Letterman, clearly charmed by the performance, continued to pepper his monologues with clips of Herring's swinging moves for days after their performance. Put that shit on "Letterman." The band's new album, Singles, is full of extremely catchy pop songs. I take great pride in the work that I write and the stories, and emotional investment in the stories. When Future Islands released their fourth album, 2014's Singles, the band had just nailed a Late Show appearance from which frontman Samuel T. Herring became meme-ified. It’s very rare that we get nervous about these things, but all of a sudden all our friends and all our family is calling us pre-show, to be like, “This is so crazy!” And we’d get a million emails. Well, that seems like a pretty good place to wrap it up. That’s something we’ve done a long time without thinking about. But it is kind of wild. SALON ® is registered in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office as a trademark of Salon.com, LLC. In March 2014, Future Islands played their song “Seasons (Waiting on You)” on US chat programme The Late Show with David Letterman. So instead of playing with the musical side of things, we play more with the emotional side of things that drew us to music. Letterman’s Turned Future Islands’ Performance Into A Meme News March 6, 2014 1:16 PM By Tom Breihan Earlier this week, Future Islands performed for the … And we did what we do every night. And when you’re playing in a noisy bar in a packed room, people can’t always hear what you’re saying and so, I’ve been saying this since 2004, 2005: I have to show them what I’m saying, I have to show them the feeling I’m trying to convey. Six years later, we’re pedaling up a slippery hill looking for some levity and love and not finding … I think the majority are like, “I love this,” but there are still the people that are like, “This is the dumbest thing I’ve ever seen. There will also be more late-night TV, after the Letterman breakout. Pretty darn… So the next time, we’ll have the new knowledge and the old knowledge, and I think we’re all already thinking about how we can combine these things next time around, pull out more feelings, and I’m ready to start working on the next record already. It turned out that [Letterman] was a way that we could get a song by us out to a lot of people. David Letterman made them famous, but there's more to Future Islands than animated GIFs of Samuel Herring's dance moves. Plastic Beach Lyrics ... through Letterman and things like that, where you can become a meme or a joke online. Was there any sense from the band beforehand that there would be GIFs and reactions to your being on the show? Future Islands’ frontman spends much of this first night of the band’s UK tour looking as though he has just crawled on to a beach after a boating accident – wild-eyed, gesticulating, drenched. March 6, 2014. Catapulted to fame by leader Samuel T. Herring’s gyrating hips and manic eyes on Letterman in 2014, a lot of people asked, is this actually good? We field a ton of emails from people whose lives our music has touched. And that’s what creating art is all about, is creating a response. David Letterman really digs Future Islands.Like, really digs Future Islands. ------------------------------------------. The lyrics, they may be funny, that’s what’s going to get people to listen, but then I can put a message inside of that, and convey something to them in a secret way. Associated Press articles: Copyright © 2016 The Associated Press. I know that it’s so different for every band. Remember how Lana del Rey was diverted from the short track toward stardom by a monstrous performance on SNL in 2012 and see how only seven weeks ago the network debut by Baltimore’s Future Islands on Letterman brought them more attention than eigth years of touring and recording put together. At least to see if it works. We’re not always writing sugar, happy-go-lucky songs, or always writing the really dark stuff, that the music is dark and the words have to be dark. I know our shows will get bigger, there’ll be bigger offers, that helps us along the way so that we can continue to afford to do this, and make time to write, and afford to move forward. Future Islands’ new song “For Sure” and their ‘Colbert’ performance are easy to compare to their hit “Seasons (Waiting on You)” and their breakout ‘Letterman’ performance. But Future Islands had been around long before that. The band made their watershed television debut -- performing their latest single "Seasons (Waiting on You)" -- and they came out swinging. The last time Future Islands were on Late Show With David Letterman, it was a sight to behold. Future Islands on IMDb: Movies, Tv, Celebrities, and more... Oscars Best Picture Winners Best Picture Winners Golden Globes Emmys STARmeter Awards San Diego Comic-Con New York Comic-Con Sundance Film Festival Toronto Int'l Film Festival Awards Central Festival Central All Events They formed in Baltimore in 2006 and had played around 800 shows and released three albums before Letterman. Now that the record came out yesterday. Watch the monologue below. And Letterman has not forgotten it. The band's new … They just bounce off each other. I’m not a trained musician at all. Herring’s sweat rolls down his Baltimore brows. Have at it, y'all. And there are a lot of bands who perform with a similar level of passion and are doing great things, but they rarely get their chance. We did two and a half weeks down to Austin, Texas, for South by Southwest. following the band's passionate performance, creating a meme along the way. We’re drifting further and further away from Future Islands’ iconic 2014 Letterman performance. Future Islands made their network television debut on March 3, 2014, when they performed this song on The Late Show with David Letterman. By MICHAEL MANNHEIMER | Published April 1, 2014 . Part of it is realizing that. I nailed it. Their ultimate reward for years of making eloquent and elegant synthpop head-ringers, of … We’re all art-school kids who started making music and fell in love with it. And if we’re able to do that, then we’re doing our job. Tell me a little bit about the album. I think that’s all we can really ask as artists or musicians is that people just give us a chance. By Lindsay Zolad z. The fear is people will take the meme or the GIF and won’t listen to the song, or won’t realize that this isn’t a joke, this is a real thing. And I think the dance has become something that I’ve been working on more over the last two years, although I’ve always been dancing, but I’ve been getting better. The biggest thing that we’re trying to do is just to make people move or move people. Good end note! We were just excited to get the opportunity. Sometimes the lyrics can be really sad but it’s still to an upbeat, synthy tempo, and you guys do that well without making it be like, “Here are these sad lyrics and … you wanna dance to it!”. Well, we just started a new tour. David Letterman really digs Future Islands. My mind has been blown by Future Islands on Letterman Watching the Baltimore band on Letterman made me realise just how rare it is to find a singer who … Salon spoke to Herring a day after the release of "Singles," while the band drove along their tour route from Grand Rapids, Mich., to Chicago. And as we realize it, it’s something we’ve been able to harness. You may remember frontman Samuel T. Herring grooving his way into a bit of a zeitgeist moment for the indie-pop world—at the very least, it was a meme-worthy event online. Future Islands’ desire to return to their roots is clear. The way a guitar sounds in a room is different, then, if you just plug a guitar into a board and play. As of March of this year, it will be 11 years of me and [band mates] William [Cashion] and Gerrit [Welmers] writing songs together. We’re really happy with the way the record turned out. We were excited to get to share that with our friends and with our family, and with our fans, the people that supported us for years. A relationship with an audience is very important. We were lucky to have our chance, and show what we’re able to do. "These songs [...] invite us to participate in Herring’s world," wrote Pitchfork's Jeremy D. Larson, "one shaped by geological heartbreak events and their epochal reflection periods, told with nothing more than the simple truth.". Future Islands made their network television debut on March 3, 2014, when they performed this song on The Late Show with David Letterman.Letterman shouted "I'll take all of that you got!" Future Islands blew David Letterman’s mind last year with an intense performance of their breakout single “Seasons (Waiting On You),” and frontman Samuel … The crowd was just great. The Future Islands frontman talked about touring, making the album and, of course, his now meme-worthy dance movies. ), But Future Islands, who released their fourth album, "Singles," last week, is much more than just a meme. But the internet is fickle, and a Letterman-endorsed meme risked reducing Sam’s performance style to the status of a cheap visual catchphrase. If there ever was a joke, the Baltimore group have long outgrown it. But Future Islands had been around long before that. That’s the way we’ve always tried to work, just staying out on the road, meeting people firsthand, creating memories and experiences with people, making new friends and fans. Lest we forget, Future Islands’ new album Singles is out 3/25 on 4AD. "Singles" has been called their best effort yet, even earning critical plaudits from Pitchfork. That’s something that happened. We wanna be one of those bands that’s around forever. Watch Phoebe Bridgers Smash Her Guitar In Triumphant. Future Islands is an American synthpop band based in Baltimore, Maryland comprising Gerrit Welmers (keyboards and programming), William Cashion (bass, acoustic and electric guitars), Samuel T. Herring (lyrics and vocals), and Michael Lowry (percussion). Booked it back to Baltimore pretty quick, and Memphis on the way back. If it makes Future Islands famous, it’s worth it. On Monday night ... Letterman repeatedly exclaimed … And it’s exciting. When describing Future Islands their recently retired, tongue-in-cheek Twitter bio put it best: “Too noisy for new wave, too pussy for punk.” Their distinctive formula has changed relatively little over the years, and The Far Field continues to weave Gerrit Welmer’s deft synth atmospheres and Wi The interview has been edited and condensed for clarity. Letterman giddily said at the end of the performance, which he joked about later in the week, compelling the internet to turn a gif of Herring dancing into a meme. He’s the one who brought us to a place -- a studio in Upstate New York -- called Dreamland that he’s used many times. And hopefully it is a good turning point. Future Islands’ Letterman performance the other week became a sort of insta-meme sensation, and I’ve long been fond of the band so it was gratifying to see them get some widespread attention, with their gruff-voiced theatrics and soulful synthpop sound being a revelation to many. It was like, OK cool, I can handle this -- this is going to be great. The Number Ones: Club Nouveau’s “Lean On Me”, The Number Ones: Huey Lewis And The News’ “Jacob’s Ladder”, “Little Bitch” David Crosby Explains Why Phoebe Bridgers Smashing A Guitar Was “Pathetic”, Watch Phoebe Bridgers Smash Her Guitar In Triumphant SNL Debut, Shut Up, Dude: This Week’s Best And Worst Comments. Yeah, it’s always just kind of been the three of us just jamming in the room, and with Art Lord [a previous incarnation of the band] it was four of us, but yeah, it all just kind of starts with William and Gerrit playing around with sounds. Something about the hype was lacking. Well, yeah, I mean, movement has always been really important to the way that I perform, from the early beginning, playing in house parties or bars, trying to grab people’s attention. You have to try things. Is that something that arises from the feeling of the song? It’s really great to have the new record, just handy with us -- just handing it out there to people, you know. Later this week, Future Islands will play Coachella for the first time, and then continue an international tour through June 8. Earlier this week, Future Islands performed for the first time on the Late Show With David Letterman, and they absolutely ripped shit, eliciting straight-up giggling glee from Letterman himself. When Future Islands became prominent after a Letterman performance, Samuel Herring’s theatrical dancing became the all-too-often discussed justification for their lightning-quick rise to notoriety; it was almost meme-like. They’re putting the sounds, I’m writing words, and finding melodies, finding ways to break through their melodies with a new melody, or ways to play with what’s happening and ways to play against it. David Letterman made them famous, but there's more to Future Islands than animated GIFs of Samuel Herring's dance moves. Future Islands on IMDb: Movies, Tv, Celebrities, and more... Oscars Best Picture Winners Best Picture Winners Golden Globes Emmys STARmeter Awards San Diego Comic-Con New York Comic-Con Sundance Film Festival Toronto Int'l Film Festival Awards Central Festival Central All Events But I think we realize now that that interplay of light and dark, creating a balance. I think it’s the best-sounding thing that we’ve done. But we’ll see. So, for us now, it’s just, keep our heads down, work, stay humble and come out winners in 20, 30, 40 years. William had been talking to [album producer] Chris Coady for a long time. following the band's passionate performance, creating a meme along the way. Now Future Islands talk to Salon about their new album Was there any sort of personal inspiration? Future Islands is an American synthpop band based in Baltimore, Maryland. That’s how we get by. Put a message inside. It may take them a bit, but they will see that it’s real and that’s a beautiful thing. Follow @sarahhhgray or email sgray@salon.com. We realize with every album you need to push yourself to explore something new, or find a new sound, or try something different. Later this week, Future Islands will play Coachella for the first time, and then continue an international tour through June 8. Boom. So we’re basically doing exactly what we wanted to: creating a very strong reaction. People are out at the bar with their friends and you just have to be that band that’s annoying them, playing in the corner, trying to entertain. That’s a really great way to put it. That’s what this is all about, is sustaining a way of life where we can continue to be artists, and do this thing that makes us and other people happy. And I feel like when we’re writing a song it usually only takes an hour, hour and a half. Let’s just keep this going, OK? Copyright © 2021 Salon.com, LLC. [Laughter]. He called back to it during last night’s monologue a couple of times, without context, just yelling “Let’s dance!” And whoever runs his Tumblr also posted the gif above recently. All rights reserved. We’re not trained musicians. Future Islands on fame after Letterman performance, new album The Far Field and exhaustion. We’re professionals at what we do, and we’ve been doing this for many years. The Baltimore trio shot to prominence after a performance on the Late Show with David Letterman went viral. Just having that comfort zone -- because the main reason we’ve always stayed out of a studio proper is because a studio can be very clinical, and has rooms built to control sound. Future Islands is an American synthpop band based in Baltimore, Maryland, comprising Gerrit Welmers (keyboards and programming), William Cashion (bass, acoustic and electric guitars), Samuel T. Herring (lyrics and vocals), and Michael Lowry (percussion). And as a performer I don’t have a guitar, and there’s nothing worse than a lazy front person, that’s just no fun, it’s just like, “What are you doing up there?” It all has to do with what you’re creating and if it’s sincere and honest, then people will see that. Sarah Gray is an assistant editor at Salon, focusing on innovation. That’s the big hope. And our feeling is that sound should be blossoming. [Laughter] But it’s definitely something that’s always been in there. And then we had about three or four days off in Baltimore, and then struck out again on this tour. The Baltimore group's groovy synthpop and lead … Speaking of writing, I was curious how the songwriting process works for you guys. When Future Islands recently performed their new marquee song on “Letterman”, the stunning “Seasons (Waiting On You)”, the secret was out: Here’s this guy, this dude with a … Future Islands worry the scene-stealing appearance on Late Show With David Letterman that put them on the map might end up being “the bane of [their] existence”.. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. It’s an old church off the main road that was refurbished or renovated to become a studio in the '80s. We’ve already got 11 years under our belt as songwriters together, so I hope there’s another 11, and another 11, and we just keep going. Photo courtesy of Future Islands’ Instagram. Letterman w/ Future Islands It’s the end of an era, or soon will be. You know, our style, we want it to be uncomplicated because we’re uncomplicated people. And that’s the hope, that you can move people’s hearts as well as their feet, and if you can do both, then, at least in what we do, that’s success for us, connecting with an audience. Dance Yourself Meme Future Islands just want to move you. Future Islands' newest album, Singles, saw the band reaching a much larger audience, thanks in part to its meme-creating network television debut on The Late Show With David Letterman… Reproduction of material from any Salon pages without written permission is strictly prohibited. Letterman, for one, was as enthusiastic as anyone, and looked positively giddy after they played. And it’s helped me realize some things too. But really, this is the first time we went into the studio to record an album. When Chris got involved with the record, he didn’t feel comfortable doing a portable setup in a random rental home on the coast of North Carolina. You know, if the music is upbeat and the lyrics are a little heavier that creates a certain tension. You've been doing this for 11 years ... No, we didn’t expect anything from that. The last time Future Islands played Dublin the concert was up the road at the cosy Whelan’s venue. And they’re making up their minds, and that’s what we want. With the now-notorious Letterman performance, the Baltimore-based indie outfit demonstrated to the world that they're a wildly eccentric, ferociously feral and distinctly individual band – you'll never find a frontman quite like Samuel T. Herring. As Long As You Are, out October 9th via 4AD. Future Islands. BOOGIE LATE NIGHT: Future Islands' Samuel Herring on Letterman. And he’s like that’s the way I do it with music. I think once we got there, and were able to do rehearsal in the space where we were going to be, and do camera blocking, run the song four or five times, then it felt good. First, go ahead and tell me how the tour has been. There’s a very deep history that people don’t know about. Future Islands is an American synthpop band based in Baltimore, Maryland, comprising Gerrit Welmers (keyboards and programming), William Cashion (bass, acoustic and electric guitars), Samuel T. Herring (lyrics and vocals), and Michael Lowry (percussion). ), in early 2014, Baltimore-based indie outfit Future Islands broke out after a memorable stint on Letterman. But somehow (miraculously? Last night [March 25] we had a sellout in Grand Rapids and it was the official album launch. Like, really digs Future Islands. We’ve always made dance music, since we were freshmen in college starting our first band, we were kind of a dance band, we wanted to be Kraftwerk, that was kind of our thing. There was a big song and dance made about Future Islands' big song and dance the last time that they performed live on The Late Show With David Letterman… The Baltimore trio shot to prominence after a performance on the Late Show with David Letterman went viral. Future Islands became a meme. Future IslandsAs Long As You Are4AD6/10. Herring may not want to be a “meme” (and who can blame him? Performing on "David Letterman" was sort of a transformative moment. Well, really this is our fourth record as Future Islands. I enjoy music coming from a dancer’s background, for how you can move to music. Letterman shouted "I'll take all of that you got!" Future Islands: Meet the band that blew up "Letterman" Their late-night debut spawned a flurry of memes. Life’s not always up and it’s not always down, we move in between emotions on a minute to minute basis sometimes, hour to hour, day to day, month to month; we’re kind of ebbing and flowing. It’s clear that constantly associating the band with this one performance served as a disservice to the art they were crafting. It didn’t matter that Future Islands had been refining their music for a decade, making a name for themselves organically in the Baltimore and North Carolina … Future Islands: The Far Field When three years ago, the singer Samuel T. Herring went a bit crazy during his rehearsal of Seasons (Waiting for You) in live stream of David Letterman, his meme was almostly instantly shown on Internet which helped his great song to popularize. Last year, Future Islands made a pretty huge splash on The Late Show With David Letterman, when their performance of Singles standout “Seasons (Waiting On You)” became an instant meme. By now, we’ve all seen the band’s performance on The Late Show Monday Night and Letterman’s subsequent freakout. NYC icon David Letterman will announce his retirement from The Late Show on this evening’s show (4/3). They formed in Baltimore in 2006 and had played around 800 shows and released three albums before Letterman. ("The Late Show" also turned Herring's dance into a Tumblr-circulated GIF. That’s like the greatest compliment, receiving something like that and realizing that you have essentially become a part of someone’s life, you helped them through a hard time in their lives, or were a part of a celebration in their lives. There’s a really great Danny Brown interview where he said, when my dog was sick when I was kid, we had to give him his pills, but he wouldn’t take them so we would put the pill in a piece of cheese, and feed it to the dog. Are we enjoying this? ... Future Islands … David Letterman Trying to Turn Future Islands Dance Moves Into a Meme. If you tuned in to "The Late Show With David Letterman" last month you probably caught a glimpse of Future Islands frontman Samuel T. Herring -- head bobbing, feet tapping. And a lot of people are seeing it. David Letterman made them famous, but there's more to Future Islands than animated GIFs of Samuel Herring's dance moves. Future Islands may never live up to its incredible life changing Letterman performance, but it still gave Melbourne its all. He looks like he has been digging up the Metro train tracks so he can tunnel his way back to his next destination, his next show, and his next exciting musical chapter. Future Islands fear ‘Letterman’ performance will be ‘the bane of our existence’ ... and frontman Samuel T Herring’s dance moves became a running meme on the show. [Laughter]. Album As Long As You Are. Future Islands are proof of life beyond meme. I think when they find something, they’re kind of getting a groove, I hear a certain passage I like, I’m just like, “Keep doing that, keep doing that, keep repeating it.”. And obviously, there’s been a lot of talk about your stage presence, and your movement -- you’re a meme now with your dance moves. At this stage in 2014, most of us are probably pretty familiar with what to expect from a Future Islands gig. And I kind of sit in the corner and write, and just feel what they’re giving me. Is this a joke?”. Their songs have a weight … We’re not letting any of it go to our heads or anything. Future Islands on fame after Letterman performance, new album The Far Field and exhaustion. The most important stories and least important memes, every Friday. Because the elements just come together. The last time Future Islands were on Late Show With David Letterman, it was a sight to behold.The Baltimore group’s groovy synthpop and lead singer Samuel T. …