Iceland review - 2016, Qupperneq 74

72 ICELAND REVIEW
BRINGING BACK
THE BLUES
Icelandic rock/blues/folk band Kaleo has had a busy year. After signing with
Atlantic Records in 2015, the band moved to Austin, Texas.
Vala Hafstað caught up with frontman
Jökull Júlíusson on his recent trip home to Iceland
to talk success, life on the road and their
upcoming debut US release.
Kaleo’s members may be Icelandic,
but their music has American
roots. After considerable success
at home, the band—made up of lead
singer Jökull Júlíusson on guitar; Davíð
Antonsson on drums and backup vocals;
Daníel Ægir Kristjánsson on bass; and
Rubin Pollock on lead guitar—appears
to be on its way to stardom abroad.
After signing with Atlantic Records a
year ago and moving to Austin, Texas,
the four friends from Mosfellsbær, a
town just outside Reykjavík, are slowly
winning the hearts of US audiences.
Their music is rooted in blues, rock, folk
and country, and their songs are known
for their strong beat and deep soul.
Altogether, their tracks have had almost
29 million plays on Spotify, and one of
the band’s singles is selling about 10,000
copies a week. Almost all the songs have
English lyrics.
ON THE ROAD
Kaleo, whose name means ‘the sound’
or ‘the voice’ in the Hawaiian language,
fits well into the American landscape.
“We get our inspiration from blues and
from the music of the 60s, 70s and 80s,”
26-year-old Jökull explains. “Because of
that influence, we wanted to be in the
South, where much of that music was
born. It was a logical decision to move
to the US once we signed a contract
with Atlantic Records. We knew we’d be
spending a lot of time in the US anyway,
touring and recording.”
And the transformation has been huge:
“It’s been an adventure since February of
last year. We didn’t know what to expect.
There have been great changes in our
lives. We never spend more than a few
days or weeks in the same place; we’re
constantly playing and performing, and
the result has been positive, also because
we’ve been able to visit radio stations
and introduce ourselves.” Kaleo’s music
has been featured on popular US TV
programs, such as Vinyl, produced by
Martin Scorsese and Mick Jagger, NBC’s
Blindspot and the legal drama Suits.
Despite all the success and mingling
with the rich and famous, Jökull remains
level-headed: “They’re just people like
the rest of us,” he reflects calmly.
The band has been on the road, almost
non-stop, for more than a year now. “We
just came back from a six-week tour
of 20 states, and all the concerts were
sold out,” Jökull relates. This was their
first headline tour, but last year was also
spent touring the US by bus for about
300 days. They have now appeared in
nearly all 50 states, in addition to a tour
to Mexico and a recent one to Australia.
“Life on the road has its ups and downs,”
he admits. “Some days are amazingly fun,
but there’s a great amount of pressure
and work. We’re constantly busy, and it
takes a toll. It really makes you appre-
ciate the time you get off.” Such a life is
seldom seen as a healthy one, but Jökull
has somehow managed to stay surpris-
ingly fit.
WIDE APPEAL
What makes Kaleo stand out is the band’s
appeal to people of all ages. At a concert
last summer at Gamla bíó in Reykjavík,
people in their 50s and 60s appeared to
enjoy their performance just as much as
those in their 20s. “We notice the same
thing in the US, which is really enjoyable,
there is this broad group of listeners. It’s
true that the music is old-fashioned, but
PORTRAIT OF JÖKULL JÚLÍUSSON BY PÁLL STEFÁNSSON.
BAND PHOTO BY HÖRÐUR FREYR.