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Last March, a journalistaskedLed Zeppelin front man Robert Plant to name a group that he currently enjoyed.
They areLed Zeppelin I.
For us to have somebody like that put themselves out there and comment on a young band like us?
That means theyre taking us seriously, he says.
Thats one of the biggest troubles weve had going back three or four years.
1 singles on the Billboard Mainstream Rock chart.
3 on the Billboard 200 in October.
(Think the Darkness, without the pronounced humility.)
Still, Greta Van Fleet remains altogether impervious to the dissent.
To a certain degree, if the artist is too involved with that, it ruins the artists intent.
Theres been some people who have been too overwhelmed with what people say about them.
Did you envision that happening so quickly?Absolutely not.
It completely caught all of us off guard.
Its probably similar to what they were listening to growing up and its a nostalgic crowd.
And then you have the younger audience, which is us.
We are the young people.
I suppose it wasnt really a thought in our heads because we had high aspirations to be the best.
We didnt ever understand what being the best would bring, and were still striving for that every day.
As long as you make yourself a better person than you were yesterday, its a good day.
It is attainable; you’re free to do it.
It is strange, though, in the rock-and-roll world, to have quite a massive uprising.
I think thats in part due to what is out there right now, whats mainstream right now.
You have a lot of hip-hop, pop in the most generic sense.
I dont think people want to listen to bullshit anymore.
People want to listen to real music.
Its the attitude behind it, which makes Hozier rock and roll.
He just came out with an EP a few months ago and his stuff is just awesome.
Of course, there were bands leading up to the big rock-and-roll resurgence.
Even in the alternative world, like Kaleo, they had two pretty mainstream alternative songs that were awesome.
There are people who have a sense of great production and kick-ass, balls-out, unwavering rock and roll.
That is the biggest problem, where people arent willing to take a chance.
Whereas we dont care if we have a hit or dont have a hit.
Thats the most important thing when youre making art, is to not care.
Criticism can be hard to shut out.
I havent read it.
I really dont think we get worked up about that, because heres one person whos complaining about it.
If you cant do it, then you just write about it.
I feel like this man has had a troubled past.
Prayers up for him.
But it actually feels really good, because some of our favorite bands have had some pretty aggressive criticism.
I think its cool.
I think that we really just developed to play like a band, like what it used to be.
I dont think thats throwback or retro.
Its just guys that know how to play rock and roll with each other.
it’s possible for you to design a band thats perfect.
Maybe its massive for ten seconds but tomorrow nobody cares.
It really is a building process.
You cant just snap your fingers and have it all.
Is that tiresome at this point?Oh, yeah, of course.
Its an innate human instinct, to compare and contrast and make things more relatable.
Thats something that will always be a human instinct.
I really feel like its died down though, over the past three or six months.
Were excited to get back in the studio and put the next step out.
Youre playingSaturday Night Livethis weekend.
We used to sit around the TV …
This is getting so weird to say, We used to.
We used to watch the Grammys as a family and watchSNLas a family.
We would watch the late-night television shows when we couldnt sleep.
Its a re-circling of something very relevant in family and life.
This is one of those milestones.
Do you still feel like you have something to prove?I do think so.
I think that until were at the top, I think we have something to prove.
And even until then.
Look at Paul McCartney.
Hes still touring and still proving himself.
