Interview: Of Monsters And Men Return To Philadelphia
By Michael Cerio
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Once again Philadelphia managed to get hip to a revolution before the rest of the country.
Prior to the international success of Of Monsters And Men, the Icelandic band first took hold domestically in the City Of Brotherly Love.
"Nobody knew who we were. We didn't have a record deal. We were just kind of taking our first steps and then, Philadelphia started playing us" singer Nanna Bryndis Hilmarsdottir remembers before she sits down for sushi in the city. "It's always really fun to play here. It's just really cool to come here and be like 'aw thank you guys for taking us on so early'. Yeah, so it always feels like a good place to come."
Nanna is humble and sweet, a personality much smaller than the epic scope of her music. This folk band from Iceland took hold with the stomping "Little Talks" in 2011, but transformed into something bigger with the release of their sophomore album "Beneath The Skin" in June. The songs got more layered and cinematic, growing beyond campfire charm to Hollywood soundtrack. Their music has been featured this year in trailers for Disney's "The Good Dinosaur" and Netflix's "Jessica Jones".
"I feel sometimes when we're writing and we're in the studio and stuff, I can picture a movie. It's kind of a part of our music in a way" says Nanna.
Their success has gone far beyond movie trailers, as Of Monsters And Men have become a chart-topping band across Europe, in Australia, and here in the United States. Their fans mostly speak English across the globe, but when they don't they find a commonality in music.
"Sometime you know when people don't understand English, and then you see them in the crowd and you see them singing along and you're like 'what?', it's great. It's really cool."
Of Monsters And Men come to The Mann Center in Philadelphia on Tuesday September 15th. To hear more from Nanna including her thoughts on Icelandic music and what kind of sushi she ordered, check out the full interview below.
