Of Monsters and Men is an amiable group of day dreamers who craft folkie pop songs. But last year, the normally mild-mannered six pack — who’s releasing their EP, “Into the Woods,” on December 20, 2011 — transformed into total rock stars after stomping out their competition during Musiktilraunir, a yearly battle of the bands in their native Iceland.
“We just kind of… won,” recalls co-singer/guitarist Nanna Bryndis Hilmarsdottir. “We weren’t expecting it at all. So I said, ‘Everybody come to my place!’” Beer-swilling friends spilled out of her flat. “I was like, ‘Oh fuck, my neighbors aren’t liking me right now.’”
Those neighbors won’t be making noise complaints anymore. With the group’s bright, trumpeting single “Little Talks” winning over one blog at a time, Nanna and her bandmates (co-singer/guitarist Ragnar “Raggi” Thorhallsson, guitarist Brynjar Leifsson, drummer Arnar Rosenkranz Hilmarsson, piano/accordion player Arni Guthjonsson, and bassist Kristjan Pall Kristjansson) are well on their way to becoming citizens of the world.
Their rapid rise transpired in just one year. Nanna, who began as the acoustic act Songbird, recruited extra hands to bolster her sound for a solo show. She liked how her vocals commingled with Raggi’s, so they started writing songs together and in 2010 morphed into Of Monsters and Men. As victors of 2010′s Musiktilraunir, the new group earned a slot on the influential Iceland Airwaves festival later that year, followed by Seattle’s radio station KEXP posting “Little Talks” from a Living Room Session filmed there, setting the telltale ripple effect in motion.
By the summer of 2011 “Little Talks” hit No. 1 in the band’s native country, and “people around the world seemed to be listening to us,” marvels Raggi. The band was asked to perform again at Iceland Airwaves 2011, where KEXP then anointed the group as “easily the most buzzed about band.”
Though their reach is growing broader, the group’s appeal has remained distinct: Their music is as fantastical as it is pretty. For inspiration, they often reference random stories they’ve read. The chanting, tribal “Six Weeks” was inspired by the true tale of American frontiersman Hugh Glass, seemingly left for dead after 86ing a bear that attacked him. Explains Nanna, giggling: “I was reading a post about the six most badass guys in history.” As for the swelling, epic “From Finner”? “It’s about a whale that has a house on its back” says Raggi “on which people travel across the ocean, exploring different places and having adventures.”
Their show in Portland, Oregon was SOLD OUT – and was incredible! They made it snow inside the gorgeous Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall! They performed all their hits with such energy, it was hard to not sing along with them! I could have listened to them for much longer!
They’re just getting started on their world tour!! GO HERE TO GET YOUR TICKETS when they come to your town!!