"I can't say there was a plan per se. I think for some reason we have done really well in Australia and New Zealand. It's just found some sort of connection with people and it's worked out. Or we had some massive plan that I am unaware of. I am pretty sure I haven't been told about that."
He's a fan of the Austin City Limits festival, having played there a few times, though in 2013 the band was among those cancelled on the third day of the second weekend due to heavy rain and flash floods in Austin.
He's always liked the catholic tastes of the event.
"Yeah everyone seems to be really attentive and interested in everything that is happening even though it is all over the place. I think one year we played right before the Eagles, which was pretty awesome - and amusing. It's a really cool festival in that there is everything there."
"There is something about being in Texas and in Austin which is the live music capital of the US - people have a lot of respect for the festival and there is something special about going to it. We went a day or two early whatever year Depeche Mode was playing, very psyched just to be able to go see it."
The inaugural Auckland event will be a one-day affair with Devendorf and his besuited mates performing in the cool of the evening.
Devendorf laughs when it's suggested there might be the possibility of an East Coast-West Coast rivalry between The National and fellow headliner, rapper Kendrick Lamar.
Anyway, his band is kind of bi-coastal these days. They have just gathered in California where Berninger now lives for a writing session for their next album, still in its early stages of creation.
The sunshine state isn't having too much effect on the new songs yet, he says. "We did have some fun pop ideas while we were out in California that were perhaps not usable."
It seems Berninger's poppier urges have already found their way to the debut album by his side project El Vy which is out this week.
The band's trademark downcast intimate sound might make them unlikely summer festival headliners. But Devendorf says the group has adapted to playing the big outdoor shows.
"We have definitely adjusted the way we have approached playing shows as the shows have gotten bigger.
"Because we don't want to lose the intimacy and good sound of a small venue, we try really hard to project the show visually with video and have really good sound to maintain the sort of detail and the stuff we like about the music.
"Some of it is a bit subtle but we have had quite some success playing some of those slower songs in larger festivals and larger venues. There is definitely some adjustment you need to do in an arena.
"You really have to project it a bit more musically and sonically. Everything we have done is in the service of being intimate in a larger format."
Who: The National
What: Auckland City Limits
When and where: Western Springs, March 19
