Kaleo
A red velvet curtain provides the backdrop as ruby tinged lights illuminate the four members from behind. Nothing immediately sets them apart from members of any other band.
Clad in reds, blacks and whites, they’re dressed in traditional band garb, from sneakers to rolled sleeves with tattoos peeking out underneath.
At first glance, nothing distinguishes Kaleo from the hundreds of other bands circulating Nashville stages.
Jökull Júlíusson steps up to the mic, his red guitar hanging in front of him as he leans in, eyes closed and lets his hair fall carelessly in front of his face. His voice rings out, full of soul, grit and strength that somehow feels natural; unforced, but powerful.
Kaleo is different.
Maybe it’s the way the vocals have force and delicacy all at the same time.
Maybe it’s the tightness of the group, the way Davíð Antonsson can sense at least three seconds before it happens that they are about to diverge from what’s usually played during a part.
Maybe it’s the fragile, open songwriting and style behind “All The Pretty Girls:” a song that’s garnered close to 11 million streams on Spotify.
Or maybe it’s the way they can turn up and rock out, bringing the grit and soul of Júlíusson’s voice to full force.
Whatever it is, it’s working. Kaleo is showing fans that there’s simply something about them that sets them apart.
Kaleo is a four piece band with members, Júlíusson, Antonsson, Daníel Ægir Kristjánsson and Rubin Pollock, hailing from Iceland, over 4,000 miles away from their new home in Austin, Texas.
Away from even their temporary home in Texas, their Airbnb, tucked away in a central Nashville neighborhood, will have to do for now.
The band enjoys the luxury of finally having a spacious abode. They haven’t been so lucky on other stops on tour. Their New York Airbnb, for example, was shoebox-sized in comparison to this two story home.
The back porch made for the perfect crash site for the night.
Beer bottles, cigarette butts and colorful wedges and cards from an unfinished game of Trivial Pursuit litter the space between where the members sit.
“It’s been unreal,” said Pollock, as they talk about the whirlwind of this last year.
Officially formed only three years before signing with Atlantic Records, the group has made remarkable strides.
Júlíusson, Antonsson, and Kristjánsson had been playing together since they were close to 17, but it was Pollock who joined the game late.
Pollock laughs, recalling the first time the guys asked him to play with them: a cover gig on gay pride night.
The members had told Pollock it was a costume party and he prepared accordingly. “I got all dressed up and fancy,” said Pollock, “and JJ had second thoughts and called me and said, ‘OK, they were just messing with you.’
Antonsson leans in, laughing at the thought of Pollock showing up and seeing the rest of the band in everyday attire.
“I was ready,” said Pollock. “Yellow shiny jacket. Really, really, really tight pants.”
He jokes that he’d have to wear the same get up to a show sometime. “Don’t tell anyone, it’s a surprise.”
Once Pollock joined and consolidated the group, it was decided that it was time to get more serious. The band did some cover shows, but through playing such a large variety of songs, from rock ’n’ roll to Rihanna, Antonsson says it helped the members to play tightly together.
“We have our own language,” says Antonsson. “We just connect.”
After gaining more popularity in Iceland and making headway on the Icelandic Spotify charts, Kaleo caught the attention of Atlantic Records and made the decision to move to the U.S. to record an album and tour.
“It’s hard to get the chance to, but when the chance comes it’s an easy decision,” said Kristjánsson.
“It was definitely a dream for all of us,” said Pollock.
Since arriving in the U.S. in February, Kaleo has been touring and working on the band’s upcoming album, to be released in early 2016.
Leading up to this first full album, Kaleo has released scattered singles. “All The Pretty Girls” was first, followed by “Way Down We Go,” in August, which already has over 1.5 million Spotify streams.
Considering that the band hasn’t been in the U.S. a full year and that they’ve only pushed two singles since arriving, their millions of streams are quite impressive. It’s also impressive that they’ve already played in festivals like the Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival and the Austin City Limits Music Festival during this first tour.
Between touring, writing, studio time and performing, the band stays busy, but likes it that way. The group even comes to appreciate the contrast in studio and performance time and what each brings out of the band’s music.
For their softer, more sensitive music, the studio is better equipped. Pollock sees their quieter songs as having more space for detail.
Antonsson agreed. “You can add small textures here and there,” he said. “Stuff people might not necessarily notice, but makes a different sound.”
For the band’s rock ’n’ roll side, full of Júlíusson grit and power, it is more exciting to play in a live setting. The audience often feeds off the energy of the song, creating a lively interaction between the band and those watching.
Take a rock song to the studio, however, and while it is still enjoyable to play, there are less details that can be added.
“Often with rock songs,” said Pollock, “it’s like there’s no room left.”
By balancing studio and performance time, both the softer side and the rock side of Kaleo’s music get to prosper. And because both sides are important to the members, the upcoming album will be split between the two sounds.
While music is clearly the focus for the band, it doesn’t mean there is no time to enjoy themselves outside of music as well.
Only a few nights before, when they chose a night out instead of huddling around their back porch table, they found themselves in an East Nashville bar.
A sauna inside the building, sweaty sticky bodies packed the floor. And as Marvin Gay’s voice pulsed through the crowd, the thrusts evidenced how few reservations anyone had for their raunchy or ridiculous dance moves.
Outside where people had stepped out to escape the heat, the Icelandic band members mingled and meshed with some of Nashville’s more colorful personalities.
In a city more traditionally known, for honky-tonks, it’s safe to say that Motown Monday at Five Spot isn’t Nashville’s most traditional crowd. But Kaleo’s along for the ride.
The band does its best to enjoy all a city has to offer while on tour, but with cramped schedules that sometimes include far more car and flight time than they do time to enjoy a city, there’s not always a chance.
Still though, they’re perfectly content with night’s like tonight: casual conversations over beer.
And as Iceland slips into conversation, a blanket of nostalgia covers the discussion. They laugh at how hated their beloved snack has been in America: dried fish. To them, hitting the spot, but for those trying it the first time, the equivalent of cat food. They’re quick to offer it up, hoping they’ll finally find someone who shares in their love of it.
They have lower expectations, however for finding someone who will enjoy hákarl: a traditional dish of fermented shark. Antonsson describes the rotten shark as smelling like urine and says it’s almost always strongly disliked by foreigners who give it a try. But that didn’t stop the group from making a tour manager try it when visiting to Iceland. They don’t feel guilty, even though Kristjánsson admits he refuses to try it himself.
They joke about home and it’s small population, even referencing an iPhone app designed to see how closely related you are to the person you search. It’s important in a population so small to ensure the girl you hook up with at the bar isn’t your cousin. And though they poke fun, they definitely miss Iceland. Both the people they left behind and the little things: fresh air, tap water Pollock says is better than any bottled water here, and food, but not just any food.
“I don’t really miss much about the food, except homemade food,” said Kristjánsson, “Momma’s food.”
Tour dates in their home country are welcomed events, catching up with friends and family and enjoying all the support they receive when they arrive.
Their last trip home to Iceland was received by quite the crowd.
“We meet everybody,” said Pollock. “It’s just insane, it’s overwhelming.”
It may seem that a group from Iceland with songs grabbing the attention of millions would be a hard to relate to, but that is far from the truth. They have their passion for music, entertaining nights out, and intermittent longings for mom’s cooking back home, just like many Nashville folk.
The four guys behind the songs that occasionally play on Lightning 100’s airwaves or maybe play from the stage of Mercy Lounge are definitely different. But they’re relatable too.
A red velvet curtain provides the backdrop as ruby tinged lights illuminate the four members from behind. Nothing immediately sets them apart from members of any other band.
Clad in reds, blacks and whites, they’re dressed in traditional band garb, from sneakers to rolled sleeves with tattoos peeking out underneath.
At first glance, nothing distinguishes Kaleo from the hundreds of other bands circulating Nashville stages.
Jökull Júlíusson steps up to the mic, his red guitar hanging in front of him as he leans in, eyes closed and lets his hair fall carelessly in front of his face. His voice rings out, full of soul, grit and strength that somehow feels natural; unforced, but powerful.
Kaleo is different.
Maybe it’s the way the vocals have force and delicacy all at the same time.
Maybe it’s the tightness of the group, the way Davíð Antonsson can sense at least three seconds before it happens that they are about to diverge from what’s usually played during a part.
Maybe it’s the fragile, open songwriting and style behind “All The Pretty Girls:” a song that’s garnered close to 11 million streams on Spotify.
Or maybe it’s the way they can turn up and rock out, bringing the grit and soul of Júlíusson’s voice to full force.
Whatever it is, it’s working. Kaleo is showing fans that there’s simply something about them that sets them apart.
Kaleo is a four piece band with members, Júlíusson, Antonsson, Daníel Ægir Kristjánsson and Rubin Pollock, hailing from Iceland, over 4,000 miles away from their new home in Austin, Texas.
Away from even their temporary home in Texas, their Airbnb, tucked away in a central Nashville neighborhood, will have to do for now.
The band enjoys the luxury of finally having a spacious abode. They haven’t been so lucky on other stops on tour. Their New York Airbnb, for example, was shoebox-sized in comparison to this two story home.
The back porch made for the perfect crash site for the night.
Beer bottles, cigarette butts and colorful wedges and cards from an unfinished game of Trivial Pursuit litter the space between where the members sit.
“It’s been unreal,” said Pollock, as they talk about the whirlwind of this last year.
Officially formed only three years before signing with Atlantic Records, the group has made remarkable strides.
Júlíusson, Antonsson, and Kristjánsson had been playing together since they were close to 17, but it was Pollock who joined the game late.
Pollock laughs, recalling the first time the guys asked him to play with them: a cover gig on gay pride night.
The members had told Pollock it was a costume party and he prepared accordingly. “I got all dressed up and fancy,” said Pollock, “and JJ had second thoughts and called me and said, ‘OK, they were just messing with you.’
Antonsson leans in, laughing at the thought of Pollock showing up and seeing the rest of the band in everyday attire.
“I was ready,” said Pollock. “Yellow shiny jacket. Really, really, really tight pants.”
He jokes that he’d have to wear the same get up to a show sometime. “Don’t tell anyone, it’s a surprise.”
Once Pollock joined and consolidated the group, it was decided that it was time to get more serious. The band did some cover shows, but through playing such a large variety of songs, from rock ’n’ roll to Rihanna, Antonsson says it helped the members to play tightly together.
“We have our own language,” says Antonsson. “We just connect.”
After gaining more popularity in Iceland and making headway on the Icelandic Spotify charts, Kaleo caught the attention of Atlantic Records and made the decision to move to the U.S. to record an album and tour.
“It’s hard to get the chance to, but when the chance comes it’s an easy decision,” said Kristjánsson.
“It was definitely a dream for all of us,” said Pollock.
Since arriving in the U.S. in February, Kaleo has been touring and working on the band’s upcoming album, to be released in early 2016.
Leading up to this first full album, Kaleo has released scattered singles. “All The Pretty Girls” was first, followed by “Way Down We Go,” in August, which already has over 1.5 million Spotify streams.
Considering that the band hasn’t been in the U.S. a full year and that they’ve only pushed two singles since arriving, their millions of streams are quite impressive. It’s also impressive that they’ve already played in festivals like the Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival and the Austin City Limits Music Festival during this first tour.
Between touring, writing, studio time and performing, the band stays busy, but likes it that way. The group even comes to appreciate the contrast in studio and performance time and what each brings out of the band’s music.
For their softer, more sensitive music, the studio is better equipped. Pollock sees their quieter songs as having more space for detail.
Antonsson agreed. “You can add small textures here and there,” he said. “Stuff people might not necessarily notice, but makes a different sound.”
For the band’s rock ’n’ roll side, full of Júlíusson grit and power, it is more exciting to play in a live setting. The audience often feeds off the energy of the song, creating a lively interaction between the band and those watching.
Take a rock song to the studio, however, and while it is still enjoyable to play, there are less details that can be added.
“Often with rock songs,” said Pollock, “it’s like there’s no room left.”
By balancing studio and performance time, both the softer side and the rock side of Kaleo’s music get to prosper. And because both sides are important to the members, the upcoming album will be split between the two sounds.
While music is clearly the focus for the band, it doesn’t mean there is no time to enjoy themselves outside of music as well.
Only a few nights before, when they chose a night out instead of huddling around their back porch table, they found themselves in an East Nashville bar.
A sauna inside the building, sweaty sticky bodies packed the floor. And as Marvin Gay’s voice pulsed through the crowd, the thrusts evidenced how few reservations anyone had for their raunchy or ridiculous dance moves.
Outside where people had stepped out to escape the heat, the Icelandic band members mingled and meshed with some of Nashville’s more colorful personalities.
In a city more traditionally known, for honky-tonks, it’s safe to say that Motown Monday at Five Spot isn’t Nashville’s most traditional crowd. But Kaleo’s along for the ride.
The band does its best to enjoy all a city has to offer while on tour, but with cramped schedules that sometimes include far more car and flight time than they do time to enjoy a city, there’s not always a chance.
Still though, they’re perfectly content with night’s like tonight: casual conversations over beer.
And as Iceland slips into conversation, a blanket of nostalgia covers the discussion. They laugh at how hated their beloved snack has been in America: dried fish. To them, hitting the spot, but for those trying it the first time, the equivalent of cat food. They’re quick to offer it up, hoping they’ll finally find someone who shares in their love of it.
They have lower expectations, however for finding someone who will enjoy hákarl: a traditional dish of fermented shark. Antonsson describes the rotten shark as smelling like urine and says it’s almost always strongly disliked by foreigners who give it a try. But that didn’t stop the group from making a tour manager try it when visiting to Iceland. They don’t feel guilty, even though Kristjánsson admits he refuses to try it himself.
They joke about home and it’s small population, even referencing an iPhone app designed to see how closely related you are to the person you search. It’s important in a population so small to ensure the girl you hook up with at the bar isn’t your cousin. And though they poke fun, they definitely miss Iceland. Both the people they left behind and the little things: fresh air, tap water Pollock says is better than any bottled water here, and food, but not just any food.
“I don’t really miss much about the food, except homemade food,” said Kristjánsson, “Momma’s food.”
Tour dates in their home country are welcomed events, catching up with friends and family and enjoying all the support they receive when they arrive.
Their last trip home to Iceland was received by quite the crowd.
“We meet everybody,” said Pollock. “It’s just insane, it’s overwhelming.”
It may seem that a group from Iceland with songs grabbing the attention of millions would be a hard to relate to, but that is far from the truth. They have their passion for music, entertaining nights out, and intermittent longings for mom’s cooking back home, just like many Nashville folk.
The four guys behind the songs that occasionally play on Lightning 100’s airwaves or maybe play from the stage of Mercy Lounge are definitely different. But they’re relatable too.
Clad in reds, blacks and whites, they’re dressed in traditional band garb, from sneakers to rolled sleeves with tattoos peeking out underneath.
At first glance, nothing distinguishes Kaleo from the hundreds of other bands circulating Nashville stages.
Jökull Júlíusson steps up to the mic, his red guitar hanging in front of him as he leans in, eyes closed and lets his hair fall carelessly in front of his face. His voice rings out, full of soul, grit and strength that somehow feels natural; unforced, but powerful.
Kaleo is different.
Maybe it’s the way the vocals have force and delicacy all at the same time.
Maybe it’s the tightness of the group, the way Davíð Antonsson can sense at least three seconds before it happens that they are about to diverge from what’s usually played during a part.
Maybe it’s the fragile, open songwriting and style behind “All The Pretty Girls:” a song that’s garnered close to 11 million streams on Spotify.
Or maybe it’s the way they can turn up and rock out, bringing the grit and soul of Júlíusson’s voice to full force.
Whatever it is, it’s working. Kaleo is showing fans that there’s simply something about them that sets them apart.
Kaleo is a four piece band with members, Júlíusson, Antonsson, Daníel Ægir Kristjánsson and Rubin Pollock, hailing from Iceland, over 4,000 miles away from their new home in Austin, Texas.
Away from even their temporary home in Texas, their Airbnb, tucked away in a central Nashville neighborhood, will have to do for now.
The band enjoys the luxury of finally having a spacious abode. They haven’t been so lucky on other stops on tour. Their New York Airbnb, for example, was shoebox-sized in comparison to this two story home.
The back porch made for the perfect crash site for the night.
Beer bottles, cigarette butts and colorful wedges and cards from an unfinished game of Trivial Pursuit litter the space between where the members sit.
“It’s been unreal,” said Pollock, as they talk about the whirlwind of this last year.
Officially formed only three years before signing with Atlantic Records, the group has made remarkable strides.
Júlíusson, Antonsson, and Kristjánsson had been playing together since they were close to 17, but it was Pollock who joined the game late.
Pollock laughs, recalling the first time the guys asked him to play with them: a cover gig on gay pride night.
The members had told Pollock it was a costume party and he prepared accordingly. “I got all dressed up and fancy,” said Pollock, “and JJ had second thoughts and called me and said, ‘OK, they were just messing with you.’
Antonsson leans in, laughing at the thought of Pollock showing up and seeing the rest of the band in everyday attire.
“I was ready,” said Pollock. “Yellow shiny jacket. Really, really, really tight pants.”
He jokes that he’d have to wear the same get up to a show sometime. “Don’t tell anyone, it’s a surprise.”
Once Pollock joined and consolidated the group, it was decided that it was time to get more serious. The band did some cover shows, but through playing such a large variety of songs, from rock ’n’ roll to Rihanna, Antonsson says it helped the members to play tightly together.
“We have our own language,” says Antonsson. “We just connect.”
After gaining more popularity in Iceland and making headway on the Icelandic Spotify charts, Kaleo caught the attention of Atlantic Records and made the decision to move to the U.S. to record an album and tour.
“It’s hard to get the chance to, but when the chance comes it’s an easy decision,” said Kristjánsson.
“It was definitely a dream for all of us,” said Pollock.
Since arriving in the U.S. in February, Kaleo has been touring and working on the band’s upcoming album, to be released in early 2016.
Leading up to this first full album, Kaleo has released scattered singles. “All The Pretty Girls” was first, followed by “Way Down We Go,” in August, which already has over 1.5 million Spotify streams.
Considering that the band hasn’t been in the U.S. a full year and that they’ve only pushed two singles since arriving, their millions of streams are quite impressive. It’s also impressive that they’ve already played in festivals like the Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival and the Austin City Limits Music Festival during this first tour.
Between touring, writing, studio time and performing, the band stays busy, but likes it that way. The group even comes to appreciate the contrast in studio and performance time and what each brings out of the band’s music.
For their softer, more sensitive music, the studio is better equipped. Pollock sees their quieter songs as having more space for detail.
Antonsson agreed. “You can add small textures here and there,” he said. “Stuff people might not necessarily notice, but makes a different sound.”
For the band’s rock ’n’ roll side, full of Júlíusson grit and power, it is more exciting to play in a live setting. The audience often feeds off the energy of the song, creating a lively interaction between the band and those watching.
Take a rock song to the studio, however, and while it is still enjoyable to play, there are less details that can be added.
“Often with rock songs,” said Pollock, “it’s like there’s no room left.”
By balancing studio and performance time, both the softer side and the rock side of Kaleo’s music get to prosper. And because both sides are important to the members, the upcoming album will be split between the two sounds.
While music is clearly the focus for the band, it doesn’t mean there is no time to enjoy themselves outside of music as well.
Only a few nights before, when they chose a night out instead of huddling around their back porch table, they found themselves in an East Nashville bar.
A sauna inside the building, sweaty sticky bodies packed the floor. And as Marvin Gay’s voice pulsed through the crowd, the thrusts evidenced how few reservations anyone had for their raunchy or ridiculous dance moves.
Outside where people had stepped out to escape the heat, the Icelandic band members mingled and meshed with some of Nashville’s more colorful personalities.
In a city more traditionally known, for honky-tonks, it’s safe to say that Motown Monday at Five Spot isn’t Nashville’s most traditional crowd. But Kaleo’s along for the ride.
The band does its best to enjoy all a city has to offer while on tour, but with cramped schedules that sometimes include far more car and flight time than they do time to enjoy a city, there’s not always a chance.
Still though, they’re perfectly content with night’s like tonight: casual conversations over beer.
And as Iceland slips into conversation, a blanket of nostalgia covers the discussion. They laugh at how hated their beloved snack has been in America: dried fish. To them, hitting the spot, but for those trying it the first time, the equivalent of cat food. They’re quick to offer it up, hoping they’ll finally find someone who shares in their love of it.
They have lower expectations, however for finding someone who will enjoy hákarl: a traditional dish of fermented shark. Antonsson describes the rotten shark as smelling like urine and says it’s almost always strongly disliked by foreigners who give it a try. But that didn’t stop the group from making a tour manager try it when visiting to Iceland. They don’t feel guilty, even though Kristjánsson admits he refuses to try it himself.
They joke about home and it’s small population, even referencing an iPhone app designed to see how closely related you are to the person you search. It’s important in a population so small to ensure the girl you hook up with at the bar isn’t your cousin. And though they poke fun, they definitely miss Iceland. Both the people they left behind and the little things: fresh air, tap water Pollock says is better than any bottled water here, and food, but not just any food.
“I don’t really miss much about the food, except homemade food,” said Kristjánsson, “Momma’s food.”
Tour dates in their home country are welcomed events, catching up with friends and family and enjoying all the support they receive when they arrive.
Their last trip home to Iceland was received by quite the crowd.
“We meet everybody,” said Pollock. “It’s just insane, it’s overwhelming.”
It may seem that a group from Iceland with songs grabbing the attention of millions would be a hard to relate to, but that is far from the truth. They have their passion for music, entertaining nights out, and intermittent longings for mom’s cooking back home, just like many Nashville folk.
The four guys behind the songs that occasionally play on Lightning 100’s airwaves or maybe play from the stage of Mercy Lounge are definitely different. But they’re relatable too.
A red velvet curtain provides the backdrop as ruby tinged lights illuminate the four members from behind. Nothing immediately sets them apart from members of any other band.
Clad in reds, blacks and whites, they’re dressed in traditional band garb, from sneakers to rolled sleeves with tattoos peeking out underneath.
At first glance, nothing distinguishes Kaleo from the hundreds of other bands circulating Nashville stages.
Jökull Júlíusson steps up to the mic, his red guitar hanging in front of him as he leans in, eyes closed and lets his hair fall carelessly in front of his face. His voice rings out, full of soul, grit and strength that somehow feels natural; unforced, but powerful.
Kaleo is different.
Maybe it’s the way the vocals have force and delicacy all at the same time.
Maybe it’s the tightness of the group, the way Davíð Antonsson can sense at least three seconds before it happens that they are about to diverge from what’s usually played during a part.
Maybe it’s the fragile, open songwriting and style behind “All The Pretty Girls:” a song that’s garnered close to 11 million streams on Spotify.
Or maybe it’s the way they can turn up and rock out, bringing the grit and soul of Júlíusson’s voice to full force.
Whatever it is, it’s working. Kaleo is showing fans that there’s simply something about them that sets them apart.
Kaleo is a four piece band with members, Júlíusson, Antonsson, Daníel Ægir Kristjánsson and Rubin Pollock, hailing from Iceland, over 4,000 miles away from their new home in Austin, Texas.
Away from even their temporary home in Texas, their Airbnb, tucked away in a central Nashville neighborhood, will have to do for now.
The band enjoys the luxury of finally having a spacious abode. They haven’t been so lucky on other stops on tour. Their New York Airbnb, for example, was shoebox-sized in comparison to this two story home.
The back porch made for the perfect crash site for the night.
Beer bottles, cigarette butts and colorful wedges and cards from an unfinished game of Trivial Pursuit litter the space between where the members sit.
“It’s been unreal,” said Pollock, as they talk about the whirlwind of this last year.
Officially formed only three years before signing with Atlantic Records, the group has made remarkable strides.
Júlíusson, Antonsson, and Kristjánsson had been playing together since they were close to 17, but it was Pollock who joined the game late.
Pollock laughs, recalling the first time the guys asked him to play with them: a cover gig on gay pride night.
The members had told Pollock it was a costume party and he prepared accordingly. “I got all dressed up and fancy,” said Pollock, “and JJ had second thoughts and called me and said, ‘OK, they were just messing with you.’
Antonsson leans in, laughing at the thought of Pollock showing up and seeing the rest of the band in everyday attire.
“I was ready,” said Pollock. “Yellow shiny jacket. Really, really, really tight pants.”
He jokes that he’d have to wear the same get up to a show sometime. “Don’t tell anyone, it’s a surprise.”
Once Pollock joined and consolidated the group, it was decided that it was time to get more serious. The band did some cover shows, but through playing such a large variety of songs, from rock ’n’ roll to Rihanna, Antonsson says it helped the members to play tightly together.
“We have our own language,” says Antonsson. “We just connect.”
After gaining more popularity in Iceland and making headway on the Icelandic Spotify charts, Kaleo caught the attention of Atlantic Records and made the decision to move to the U.S. to record an album and tour.
“It’s hard to get the chance to, but when the chance comes it’s an easy decision,” said Kristjánsson.
“It was definitely a dream for all of us,” said Pollock.
Since arriving in the U.S. in February, Kaleo has been touring and working on the band’s upcoming album, to be released in early 2016.
Leading up to this first full album, Kaleo has released scattered singles. “All The Pretty Girls” was first, followed by “Way Down We Go,” in August, which already has over 1.5 million Spotify streams.
Considering that the band hasn’t been in the U.S. a full year and that they’ve only pushed two singles since arriving, their millions of streams are quite impressive. It’s also impressive that they’ve already played in festivals like the Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival and the Austin City Limits Music Festival during this first tour.
Between touring, writing, studio time and performing, the band stays busy, but likes it that way. The group even comes to appreciate the contrast in studio and performance time and what each brings out of the band’s music.
For their softer, more sensitive music, the studio is better equipped. Pollock sees their quieter songs as having more space for detail.
Antonsson agreed. “You can add small textures here and there,” he said. “Stuff people might not necessarily notice, but makes a different sound.”
For the band’s rock ’n’ roll side, full of Júlíusson grit and power, it is more exciting to play in a live setting. The audience often feeds off the energy of the song, creating a lively interaction between the band and those watching.
Take a rock song to the studio, however, and while it is still enjoyable to play, there are less details that can be added.
“Often with rock songs,” said Pollock, “it’s like there’s no room left.”
By balancing studio and performance time, both the softer side and the rock side of Kaleo’s music get to prosper. And because both sides are important to the members, the upcoming album will be split between the two sounds.
While music is clearly the focus for the band, it doesn’t mean there is no time to enjoy themselves outside of music as well.
Only a few nights before, when they chose a night out instead of huddling around their back porch table, they found themselves in an East Nashville bar.
A sauna inside the building, sweaty sticky bodies packed the floor. And as Marvin Gay’s voice pulsed through the crowd, the thrusts evidenced how few reservations anyone had for their raunchy or ridiculous dance moves.
Outside where people had stepped out to escape the heat, the Icelandic band members mingled and meshed with some of Nashville’s more colorful personalities.
In a city more traditionally known, for honky-tonks, it’s safe to say that Motown Monday at Five Spot isn’t Nashville’s most traditional crowd. But Kaleo’s along for the ride.
The band does its best to enjoy all a city has to offer while on tour, but with cramped schedules that sometimes include far more car and flight time than they do time to enjoy a city, there’s not always a chance.
Still though, they’re perfectly content with night’s like tonight: casual conversations over beer.
And as Iceland slips into conversation, a blanket of nostalgia covers the discussion. They laugh at how hated their beloved snack has been in America: dried fish. To them, hitting the spot, but for those trying it the first time, the equivalent of cat food. They’re quick to offer it up, hoping they’ll finally find someone who shares in their love of it.
They have lower expectations, however for finding someone who will enjoy hákarl: a traditional dish of fermented shark. Antonsson describes the rotten shark as smelling like urine and says it’s almost always strongly disliked by foreigners who give it a try. But that didn’t stop the group from making a tour manager try it when visiting to Iceland. They don’t feel guilty, even though Kristjánsson admits he refuses to try it himself.
They joke about home and it’s small population, even referencing an iPhone app designed to see how closely related you are to the person you search. It’s important in a population so small to ensure the girl you hook up with at the bar isn’t your cousin. And though they poke fun, they definitely miss Iceland. Both the people they left behind and the little things: fresh air, tap water Pollock says is better than any bottled water here, and food, but not just any food.
“I don’t really miss much about the food, except homemade food,” said Kristjánsson, “Momma’s food.”
Tour dates in their home country are welcomed events, catching up with friends and family and enjoying all the support they receive when they arrive.
Their last trip home to Iceland was received by quite the crowd.
“We meet everybody,” said Pollock. “It’s just insane, it’s overwhelming.”
It may seem that a group from Iceland with songs grabbing the attention of millions would be a hard to relate to, but that is far from the truth. They have their passion for music, entertaining nights out, and intermittent longings for mom’s cooking back home, just like many Nashville folk.
The four guys behind the songs that occasionally play on Lightning 100’s airwaves or maybe play from the stage of Mercy Lounge are definitely different. But they’re relatable too.