Alt-rock quintet Grizfolk may live in the beaches of Southern California, but its members—and music—draw from a plethora of geographical and cultural influences. Frontman Adam Roth, bassist Brendan Willing James and drummer Bill Delia are from various parts of the US, while keyboardist Sebastian Fritze and guitarist Fredrik Eriksson are imported from opposite coasts of Sweden. The band has its alt-indie sound down pat; one that’s championed by the likes of Los Angeles tastemakers KCRW (among others) for its heady melodies, gang choruses, lush guitars and glitchy production. On their debut Waking Up The Giants, Grizfolk are not just setting up to be the next big thing, they’re actually going big: The songs are natural anthems in the vein of Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros or the Lumineers. And how could a band with a song called “Bob Marley” ever go wrong?

Hometown: Seb and Fred are from Sweden, Brendan grew up in LA, Adam is from Pensacola and Bill from Pennsylvania.

Homebase: We all live in Los Angeles now, in and near Venice.

Why are you called Grizfolk? What does it mean?

We had a nickname for Adam awhile back, which was Griz Adams (he had a great beard at one point in time). When the band first started out and we needed a name, we quickly settled in on that. With a little more thought, we changed it to Grizfolk, with the 'folk' implying a community between us and our fans, us all being 'Grizfolk.'

How did you all meet?

We all met in Los Angeles. Adam, Fred and Seb began writing songs together a few years back (the first of which was “The Struggle”) and meanwhile Adam was playing in a band with Bill and Brendan. Those projects sort of merged to become Grizfolk.

What's the particular reason behind your album being called Waking Up The Giants?

This is the title track for the album. It’s about finding greatness inside yourself. The album’s cover is a teepee. The way we see that teepee is kind of as a portal, into a parallel universe. Inside that teepee our five band members are under a shelter. If you keep walking there’s this whole universe that we are creating for ourselves and whoever is listening to our music. We’re creating this community. It’s an open ended idea. Our songs are a starting place.

Did you grow up in musical households? What was your first experience with performance?

Bill: I didn't grow up with musician parents, but they were always supportive of me playing music and encouraged me to get involved in any instrument I wanted to play. I started by taking piano lessons when I was very young. And eventually, I built my own drumset out of shoeboxes, pots and pans, and basically anything I could find that made a sound. I played along to the radio on that 'drumset' for at least a year.

Name some of your biggest musical influences?

We all love Justin Vernon (Bon Iver, Volcano Choir, Shouting Matches), Dave Grohl, and Miike Snow. More recently, we can all agree on Max Frost, Lord Huron, and Kurt Vile.

How do you describe your music to someone who's never heard you before?

Whatever form you see us in, whether it's acoustic or plugged-in, it will be a different show. Even different from the recordings. We like to change things up and re-invent our songs, while still staying true to what we like about them in the first place.

How did you get Josh McDermitt to star in "Troublemaker"?

We've been friends with Josh for a while now. He's been such an awesome supporter for our band and we love him and what he does. We asked him if he wanted to be in the video and luckily he had an opening in his schedule. We had a fun hot sweaty day in the desert.

What are you looking forward to most on your headlining tour next year?

We are excited to be playing some of the new songs off the album. Also just meeting all the fans and giving them an experience that they'll hopefully never forget. 15. You had a pretty big year in 2015. What was the biggest hightlight? Performing on The Late Show with David Letterman was definitely something we'll be telling our grandkids. Playing Firefly was a fun festival to play at too. 16. What are your new year's resolutions? To play as many shows as possible in as many countries as possible.