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A Convenient Truth
Interview with Kings of Convenience
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In 1985, at a geography contest in Norway, two kids met and became great friends. Then 6 years later, they started a band called “Skog”, which translates to “forest” with two other friends. They released an EP, before they broke off and became a great indie folk band by the name of the Kings of Convenience.
They then released their first album “Quiet is the New Loud”, which was produced by Coldplay producer Ken Nelson. Though Erlend Oye has a side project you might have heard of called “The Whitest Boy Alive”, KoC is the main focus for the two members of the group.
I had the great pleasure of talking to Eirik Glambek Boe, about their growth, their development and their latest album.
You two met at the age of 10, but only started playing together when you were 16; what made you realize you were compatible as musicians?
Well we were the only guys in our school who didn’t know how to play the guitar at the age of 16. We went to this music school, and it seemed like everyone around us were playing instruments, and we were the only ones who didn’t know how to play guitar. I guess that was how we discovered that we were compatible… and then gradually after a few years we actually excelled.
Which came first the name “Kings of Convenience” or the music?
The music came first. The convenience idea came from us breaking away from another band. It was so difficult to make it happen, to make four different destinies fit together into one project. It was just so much more convenient to have this two man band.
Are you guys affiliated with any other band other then “The Whitest Boy Alive”?
I have my own, which is funny, since we’ve been playing together for such a long time [himself and Erlend] and we share such a musical taste that if you hear it you would hear a lot of similarities with “The Whitest Boy Alive”. I’m the bass player of the band, so for me it’s like discovering a new world. What I find most interesting is to see how you can use the bass guitar as a melodic instrument. It can improve the bass line, but it can also create harmonies in contrast to the guitar.
I’m a big fan of Feist; what was it like working with her on “Riot on en Empty Street”?
She is a genius, you can just put her in the room and player some chords and she will come up with a fantastic melody. And that’s what happened. She came to Bergen and we were sitting in the studio and she started humming along and the melodies she was making were just beautiful.
What’s your favorite thing about the making and release of “Declaration of Dependence”?
My favorite thing is that we agreed this time, me and Erlend, about the simplicity of the record. We both had the idea that “Quiet is the New Loud” was still going to be the way we approach our music, and its recording. So that made the process very focused. It was just the two of us, for the most part, standing in the studio playing the songs live together. It was just a really focused process where the results matched out initial ideas; which doesn’t happen very often.
The King of Convenience will be playing at Webster Hall on June 5. Check them out at www.kingsofconvenience.com