From Mumford & Sons to ‘free speech’ YouTuber: Winston Marshall’s dramatic career change

On a Los Angeles stage in 2011 Winston Marshall, then the banjo player for the folk rock band Mumford & Sons, could scarcely believe what was happening. Not only was he playing at the Grammys, he was playing alongside Bob Dylan, legendary composer of social justice anthems and one of his heroes.About 15 years later, Marshall once again found himself stateside, this time on a very different stage. Appearing on Fox News in his new guise as a conservative YouTuber, Marshall advocated what he admitted was an “outlandish idea” to stop small boat crossings in the Channel.It would be feasible, he argued, to blockade one of the world’s busiest shipping lanes with a giant floating wall, armed with mines. He also described those making the crossing as “military-aged men” – a regular descriptor deployed by the right.Both the extreme nature of Marshall’s suggestion, and the fact he delivered it on American right’s premier platform, marked the next stage in his evolution from pop star to the latest conservative “free speech” YouTuber.Winston Marshall quit Mumford & Sons following controversy around his support for Unmasked, a book decrying the leftist protest movement antifa. Photograph: Tim Mosenfelder/WireImageThe fact that he is the son