Artist Profile: Kaleo

They are a band consisting of four members, including; lead vocalist and guitarist JJ Julius Son, drummer David Antonsson, bassist Daniel Kristjansson, and lead guitarist Rubin Pollock; who are all from Iceland. In the beginning JJ Julius Son, David Antonsson and Daniel Kristjansson were best friends and began playing together at the age of 17, before adding Rubin Pollock to the mix in 2012. They named the band Kaleo, which means "the sound" in Hawaiian and their first major public appearances was at Iceland Airwaves Music Festival in November 2012. Moreover, the band signed to Electra/Atlantic and moved to the States in early 2015.

All the members of the band

The band have released two studio albums, Kaleo (2013) and A/B (2016), as well as an EP, Glasshouse (2013). A/B has sold over 800,000 albums worldwide. One of the singles from A/B, "Way Down We Go" (which so happens to be our chosen song), has been sold over 500,000 times in the US and reached number one on the Billboard Alternative Chart on the 20th August 2016. The single is a huge hit in the UK, Belgium, Ireland, South Africa and Germany, Platinum in Russia, Australia and United States, and Double Platinum in Canada. The song was also featured in the shows The Originals, Supergirl, Blindspot, Riverdale and Eyewitness, the FIFA 16 soundtrack, the trailer for the very popular film Logan etc.

The bands latest album A/B

Kaleo's music is influenced by folk and blues. Their blues influences are mainly drawn from delta blues which was the target for some of the heavier songs in their album A/B. Their music prominently features a distinctive resonator sound.

The band at one of their concerts

The bands constant increase in popularity and success since 2012 has allowed Kaleo to go on tours since 2015. Since then they have been on 8 different tours, which represents their fast paced success and ability to create and produce amazing songs for their niche audience, which is now growing day by day. Many have said they have a lot more potential to share and distribute to the world.

Kaleo