“I think we’ve been developing and forming with the shows,” says Of Monsters and Men co-singer/guitarist Ragnar Þórhallsson during a stop on his band’s recent North American tour. “I think we’re always finding the right balance of energetic songs and quieter songs and where they should be in the setlist. Getting the setlist to build up to something, we’re always trying to do that. I think we have a pretty good one now.” Growing out of singer Nanna Bryndís Hilmarsdóttir’s solo project Songbird, the Icelandic outfit has quickly developed into one of their country’s most successful big-band indie groups on the U.S. festival circuit. Their 2011 debut album My Head Is an Animal was a surprise Billboard success on both sides of the Atlantic and their single “Little Talks” has been licensed for a number of advertisements. Yet the members of Of Monsters and Men are also committed to crafting an energetic, grassroots live show that channels the boisterous energy of Arcade Fire and Mumford & Sons. While in New York, Þórhallsson reflected on his recent success, Of Monsters and Men’s next studio album and the best advice Sigur Rós sent their way.
You are currently in the midst of a North American tour. What have the highlights been so far?
For me, Montreal is always great. I think it’s one of the best cities in the world. I think Montreal was the best one so far.
Some of our Relix and Jambands.com readers were first introduced to Of Monsters and Men when we did a Spotlight feature on you a couple of months ago. Following up on that article, can you talk a bit about how you guys first got together? If I am correct, the band started as Nanna’s solo project, which is funny given how many members the band has at this point.
We started with Nanna [Bryndís Hilmarsdóttir] and she was just playing local pubs back home in Iceland and had a couple of songs, and then Brynjar [Leifsson] [joined] before I joined to back up to make the sound a bit bigger. Then we started to collaborate more, write songs together and it became something different. It was time to create a band. Some more members joined and now we have five. We had six members on the last tour but our keyboard player [Árni Guðjónsson] actually left for school, so we have five now.
What’s he studying in school?He is studying composing. He actually graduated. He has a Bachelor’s in composing and he wants to take it further, so we support him and wish him all the luck in the world.
In terms of your musical backgrounds, though your sound feels very in-line with current U.S. indie rock, you grew up somewhat removed from that world in Iceland. Did you grow up listening to music from over here or is it something that you discovered later when you started touring more?
Iceland is a weird mixture of Europe and America. It’s kind of just in between, so we got a lot of influences from America and also from Europe. It’s kind of 50/50. The music that I grew up listening to was part American music and also British music.
It’s definitely interesting how it’s between [Europe and America] and how you get a mixture of the two. I’ve seen Of Monsters and Men live a few times and your live show has become extremely dialed in during the past two years. Was there a point where the band really started to gel as a unit more than a loose collective of musicians?
I think we keep getting better and of course we’re always getting better as friends, so I think that we’re getting to know each other better and that shows in the show. Also for me, everything had to be perfect, [but] now when I play, I’m less uptight. As for the shows, I think Lollapalooza last summer was, for me, playing with big bands in front of 20,000 people, pretty crazy.
In terms of the setlist, have you found that as you guys have toured more and played for more people, that you’ve kind of refined the setlist or are you kind of keeping that pub mentality of just letting it be kind of be a loose show that could change in the moment?
I think we’ve been developing and forming with the shows. I think we’re always finding the right balance of energetic songs and quieter songs and where they should be in the setlist. Getting the setlist to build up to something, we’re always trying to do that. I think we have a pretty good one now.
When you’re saying that it’s something that you want to “build up” towards, [do you mean] in terms of the setlist itself building up to a certain song, or a certain suite of songs, or just the fact that the show itself will be kind of presented as more of a complete performance as time goes on?
It’s more a complete performance. It’s like it starts with one song and then it builds up, goes down again, then back up again. It’s kind of like a script for a movie.
You mentioned that as the tour has gone on, that you’ve gotten closer as friends. Have you been working on doing fun things like band activities to bond as you go, or is it something with the live performance itself that keeps you guys together and bonded?
We do some fun activities together. We went to a koala sanctuary [Laughs] and we’ve gone to amusement parks together, but I hate roller coasters [Laughs].
If you want to keep your voice strong, you can’t be screaming on roller coasters.
When I go to a roller coaster, I’m totally quiet but my eyes are saying, “I will die here!” [Laughs.]
In terms of new material, have you guys started thinking about your next studio project or writing some songs and playing them live?
Yeah, definitely. We have some ideas and we’re all very involved [and] when we were at hotels we would write songs. We haven’t recorded anything, but we will probably get a chance to do some of that after we stop touring this album [ My Head Is an Animal, which is at the end of this summer. So hopefully we will be able to go to the studio and get something done.
I know you have mentioned occasions that took you by surprise, how successful this album has been, not only at home [in Iceland] but also internationally. I remember reading a quote from you when you said you never thought that you’d be able to play internationally at all, let alone have a hit song [“Little Talks”] and a successful album over here. With that in mind, the next time you guys go back in the studio, would you try to create an album that has a different sound, or would you try to continue the same vibe that you’ve developed?
I’ve thought about this a lot. I have to do the same thing to please the crowd and friends and get the same success. I think that’s the wrong thing and it’s wrong to do something totally different just because you don’t want to do the same thing. I think the right thing to do is do what you want to do. Don’t think too much about it. The [future] album won’t be the same because we’ve grown so much as a band and as people. It will never sound the same. I think it has to come naturally and I think it will happen.
Can you give us a little background on the recording of the full-length record? Where you guys recorded and a little about how the songwriting process developed during that recording session?
We had about eleven or twelve songs. It was paid for with our own money, so it was very much getting the most for your money because we didn’t have a lot. We rented a studio, which was a big room, for one weekend. We did twelve songs in one weekend. We wanted to have the album [be] live. Then, in another small studio, we started everything over. We started working on each song and it took about four months, just going back and forth in the studio, trying to develop the sound and experimenting. We released My Head in September of 2011, then it came out in America in 2012. For that [version], we added two new songs and went back to the studio. We recorded “Mountain Sound” and “Slow and Steady” and worked with a producer called Jacquire King. He was so great and we developed a relationship with him.
Was there any particular advice he gave you, having listened to the album and recorded two new ideas? Is there anything he said that stuck with you guys?
Overall, he told us a lot of things. A lot about ways to arrange songs and what works and what doesn’t work. He’s very good at that. When we recorded the album, it was the first time I had been to a studio. With him, it was his second [time]. I didn’t know a lot, so he taught me a lot.
You mentioned earlier on that where you come from is kind of in between the United States and Europe. Given that you’ve gained popularity in both [places], would you say that because of where Iceland is located, in terms of writing and lyrics, it’s informed by stuff on both sides of the world, or are there certain areas in both that you relate to?
I think that we can relate well to both the States and Europe. We kind of fit into both sides. If you watch television in Iceland, you get things from both the U.S. and Europe. It’s 50/50. You get inspired by both.
Since you guys have been on the road, is there any famous musician that you’ve had a chance to either play with or meet that’s been particularly inspiring for the band?
Our fellow Icelanders, Sigur Rós, we got the chance to hang out with them a lot and we’ve played at some of the same festivals as them. We know the guys, so for me, just meeting them and making friends is very cool.
Did they give you guys any interesting advice?
Not anything that I can think of. The way they do things, they’re very professional. They’re good role models. They know who they are in their image, so that’s very important. We learned a lot from them.
