Sold-out shows and a music chart takeover on the back of a flurry of awards might get the better of some, but not for the five Kiwi blokes who make up L.A.B.
Basking in the glory isn't their thing. Instead, they're just getting on with it - focusing on where they want to go, creating music they hope resonates deeply with a diverse audience, and holding onto a genuine love for what they do.
"It's incredible to be able to be making a living out of music," lead singer Joel Shadbolt tells Newshub.
"You just gotta focus on the end goal... it's the truth, if you want to achieve something you have to really put your mind to it and everything else is a distraction.
"I have to pinch myself all the time, doing this stuff, but you can actually do it, you can actually make your dreams happen."
Under the night sky at Auckland's Mt Smart Stadium last week, L.A.B. proved their power in front of a crowd of 17,000.
For onlookers watching on, it appeared Shadbolt - the enthusiastic ginger-haired frontman whose vocals form a crucial part of the band's identity - couldn't have been happier.
His fellow band members Miharo Gregory, Ara Adams-Tamatea and brothers Stu and Brad Kora were also seen beaming with positive energy from strategic positions across the stage, each of their smiles projected on to huge screens either side of the platform.
Just two years ago, the band was performing in front of 400 people at local venues like Boiler Room and Totara Street in the Bay of Plenty.
L.A.B. is now a staple of Aotearoa's festival season, recently wowing crowds around the country over summer with slots at Rhythm and Vines, Bay Dreams, One Love to Electric Ave and Homegrown.
But it was their final summer headline showcase in front of a mighty 17,000 where L.A.B. fully revealed the hard work that's gone into their project.
At any given moment throughout the set, audience members could be heard bellowing the lyrics along with them.
Shadbolt says the experience is like nothing else.
"It's magic. You dream of that stuff, as a kid watching a band play or being in an audience of 10,000 and you singing lyrics back to a band… I've always wondered what that felt like. To be on the other end of that is so powerful."
The group started jamming together in 2015 after Brad and Stu got in touch with Shadbolt after hearing him sing on TV. They pulled in Gregory to play keys and Adams-Tamatea of Katchafire glory to round off the powerhouse collaboration.
"It just blossomed from there," Shadbolt says.
One of L.A.B's most endearing skills has to be mixing the different genres and flowing effortlessly between sounds.
The reggae fusion to their sound came naturally with influences running deep from the Kora brothers who had been in their own group, Kora, since 1991 but Shadbolt says it's always been a part of their independent tastes.
"Reggae has been big in New Zealand since Bob Marley in 1979," he said.
Starting out, the group set their sights on writing three albums in three years, before delivering a fourth in their fourth year.
While 2020 proved tough for many, the extra downtime allowed the musicians to focus their energy on creating tracks that hit the hearts of their growing fanbase.
"We were productive with the writing and the recording, and have even been able to fit in some shows between the two lockdowns. [We've] dodged a few bullets, but we're very lucky to be playing shows in New Zealand," says Shadbolt.
Between rehearsals in Whakatane and recording in Wellington, the band racks up plenty of Airpoints. Members are scattered right across the North Island, with Adams-Tamatea and Shadbolt in Papamoa, the Kora brothers in Whakatane and Miharo Gregory in Wellington.
The creative flair of each individual member is vital to the band's DNA, but they're being steered by nothing short of a maestro: the wonderfully talented Brad Kora - one of the four Kora brothers - who operates essentially as L.A.B.'s producer and main songwriter.
"He's the captain," Shadbolt explains.
"When we're in the studio, he knows all of our strengths, he knows how to use them and he writes accordingly. When we're in the studio, it's a group effort 100 percent, but he's definitely leading the waka."
Their work has caught the attention of New Zealand music's highest accolades, scooping four awards at the 2020 Waiata Māori Music Awards for Best Single by a Māori Artist Award for 'In The Air' and Best Pop Album by a Māori Artist for their work on L.A.B. III, along with Best Māori Group and Best Māori Songwriter titles.
Then at the Aotearoa Music Awards, they won Best Roots Artist after reaching number one on the charts twice in 2020. Their achievement of simultaneous number one and two singles had never previously been accomplished by a New Zealand act, with the tracks stemming from different albums.
In November, ahead of attending the Aotearoa Music Awards, Shadbolt told Newshub it was an "incredible feeling" to have even been considered.
"Any recognition on that level is incredible, we strive to make good product and being a good band, it's kind of like going fishing and catching fish, if you get the fish that's just lucky but the whole fun of it is getting out on the water, to me, getting us to go to the music awards is catching something big."
L.A.B. currently holds five out of 20 spots on the Official NZ Music Charts' Top 20 NZ Singles, but their chart accomplishments so far include albums L.A.B I, L.A.B II and LAB IV hitting platinum, the same for singles 'Love of Jane' and 'Why Oh Why', their third record LAB III going platinum twice, 'Controller' four times platinum and 'In the Air' reaching platinum five times.
Shadbolt puts it down to their determined work ethic and their goal to keep the band in the forefront of their minds by consistently releasing music.
"I think that has a lot to do with who we are - just that hard work and grinding."
From playing modest venues a couple of years ago to winning several of Aotearoa's biggest music awards in the last 12 months, playing its largest summer festivals and hosting tens of thousands during their own headline shows, what could possibly be next?
Hitting the stage overseas of course.
With a trans-Tasman bubble now confirmed between New Zealand and Australia, quarantine-free travel will allow the band to conquer seven shows across Melbourne, Sydney, Fremantle, the Gold Coast and Brisbane - these are already all sold out.
Shadbolt hopes anyone who sees one of their shows can just be present and enjoy their time.
"It's like come to our gig, forget what happened today or yesterday or what's happening tomorrow, just try and be in the moment and have fun."
