Sometimes chaotic, curious, ecstatic.
Nanna Bryndís Hilmarsdóttir talks about the album that Of Monsters and Men had no obligation to make, from the jump from being one of the biggest bands in the world to just wanting to be together again, and why this is their favorite tour.
Of Monsters and Men took the world by surprise in the early 2010s, when an Icelandic band that recorded their first album in a weekend, almost without anyone knowing them, ended up becoming one of the biggest names in global indie folk. 15 years later, his music continues to inhabit that territory between euphoria and silence, between love and pain. His most recent album, All Weatherwas born without a contract and without obligation: only from the desire to be in the same room again and make music together. On October 9 they perform at the Pepsi Center as part of the tour that they describe as the best of their career.
Indie Rocks!: I want to start with the last album. For me it was excellent, beautiful. I love that link between love and pain. What is behind that feeling and that album?
Of Monsters and Men: That album covers a period of our lives where, well, I know we went through a lot of changes, both personally and in who we are as a band. There was a lot going on: relationships ending and starting, people having children. And as a band, we had left our mark and we didn’t have management. We were in a kind of free fall. And of course, just before that there was also COVID.
So it really felt like: do we want to make another album? That was the idea, because we didn’t have a contract to do it. There was no reason to do it unless we really wanted to. And I think it was the first album in a long time where it just felt like we wanted to get together in a space again and play and be around each other. That’s really where this album comes from: that feeling of needing to be in each other’s presence again and make music together.
GO!: Before this interview I remembered the first time I heard them. I think they took the whole world by surprise around 2011, 2012. 15 years after that period, they release this album from that place of wanting to make music again. What was it like to go from one day to the next from being one of the most popular bands in the world to, 15 years later, wanting to make music again?
OMAM: That whole period was a very strange time when I think back. It often feels like a blur, because we made our first album in Iceland without anyone seeing us, without anyone knowing who we were. We did it practically in a weekend. We had been playing all the bars in Iceland, developing the sound just by being with the crowd. And we were also changing very quickly as a band, because when we started it came from my solo project. Then I asked someone to join, we started the band, and it snowballed.
We went from a year of being this very silent project, with very singer-songwriter, acoustic songs, to the sound growing very quickly. We had that energy of expanding and being playful. We made that record in that atmosphere of pure lightness and wanting to see where this would take us, but totally oblivious to the fact that there was an outside world out there. It was something very strange. And then we went abroad, and everything started happening very quickly. We toured so much with that first album, we toured for like two years. And I think it did impact my feelings, positive and negative, about touring. It was a very strange time. But a time that, when I remember it, gives me enormous gratitude. I love looking back at that time.
GO!: And what has changed now, that you are touring for the second time in Mexico in two years?
OMAM: What has changed for us? Our lives look very different than they did then. One obvious thing that has changed is that two people in the band have children. So there is family. And I think there are people trying to really put down roots and have a normal life, which is very difficult when you’re a touring musician and you’re away a lot. I think that’s the biggest change.
It’s this thing that, when we were starting out, I didn’t really care. I could have lived anywhere, it didn’t matter, I just wanted to be out there. And over time you start to feel like, well, I really like my community at home, I like waking up in my own bed, I want to be closer to my family. I think those are the things that have changed the most for us.
GO!: Regarding the concert you are going to play here in a couple of weeks, what can we expect? How is the setlist?
OMAM: It’s going to be a mix of all our albums. It’s the tour of All Weatherso we played a lot of the new record, but we definitely played a lot of the older songs as well. And I think you can wait… this is my favorite tour of all the ones we’ve done. And I’m not saying it just to say it. It’s just that as a band we had never played like this. The chemistry between us is something that made click on this album, I think. And I hope people can hear that, that’s the experience we want.
With this album we really wanted it to feel like a band getting together to play. There aren’t many tricks there. It’s very “here’s the band playing, you’re in a room with us and we’re all having this experience together.” Is old school In that sense, I guess.
GO!: For someone seeing them for the first time, what mindset would you recommend going to the show with?
OMAM: I would say that no matter how you feel, you are allowed to bring that with you. We’ve played to very restless, very loud audiences, and you take that and work with it. But we also play for very silent, attentive, listening audiences. And the thing with our music is that it is all of those things. Sometimes we get very expressive and very loud. And sometimes we go to those places of complete silence and inward. So if you’re feeling all kinds of mixed emotions, it’s probably good to come to the show.
GO!: In closing: If you could describe Of Monsters and Men in just three words, what would they be?
OMAM: Three words? That is the most difficult question. My God, what are the three words we are? We are sometimes chaotic. Curious. And what is the third word? Maybe ecstatic. I don’t know.
GO!: I love it. It’s perfect. Thank you very much for your time. I’m going to be at the concert, I’m a big fan. It was a beautiful interview.
OMAM: Many thanks for everything. I send you a hug.
Stay tuned for Indie Rocks! for more details.
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