yeah i mean i don't think unless you're a kind of pop project you're you're you're even imagining it and then suddenly the shows are all selling out and you're moving into bigger spaces and and fulfilling lots of your dreams as a kid like to headline glastonbury yeah we only did on two records you know i remember getting at the end of the set we basically had to play the whole of both records to fill the time and i remember getting the end of the set and just being like we just need more songs man yeah that's all we got we need more songs because you watch springsteen play for three hours and he's playing like just hit after hit yeah yeah yeah so yeah i wasn't i wasn't really prepared for the success of that record and i think we reacted to it a bit by making a record on the third one that no one was expecting from us no one particularly wanted but we we loved it and it took us into bigger rooms as well and that was how it went widescreen and then and then the fourth record then we had a long gap before the fifth and sixth records yeah how long was that gap that was like on paper it was seven years i mean we were touring for two of those after delta came out and then covid happened yeah um so we were apart as a band for maybe three years yeah

39:45Will Arnett:what was that what was that biggest adjustment there when that when that first wave of big success came in um i mean obviously the most notable would be the bigger crowds and the sellouts and probably been nicer hotels and you're flying from city to city instead of the buses maybe or like just silly things like that but it must have been pretty heady too right you're what you're watching people you know sing your songs um on mass uh and uh probably getting some feedback as to how you're affecting people and changing their lives a bit. And, you know, probably a weaker, more insecure person would probably buy into that a lot and kind of own a lot of that.

40:27Will Arnett:I'll bet you sort of deflected a bit of that and tried to keep it all about the music and keep it simple. And I mean, but you tell me.

40:35Marcus Mumford:It drove a bit of my shame narrative that was already there that I've looked at a little bit. I drank a bit more than probably I should have. like imposter kind of stuff yeah a bit of that yeah a bit of that for sure and uh i i did i went in a bit yeah and on stage you'd be very out you know give yourself completely and then i my friendship circle shrunk a bit yeah i think um yeah i did i did use booze particularly as a bit of an escape and then and then really throughout it all honestly my marriage has just been the best thing about everything so yeah so but i think as we get older at all it always it it's sort of

41:18Will Arnett:naturally and in a very healthy way i i think most people that circle gets smaller you figure out more accurately who you are and what the what the what the proper fits are for you and that It usually equates to a smaller, more specific, more precise experience with people. Right? You're not out there shopping as much for...

41:39Marcus Mumford:Yeah, and I think I recognize the idea of capacity. Because for a few years there particularly, I was spread really thin. I mean, you guys must find this with your jobs as well. You meet so many people and a lot of them you love and then you want to be friends with and then you connect with other people. and then I found myself getting spread really thinly

41:57Will Arnett:and not being very good friends to my friends. Right, right.

42:01Marcus Mumford:And then that shrinking happened a bit. So in a kind of healthy way, I think. So I guess it's, yeah, I think you're right. It's partly growing up. But yeah, I suppose I dealt with it all in a bit of unhealthy ways. Then I stopped drinking booze more out of choice than necessity, although, you know, we could debate that. And then replaced it with ice cream for a while until I was told, you know, I wasn't losing any weight. I was really confused about the whole thing.

42:31Sean Hayes:We have similar paths in that way. I did the same. I did that route too where it was like an ice cream-based diet after I quit boosting. Yeah. Because you miss the sugar. I remember that. Yeah. I miss it too. Wait, Marcus, you know, I'm always kind of interested in an hour. It's probably been an hour.

42:50At least. I'm like I'm starting to shake you know I'm always interested when when people like you who have bands and you I mean you tell me have you did you have vocal training or know any or how to use your voice or because when I go for example I'm a massive Depeche Mode fan they came out on the podcast it was really wild I'm also a huge fan of yours and I love all kinds of music too and I went to go see Dave Gahan sing and I can tell right away oh he didn't warm up. And then after the first couple songs, his voice kind of opened up a little bit and then it was great.

43:29Sean Hayes:And it was great from the beginning too, but just keep it. Reach out and touch faith. And then, did you have any kind of training or did you realize when you were touring, like, oh shit, I don't know how to take care of the kind of athleticism of my voice. Yeah.

43:46Marcus Mumford:I was convinced for years that whiskey and cigarettes really helped. Yeah, right. And then just recently, I've started, actually Brandi Carlile introduced me to her vocal coach, a guy called Rob Stevenson, who's totally changed my world and given me some education on stuff. Like it's a muscle and you have to warm it up. And I've been lucky not to, and I watched friends around me get affected by the polyps thing and losing their voices. is we've never, I don't think we've cancelled a show for My Voice in the past. That's amazing. Which has been cool. Like the only couple of shows that I remember cancelling were because Ted had a brain hemorrhage.

44:31Marcus Mumford:Oh, geez. Which wasn't funny at all. No. Get up. But now it's quite funny because he had to wear a hat for a while. But he headlined Glastonbury two weeks after getting that surgery, like a legend. and I think we canceled two shows for that. But we've just been lucky and my voice has been resilient. Amazing. But I think recently I've realized it's a muscle. Now I start, and now I have a full routine and I look after it and I quit smoking and all that stuff. Yeah, good, good, good. And we will be right back.

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48:16Will Arnett:And back to the show. What does that mean about the polyps? Because I had polyps removed from my vocal cords, but it was...

48:24Marcus Mumford:It means you're weak psychologically. Oh, damn it. Yeah, it's the piano lesson thing. It's because it's a piano. Your parents were right. It was character development.

48:33Will Arnett:You missed that one. No, but the doctor did say that I wasn't using my voice correctly because I was like screaming in bars, you know, and smoking cigarettes and stuff. And he said, I just wrecked it that way. Is that what happens to musicians or to singers that don't know how to warm up correctly? Like you can create polyps on your vocal cords? Yeah, I don't know. I honestly don't know. I think the wear and tear of it is true. Yeah.

49:01Marcus Mumford:I know that like going out after show, I just don't ever do that anymore because talking in loud rooms after shows is the thing that is worse for your voice. Yeah, for sure. So after a show, I don't go on voice rest. I'm not like precious about it. Right, right. But I don't go out and I stay away from loud places.

49:21Will Arnett:Well, you also have a wife you love and three kids that you got to go spend time with too, you know?

49:25Marcus Mumford:Also, I've just become quite boring and monkish.

49:28Sean Hayes:Jason, did Amanda ever develop polyps? Oh, boy.

49:35Will Arnett:I'm screaming that's your date that's your date and she may cancel on you now

49:40Sean Hayes:I love her I love her more than anything in the whole world hey so I lost my voice two days ago actually a little bit really?

49:47Will Arnett:yeah too bad you found it

49:51Sean Hayes:wait Will have you ever

49:52Will Arnett:checked that go ahead okay I lost mine two weeks ago yeah it's still it's still weak I still like if I ever did theater I'd have a real I would need to take real lessons about how to use my voice

50:02Marcus Mumford:have you not done theater?

50:03Will Arnett:No. I mean, tiny, small room stuff. But like if I ever did it, you know, here in New York, I'd lead help.

50:10Sean Hayes:Jay, I was thinking the same thing when I, yesterday, I didn't fully lose it, but I was really close and I thought, I was just thinking about you, Sean, and about how you've been basically on stage for the last three years. Yeah. Kind of straight. Yeah. And Marcus, you must have the same thing. And I thought, I'm going through this thing of like, I wouldn't, if I were in a play right now, I'd be fucked. I wouldn't be able to do it tonight. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, you really have to take care of it.

50:35Marcus Mumford:And Sean, do you do like a full hour every night before you? Yeah, and there's songs that I'll sing to warm up. Like if I know if I'll sing all by myself and if I can hit that high note. Let's have it. All by myself. Then I can do the whole show. Sick, yeah. You know what I mean? It's funny, and you usually do it through tears, right? Right. No, that's the song because it was a one-man show, so I would sing all by myself to warm up. Uh-huh.

51:02Will Arnett:Marcus, do you have a go-to little thing that you do for warm-up? Like a little scale thing or something like that?

51:08Marcus Mumford:Yeah, I do. It's called the penguin noise. It's a lot of this. That's good. Oh, really? Yeah. And then vocal straws. I use straws. It's about like, I mean, we could get tekkers if you want, but it's about getting your larynx to drop back down, like putting your tongue at the back of your throat.

51:26Will Arnett:And opening your palate. With a straw?

51:28Marcus Mumford:Literally with a straw? And then the straw helps with back pressure. So you blow bubbles into a bottle through a straw. And then the back pressure helps open that up and ease all that out. It's like a little reverse massage.

51:43Will Arnett:Do you ever accidentally throw up? Do you ever accidentally throw up when you do it with the straw?

51:48Marcus Mumford:I can't eat like four hours before we go on stage because then bits come up. Yeah, yeah. No. Because it's all quite shouty, you know. Yeah, yeah. That's why.

51:56Sean Hayes:Jason, you accidentally threw up after a lot of big meals, don't you?

52:00Will Arnett:Yeah. Oh, darn it. But I hold his hair. I hold his hair. I've got to get it out inside 10 minutes, otherwise it starts to absorb the fat. Oh, God. So, Marcus. Marcus, we're a month into your tour. What is the, what will have been the most important part of your prep to go on some long tour? Like, do you have to get, you know, your family stuff all in order so that it can withstand you being gone so long? Do you have to get your body in order so it can withstand the hours? And like, what is prep for a long tour look like?

52:42Marcus Mumford:I have been trying to – I got to a point a couple years ago. I was like, there is an element of physicality to my job that requires me to train a bit. so I have been I have been working on that and trying to approach it more like an athletics program and everything else will follow if I can do that stuff well

53:01Will Arnett:what are we looking at? cardio? are we pushing weight? what's our training look like? all that stuff

53:06Marcus Mumford:yeah all of it all of it yeah really yeah and then we have a little gym on the road that helps there's a lot of like singing it turns out that singing playing guitar and stamping like this with your feet which you must remember Jason from that video oh yeah

53:20Sean Hayes:Yeah, Jay was in the video. So fun.

53:23Marcus Mumford:That stuff turns out is some sort of cardio. I used to think it was enough to... Yeah, it's exhausting.

53:30Sean Hayes:Talk about how did that happen? How did Jason Bateman end up in your video? Less disdain. No, I spit it out.

53:40Marcus Mumford:How the fuck did Jason Bateman end up in your video? It was our friend Sam Jones, wasn't it? He called you up.

53:48Will Arnett:Or was it Sudeikis? I think maybe I was doing Horrible Bosses at the time. Maybe it was, I'll bet you Sam contacted, I didn't know Sam, so he wouldn't have contacted me. So it would have been probably Sudeikis or Ed or Will. Yeah. And then they, I don't know how they got to me. Must have got a lot of passes before they got to me. But God, that was so fun.

54:10Marcus Mumford:Probably my favorite music video we've ever done because I didn't have to do anything. And I just got to watch you guys do it.

54:17Will Arnett:It was absolutely amazing. forte killed me on that oh yeah well forte was the kiss the kiss the kiss the kiss the hard kiss um all right so but so that brings us to sam that brings us to the dock let's talk about the dock let's talk about the train tour let's talk about you arranging for those other groups and and uh you know because you spoke earlier about picking you know the the bands that you guys are interfacing with so just well let's go in order what's it like traveling on a train that long with that many

54:46Marcus Mumford:people it's really exhausting it's not it's i don't recommend it it's right it's very confined

54:52Will Arnett:it's like being on a submarine it's worse than a tour bus right and um i mean it was it was so tell sorry tell the audience what the basic concept of this thing and and it was inspired by the the this happened is woody guthrie and uh and gang right yeah i think they did it basically someone

55:08Marcus Mumford:came to us you know i don't know 2011 and said we have access to a bunch of vintage rail cars do do you want to go on tour on a train? And we, at that point, were like, we'd just done a tour of India.

55:21Will Arnett:Yeah.

55:22Marcus Mumford:Well before we had any reason to do a tour of India. You know, we'd toured on a narrowboat. We liked putting up our own festivals. It was just like fun ways of making the shit feel slightly different and discovering bits of the world that you might not otherwise. So we were feeling adventurous, and we said yes, we did it with Edward Sharp and the Magnetic Zeros with Old Crow Medicine Show, and it was the best week on the road we've ever had. and we made a film and it won a Grammy and we were all very happy. It was great. And so we thought, let's run it back slightly differently. Let's get all of our favorite musicians together as a house band and then every night we'll get special guests to come on stage with us.

56:01Marcus Mumford:So we had Lainey, Wilson, Darius Rucker, Maggie Rogers and Noah Kahn and we learned their songs the day before and performed like the house band for them. and it was really fun. And we did it, yeah, we traveled by train, but that's not really the audience participation part because obviously it was just us and crew that went on the trains. But it was, and it was only five days. So it was manageable, but it was exhausting.

56:28Will Arnett:But you've got Sam and his gang with the cameras in there documenting the, yeah?

56:33Marcus Mumford:Yeah, so Sam made this film for it, which I really love actually. I don't enjoy the process of making music films. I think in general they're quite boring. And I don't really watch them for pleasure. But this one...

56:47Will Arnett:It can feel like a reality show, right?

56:49Marcus Mumford:Yeah, a little bit. And yeah, I find it quite hard to relate to a lot of them. Obviously, the Beatles one is my favorite of all time. And I've watched that many times. But other than that, I don't get a huge amount of enjoyment from watching. This one, especially not our ones. But this one, I actually think he did something really beautiful with. and the people involved were unbelievably kind with their time. And we made it kind of like a socialistic enterprise where everyone got paid the same. And whatever cash that was left in the pot after very expensive trains, we just shared out. And then our friends really gave us their time, you know.

57:25Marcus Mumford:And they're phenomenal, normal musicians. And we had a really good time.

57:28Sean Hayes:I was going to say for Tracy, but she knows because she met Sam when we were on tour. Sam Jones is the same guy who did the Smartless on the Road special that we did. So we all know Sam through that process. Yeah, that's so cool. I didn't know he did this and I didn't know anything about this. When can we see it?

57:45Marcus Mumford:And I'd made a film with him before. He made the documentary about the new basement tapes thing that we did with Elvis Costello and Jim James and Taylor Bosman. Oh, I don't know about this. And Giddens. We took old Bob Dylan lyrics that T-Bone Burnett had pilfered off Dylan and asked if we could record music for them. And Dylan amazingly said yes. They were literally from shoeboxes and the Big Pink from the 60s. and so we wrote music to all these unused lyrics, which was really fun. And Sam made a documentary of that, so I'd worked with him before. And obviously he shot our Rolling Stone cover, which I hate, but he also made that Hopeless Wanderer video that Jason was in.

58:22Marcus Mumford:So we'd worked with him a bit before and he came on and did it and it was sweet.

58:27Sean Hayes:And he also made the Wilco doc, I'm Trying to Break Your Hearts. Yeah, that's so great. Wow, I want to see that doc you were just talking about. I want to see that one where you guys, with the Dylan's.

58:37Will Arnett:Oh, it was sweet.

58:37Sean Hayes:Yeah, it was good. It was a while ago. Me too, actually.

58:41Will Arnett:Go ahead, Johnny I was just going to do my standard Do you have any one show or one fan interaction on stage that just went horribly wrong or something that went horribly wrong on stage during a tour?

58:53Marcus Mumford:Yeah, recently We started the Pricefighter tour in Australia and we played a song for the first time and it went so badly wrong we stopped halfway through and we didn't start the song again No way I love that though.

59:10Sean Hayes:Oh my God, I love that. What did you say?

59:13Marcus Mumford:I said, that's live music, folks. And we moved on. And I wanted to fall through the floor so badly. It was the worst. I think it was the worst moment I've ever, ever had. Why did you stop? Oh, it was just a disaster. Everyone was in the wrong key and wrong time. It was just a disaster. And would have required a full rehearsal to do it. And I thought that was probably pushing it. So we just stopped and moved on to one day. And you just thought, we'll get this. we'll get this watch this 6, 7, 8 it was awful it was awful it was so horrible

59:42Will Arnett:I'll bet you the audience loved it though like kind of you know like a blooper you know yeah so cool

59:47Marcus Mumford:yeah I think you know yeah my wife says things because I forget lyrics a lot when I get nervous my memory goes and I'll forget a lyric sometimes and she'll be like that's the bit people love that's the live bit that's different to the record I toured with Kenny Rogers when I was when I was in my early 20s as a Christmas elf on his tour amazing And he would forget the lyrics all the time. And whenever he did, he would just hold the microphone out to the audience. Oh, smart. You got to know when hold them.

1:00:16Sean Hayes:Sean, I thought you'd go, hey, Santa, the lyric is... Yeah, shuffle over like a little helpful elf.

1:00:22Marcus Mumford:Hey. Have you ever done that on stage, though? Because that terrifies, especially with a one-man show. Have you ever forgotten your life? Yeah, yeah. There's one, I just did it. It's absolutely terrifying. There is one part where the line is, you know, I say to one of the characters, I say, are you going to be here? How long are you in town for? And he says, the weekend. I say, can we get together and discuss this one thing? He says, sure. And then I say, your last name is Dupain. And then one night I go, as one of the characters, I go, how long are you in town for? He goes, the weekend. And I go, can we get together?

1:00:58And I go, ah. and I go and then I go to myself I go wait how long are you in town for to the character and I go I just told you I'm in town just for the weekend and it and it bought me time to think of what line was next and did you get there yeah thank God and do you think people noticed

1:01:21Will Arnett:no they don't fucking know yeah and certainly the stage manager that was asleep in the wings not throwing you the line didn't notice either right

1:01:29Marcus Mumford:right yeah they just watched It's the living daylight, sadly. Yeah, it is pretty scary.

1:01:33Will Arnett:All right, before we let you go, because we're two minutes over here, I want to know how being a parent has changed the way that you listen to music or write music. I'm assuming they go with you a little bit, but it's got to change the way you are as an artist, as a musician. Yes?

1:01:50Marcus Mumford:Yeah. Yeah, I think it's been a healthy, I think it's been a wonderful antidote to my narcissism. Because you can't just... You can't just be the center. I mean, you probably can, but I found it difficult to remain the center of my universe with these little ones around. And it puts everything else in perspective in such a helpful way for me.

1:02:14Will Arnett:Amen.

1:02:15Marcus Mumford:I found it. Yeah. So if you're asking about how it's affected my work, it makes me more intentional when I go to work. And actually scheduling-wise, I just want our team to pack as much as they can into as short a period of time as possible. so I'll go away and I'll work really really hard for whatever period of time I'm away and then I come home and sooner than I would have if the schedule had been more easy you know and I would

1:02:40Will Arnett:imagine when you do come home that that is that is the thing you are most addicted to completely indulging in right you are rationally excited to just like dive headfirst into family yeah I want

1:02:52Marcus Mumford:to get home you know like one of one of the guys really likes um doing the day I just want to get home as soon as possible i don't care which flight it is right and then hopefully be there for the school run the morning after because and that's why that's why dropping booze for me has been so

1:03:09Will Arnett:helpful it's just made my life more functional get up earlier because i get home i'm not dusty

1:03:13Marcus Mumford:you know i'm like yeah it's it's it's just being like present as fast as you can in an accelerated manner it feels like so it's made me more present i think yeah yeah and then more grateful when i get to go and do my work and go and play these shows i just feel grateful for i'm in this season of gratitude with the band that i'm just really enjoying because i'll go away and be like i've got to make the absolute most of this because because it's awesome and it's amazing it's such a privilege and our audience have been so kind to us and continue to grow and and that's just felt like wild and so i want to i want to be really good i want to be really great at that and that takes time and attention that obviously is a cost balance you know yeah but i'm just uh attacking it and i'm well you are you start to value well sorry i was just sorry jay i was just going to

1:04:05Sean Hayes:say like i've gone through that too in the last couple years it's like when if you are going to do something that's taking you away from home and the kids and all this stuff it's got to be valuable you know exactly it's and and if you're going to do it you do it wholeheartedly and then and then you go, because you really just want to be home. So it's got to be meaningful.

1:04:25Will Arnett:Well, we're grateful of the time you do spend out away from them because you are incredible at it. Keep going at it. And maybe we'll see you for the dock down the street. I will see you. With my wife. The woman he'll be with is my wife and I want a full report, Marcus. Take some pictures for me.

1:04:50Marcus Mumford:I'm really excited to see you guys yeah thanks so much for having me oh thank you for doing this oh man we're such fans enjoy the rest of your day pal enjoy the game thank you see you guys okay bye pal peace bye

1:05:06Will Arnett:that was Double M as I like to call him Double M's I call him Eminem he loves it that was great by the way isn't that crazy that at the beginning we were talking about our hair and you said what's the name of your new hairdresser? And I said Marcos. No, it's not Marcos. Marcos Mumford. Yeah, I just don't think that's Marcos. And then the guest name was Marcos. Well, it's M-A-R-C-O-S, so it's the same. It's spelled the same. I get where you're going with this, Sean, but, you know, it's not fucking nuts. It's not crazy. No. I think that's really wild. I mean, what are the odds of that? What are the odds?

1:05:45He's great, though. So, I mean... What are the odds? He is great. That, I didn't, you know, I never knew anything about him.

1:05:55Will Arnett:I really like his flavor of British accent. Yeah, me too. I noticed that too. And I like that too. It's melodious.

1:06:03Sean Hayes:Yeah, it's nice.

1:06:03Will Arnett:It's calming. There are definitely different regions of the British accent. Oh, which ones aren't there, Jason? There is sort of the aristocratic sound. there's the Liverpudlian there's the slightly Scottish there's the Welsh right? Will Will Will you're the guy over there How dare you

1:06:25Sean Hayes:How very dare you

1:06:27Will Arnett:Right? And like I wouldn't be You're okay

1:06:31Sean Hayes:if you're from Liverpool you're okay you're right

1:06:33Will Arnett:you're right Jason Yeah see you can't just do a regular British accent if you're going to play a character it's got to be region specific Yeah

1:06:42Sean Hayes:He's such a nice dude I'm really excited for the doc. I can't wait to see it.

1:06:47Will Arnett:I didn't know anything about it. What time are you going to pick my wife up?

1:06:51Sean Hayes:And what are you going to wear? Well, she's spending the night, so I think that we're going to... Hang on! We'll just get ready together, you know? By the way, I was just talking to her right before this. She says, hello, Jason.

1:07:03Will Arnett:I've not spoken to her yet today. You guys really do more time on the phone than me.

1:07:09Sean Hayes:We can decide if we want to cut this. I said, are we doing dinner Sunday? And she goes, I'm not sure. and if we don't do dinner, I go, well, we could get dinner. She goes, no, if we're not doing dinner without all of us getting together, I'm doing a full moon women's circle. LOL, hold your tongue.

1:07:24Will Arnett:Full moon women's circle. Yeah, there is some kind of a full light bulb up in the sky coming up here soon. How about that? Wait, and what do you do in the circle? I'll call her. I don't know. Maybe I'll do that. Yeah, we'll trim this. All right, who's got to buy? Anybody got a bye? Wait, didn't I try to start something new last week?

1:07:47Sean Hayes:If we ever did a week where we didn't throw out a bye, we would have to call that the bye week. Bye week. The bye week. We get a bye. You don't need to keep saying it.

1:08:02Will Arnett:Bye.

1:08:03Sean Hayes:Smart. Less.

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