The National returns to Treasure Island Music Fest

Photo: Diedre Oâ€™Callagh, 4AD The National, with Matt Berninger (center), performs at the Greek...

Back in the mid-’90s, before the National became one of the most recognizable and revered bands in indie rock, lead singer Matt Berninger and bassist Scott Devendorf were college students from Ohio, living in San Francisco as graphic design interns.

“We lived on Post Street, just above the Tenderloin,” Devendorf says on a call from his home in New York. “We’d play music and do open mike nights at a tiny cafe. It turned into this college band we had for years, called Nancy. We had a great time and we love this city. It’s held a special place in our hearts for numerous reasons.”

Twenty years later, Devendorf and Berninger return to San Francisco, alongside Scott’s brother Bryan (drums) and brothers Bryce (guitar) and Aaron Dessner (guitar/keys) for the National’s headlining performance at the Treasure Island Music Festival. They’ll close out the two-day festival on Sunday, Oct. 18 — on the same stage that the band played four years ago.

The National are about as far away from two guys playing an open mike night in the TenderNob as you can get. They just wrapped up touring their sixth LP, “Trouble Will Find Me,” in November, where they played large-scale venues ranging from London’s massive O2 Arena to New York’s iconic Madison Square Garden and even Berkeley’s Greek Theatre.

“We toured that album for almost two years and now we’re in between records,” says Devendorf. “We’ll actually be in California ahead of the festival doing some recording for an ongoing project, without an end date.”

Hints at the next record for the National aside, the band members have certainly stayed busy. Berninger and Menomena’s Brent Knopf formed their new El Vy project (which comes to the Independent on Nov. 6). Aaron Dessner just produced albums from Scottish band Frightened Rabbit, as well as Aussie folk-pop trio Little May. The Devendorfs have another band called Lanzendorf. The National is also hoping to release a live record in 2016.

But in an interesting San Francisco twist, Devendorf says that they’ve all been working hard on a Grateful Dead tribute album, which is a follow-up to the cultish Bryce and Aaron Dess- ner-produced “Dark Was The Night” compilation. Both benefit the Red Hot Organization, which is dedicated to “fighting AIDS through pop culture.”

“It’s really long, like 60-plus songs — all Grateful Dead covers from different artists,” Devendorf says. “The National is on it, obviously, and we are really excited, but it’s difficult because there’s both big productions and smaller ones. We’re just trying to get it finished.”

Photo: Ruvan In about a year, Shamir Bailey, 20, has become one of the most...

The National have never been short on ambition, and their wide discography reflects that. The themes of Berninger’s lyrics have placed him as the central figure of the stories of adulthood that the band’s music tells. But Devendorf says that the songs aren’t necessarily autobiographical.

“It’s about things Matt has experienced and everything people in the band have experienced and observed,” he says. “Time passing in a sort of way — a collection of ideas from a theme.”

Without breaking stride, Devendorf adds, “I think we can all put ourselves in the shoes of the narrator in some of the songs and that’s great. In a way, that’s what powers the band, that the music and the lyrics have this pull that draws you into a world that makes you feel something about them.”

Adrian Spinelli is a freelance writer. E-mail: sadolphson@

sfchronicle.com

Treasure Island Music Festival

Performances begin at noon on the Great Lawn.

Saturday, Oct. 17

Deadmau5, FKA Twigs, Big Grams, STS9, Run the Jewels, Gorgon City, Hudson Mohawke, Cashmere Cat, Viceroy, Shamir, Bob Moses, Skylar Spence, Baio.

Sunday, Oct. 18

The National, Chvrches, the War on Drugs, Father John Misty, Panda Bear, Jose Gonzalez, Deerhunter, Drive Like Jehu, Hex, Mikal Cronin, Lower Dens, Viet Cong, Ought.

Tickets: $95 ($169.50 both days). VIP $179.50 ($315 for both days), includes preferred viewing area with bleachers and other amenities. www.treasureislandfestival.com

Transportation: Single day island parking pass, $45. Two-day island parking pass, $80. Free shuttle service from Bill Graham Civic Auditorium, 99 Grove St., San Francisco. Shuttle buses will run on a continuous loop each day beginning at 11 a.m.

Other acts to see

at Treasure Island

Baio

When Chris Baio performs with Vampire Weekend, his department is playing and writing bass lines and contributing to arrangements. So when he embarked on his eponymous solo project, it was a cathartic release of sorts for the multi-instrumentalist.

“There’s one album in the history of music that I had complete control over, and it’s this one,” he says.

Baio’s self-produced debut LP, “The Names,” is an engaging collection of both indie rock and electronic explorations. From the melodic keys and plucky strings on single “Sister of Pearl” to the Detroit techno vibes of “I Was Born on a Marathon,” it’s a nuanced approach to an indie record.

“I really wanted it to be a record where anything could happen,” the now London-based Baio says. And “The Names” keeps you guessing at every thrilling turn. Baio played Treasure Island with Vampire Weekend in 2008 and returns on Saturday to play his solo set.

Run the Jewels

Atlanta’s Killer Mike and Brooklyn’s El-P were both hip-hop lifers with strong underground followings when they embarked on their Run the Jewels project in 2013. Yet when their sophomore album “Run the Jewels 2” garnered monumental levels of praise (including being named Best Album of 2014 by indie media behemoth Pitchfork), it thrust them into a pop-culture-public-figure status that they’ve both embraced with style and grace.

“We’re just two dudes sitting in a room wanting to feel energy ourselves,” producer/rapper El-P says. “We’re not manufacturing energy, it’s just happening.”

Their live sets are indeed a palpable explosion of energy through their highly accessible two-album catalog, and Run the Jewels stands out as Treasure Island’s marquee hip-hop act on Saturday.

Shamir

North Las Vegas dance-pop artist Shamir Bailey splashed onto the music scene with the motion-inducing “Northtown EP.” He blinked his eyes and next thing he knew, he was signing with London’s respected XL Recordings label, which put out his fiery debut LP, “Ratchet,” earlier this year.

“What I’ve done in 12 months takes a lot of people a whole career to do sometimes, and that’s super insane for me to think about,” Shamir says.

With the Donna Summer disco-like bravado of singles “On the Regular” and “Call It Off,” Shamir will be bringing his dance party to Treasure Island’s stage on Saturday.

— Adrian Spinelli