ABC/Randy HolmesThe band Portugal. The Man was way out of the mainstream…until they released their groovalicious, ’60s-flavored hit “Feel It Still.” It hit #4 on the Billboard Hot 100, won the band a Grammy and sold more than two million copies. Earlier this week, they were honored with the prestigious ASCAP Vanguard Award, and at that event, bass player Zach Carothers revealed the moment when he suspected the song might appeal to more than just their usual crowd.
“We’re not dum-dums. We knew that we had something good, but no one can predict what has happened. That was just crazy,” Zach told ABC Radio. “I thought, ‘Oh wow, we’ve got a really good song here, my friends seem to like it.'”
“Then, suddenly, within the same couple of days, we had [the Today show’s] Kathy Lee and Hoda say it was their song of the summer, and we had Lars [Ulrich] from Metallica say that it was his song of the summer,” he continues. “And I was like, ‘Wow, we cast the net pretty wide…if we get a few people in the middle, I think we’ve got something special here!”
Now that the song has become a massive global hit, Portugal.The Man guitarist Erik Howk says even he seems to hear it everywhere he goes.
“So many Ubers, in lounges and bars, in commercials,” he tells ABC Radio. “I had a friend that was in Russia that sent me a video of it just playing in the square, like, to no one in particular. Like, the city of Moscow was playing ‘Feel It Still.’ That’s as psycho as it gets!”
Portugal. The Man kick off a summer tour May 19 in Nashville, and will also play numerous summer festivals including Lollapalooza.
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