Mumford & Sons: ‘No Activity for the Foreseeable Future’

Photo: Courtesy of Big Hassle

Mumford & Sons played their last tour date supporting Babel on September 20th  in Bonner Springs, Kansas, ending a dramatic year that has included several Grammy wins and bassist Ted Dwane’s health scare ”“ and the band revealed to ROLLING STONE that they’re ready for a long break. “There won’t be any Mumford & Sons activities for the foreseeable future following Friday’s show,” keyboardist Ben Lovett told us earlier this week.

Exactly how long is the band planning to take off? “We have no idea. We just know we’re going to take a considerable amount of time off and just go back to hanging out and having no commitments or pressure or anything like that. It feels like the last week of school right now, before school holiday when you’re in high school. The atmosphere on the road is one of . . . I think everyone’s excited about being free of schedules.”

Back in February, the band told us that learning to play demanding arena sets has been an adjustment. “These shows take a bit more out of us,” said Lovett. “We have a bigger responsibility to be in better form. We can’t be dropping the set 20 minutes because Marcus has tired legs.” Added Ted Dwane, “We definitely want a little break. We’re going to have a little rest.”

It will be the band’s first true down time since breaking through with 2009’s Sigh No More. “We’re just going to rest up,” Lovett says now. “I don’t think we’ve had actually much time in the process to be with other people and living a life outside of the band. I think that’s what’s in place at the moment, to do very little ”“ especially when it comes to Mumford & Sons.”