This is Somerset --Even by their own lofty standards, the past few weeks have been pretty special for Mumford & Sons.
First they headlined the closing night of Glastonbury. Just two albums in, detractors said the London-based four-piece didn't have the depth of material to pull off the feat.
While they might not have the number of hits in their catalogue that The Rolling Stones or even Arctic Monkeys could pull out, rabbit-like from the proverbial hat, the Mumfords more than made up for it in energy and enthusiasm.
The finale, a run through Joe Cocker's version of With A Little Help From My Friends, which saw them invite pals The Vaccines, Vampire Weekend, The Staves and First Aid Kit on stage to close the show with them, was particularly fitting.
"Getting everyone up was perfect," says Ben Lovett, keyboard player in the band. "Everything we've ever done has been collaborative, and that at Glastonbury just made complete sense.
"The thing we're doing with the Stopovers is just a continuation of that," he adds. "It goes beyond even music, we're collaborating with people, businesses and schools in a way we never thought possible."
The Stopovers to which he refers are Mumford & Sons' take on a festival. But rather than just pick a huge venue, choose some bands and start selling tickets, a bit more thought goes into it.
"It has to be in a small place," explains Lovett. "It's like the circus rolling into town. Again, it's about collaboration, so we'll talk to the people there, making sure there are toilets for everyone, that the shops are stocked, that there's enough for everyone to drink.
"It's a reactive process to us going there. And ideally, the more remote the better. The one we did in Dungog in Australia, well, that's a town with a population of 3,000, and we took 25,000 people there, so there are logistical things to take into account."
As well as Lovett, the band consists of frontman Marcus Mumford, banjo player Winston Marshall and bassist Ted Dwane who, just two weeks before Glastonbury, was diagnosed with a blood clot on his brain and rushed into hospital to have surgery to remove it.
The first time they put on a Stopover show in the UK was in Huddersfield last year but Lovett says the West Yorkshire town was too big and they've since learned to choose smaller venues.
This year's British leg of the Stopovers takes place on July 19 and 20 in Lewes, near Brighton. There will be four more: one in Canada and three in the States.
As well as the music – the line-up over the two days in Lewes features Vampire Weekend, British Sea Power, The Vaccines, Edward Sharpe And the Magnetic Zeros, Bear's Den and Deap Vally among others.
There are also fringe events: live comedy, a funfair and a five-a-side tournament.
A weekend of sin, this isn't. It is very DIY though, and very Mumfords.
They've also created their own Stopover ale for the events – "because hanging around in breweries is a lot of fun," says Lovett – and a whisky is next on the to-do list.
Ever since the band formed in 2007, there's been an independent spirit about their behaviour. They used to put on their own gigs in London and released their early EPs on a tiny label.
When it came to releasing their debut Sigh No More, rather than sign one of the record deals offered to them, they set up their own label, Gentlemen Of The Road, and licensed the record to Island Records instead, giving them much more control over what they did.
Meanwhile, Lovett set up Communion Records, which has released music by Michael Kiwanuka, Ben Howard, Daughter and Matt Corby.
As Lovett points out, collaboration has been at the heart of their strategy, often playing for other musicians as they did with Laura Marling, Alessi's Ark and Justin Young.
Still on a high after Glastonbury and headlining London's Olympic Park last Saturday, Lovett says he's is looking forward to of the imminent Stopover.
"It was amazing enough that people used to come to see us play at all when we toured, let alone thinking of something like this," he says. "People travelling en masse to see us, two days of entertainment with a line-up like this is mind-boggling."
The band are planning to develop the idea of the Stopover as a model for touring, and believe the possibilities are endless. A previous incarnation of the idea – the Railroad Revival – saw them team up with Amtrak, the American rail network, and tour the US by rail, performing sometimes on the train and at other times to 10,000 people by the side of the line.
"I know the guy who used to organise the Grateful Dead's tours," says Lovett. "Sometimes they'd have 100,000 people moving from city to city with them, all on tour together. I'm not saying we're going to do that, but there are always ideas. It's not even like a festival, it's more than that."
Before that can happen, they probably need to start on their third album. Babel, their second, released last September, returned to No 1 this week thanks to a post-Glastonbury sales boost. They're planning to take the rest of the year off after September, then perhaps start the new album next year.
"We have to challenge ourselves musically, that's crucial," says Lovett.
"More than anything, we're incredibly excited about the next chapter and what the third album can be. Sigh No More and Babel are really part one and two of a similar story. The third album can be anything we want it to be."
EXTRA TIME: MUMFORD & SONS Reported by This is 3 days ago.