Houndmouth’s Katie Toupin talks writing new music and sharing a van with a bunch of dudes

Indiana’s Houndmouth sounds like a lot of things, but probably nothing hits closer to home than the Band. The recently college-graduated foursome – keyboardist Katie Toupin, bassist Zak Appleby, guitarist Matt Myers and drummer Shane Cody – might be a little young to make that connection. Nonetheless, the group certainly does a remarkable job of emulating the same spiritual-country vibe that makes every single song on their debut record, last year’s From the Hills Below the City, such a treasure. 

Toupin, Appleby and Myers all share lead vocals, picking songs off the album and owning them. The band itself is kind of a runaway success story: a couple years ago, the hometown friends who started making music for fun, like so many bands do. They put up their (decidedly Band-worthy) song “Penitentiary” on YouTube one day, and the Internet swallowed it whole, demanding more of Houndmouth, whoever they were. The U.K.’s Rough Trade record label – home to the Alabama Shakes – snapped them up almost instantly. 

Ahead of Houndmouth’s gig tonight at the Bottleneck, we caught up with Toupin from a hotel lobby in the middle of tour to chat about what’s next for the band and how smelly the van gets. 

The Pitch: From the Hills Below the City came out in June. What has life been like for Houndmouth since then?

Toupin: Since the record came out, we’ve done a lot of summer festivals, which have been great. We had our first headlining tour in the fall, and now we’re on our winter tour. Right now, I think things are the same… my life is still in a van, and hanging out with those boys. The shows are getting bigger and better. It’s good. Things are good.

Yes – you’re the only girl in surrounded by a bunch of dudes, right?

Yeah. Our manager is a guy, too. It’s hard. The van will start to smell, and I’ll be like, “Um, so, guys… ” And they’re just like “Yeah, whatever, we’re gonna shower in a week.” I’m used to it now. I’ve learned to pick my battles and be patient. And we get along really well, we’re kind of a little family – I can’t imagine it any other way.

You all switch off on songs on the album. I’m wondering if there’s a clear band leader? Tell me about your band dynamic. 

On the last record, whoever wrote the song sang the song, and that’s kind of the same concept that we’re working with now. But on the last record, a lot of the songs were written before the band was a thing. There wasn’t a whole lot of collaboration. We should change the dynamic here and add these harmonies here, those were things we all worked on together, but we each brought our own songs in.

Are you planning on doing things the same way for the next album?

We are working on the next record right now. We’re gonna record it in April. We write the majority of it separately and then bring it to the table, but now there’s a little more going on as a group – suggestions, putting someone else’s line in another song and turning things into a bridge. I think we’re still forming our sound as a band. It’s changing a bit. The influences are changing.

From what I’ve read about how you all came together as a band – blogs picking up on “Penitentiary,” signing to Rough Trade right away – it seems like a very shotgun career.

Before the band, me and Matt [Myers] had known each other for three years, and we’re all from the same town so we knew of each other, and it just so happened that when the four of us came together, we were into the same music at the same time. We worked together really well. When we brought our different pieces it to the table, they went together. That’s how I feel the album became so cohesive.

I remember the first practice, because I was the last person to be added to the band. The first practice I went to, Zak [Appleby] picked up bass for this and I picked up keys for this, so it was rough, but I remember listening to the sounds we were making and being like, “Wow, this sounds good!” Even though it was kind of simple, we liked what we were doing together right away. I don’t think we expected anything of it – we just liked it. We booked a local show so our friends could come. We wanted to share what we were doing with our friends. That was the only goal we had in mind at that point.

What have you learned about yourself as Houndmouth has evolved and gained traction?

… .I mean, it’s hard for me to remember before the band, honestly. I’ve learned so much in the last two years of my life. I didn’t know anything about the music industry and how to get along with people in a van and how to tour. It was a huge learning curve that we all had to go through in a very short period of time, so it’s hard to zone in on one thing that I’ve learned.

Al taught me to choose my battles, and that was pretty good advice, because at the end of the day we’re all really lucky and very grateful for getting to do this as a job, as a career. It’s pretty great.  

Houndmouth is at the Bottleneck in Lawrence tonight. Details here.