Of Monsters And Men: “Silverchair’s ‘Diorama’ Is One Of My Favourites Still”

Who said long distance relationships don’t work? Clearly something has been lost in translation. The ice-breaking Icelandic band of 2012 Of Monsters And Men are voyaging south yet again, shacking up on our shores for the third time in the short space of a year when they join us for the Splendour Bender of 2013.

From quite literally the other side of the world, our mismatched love affair with Of Monsters And Men scored them a certified number one platinum record in Australia with their debut release, My Head Is An Animal (2012). Then they took second place in the triple j Hottest 100 charts of 2012 with their smash hit Little Talks.

Their laid-back vocalist and guitarist, Ragnar Þórhallsson (Raggi to his mates), thinks it’s all pretty cool. “It sounds like the people want to hear our music,” he said. “So we definitely want to go there and play as much as we can.”

OMAM’s love and respect for fans vibrates heavily through their busy tour schedule and fans seem to be multiplying like rabbits. Not only has Splendour In The Grass sold out (naturally) but also their two sideshows planned for Sydney and Melbourne at the Enmore and Palais Theaters’ respectively.

But as loyalists to the people who helped create their abundant success, the band has put aside their tourist excursions and quickly announced an extra show in Melbourne, and two extra shows in Sydney with all but the third show in Sydney sold out.

Raggi told Music Feeds that this little Aussie crush started well before their band did. His fascination with Australia started with one of our golden musical exports. So, other than Bjork, what does an Icelandic teen listen to? He was all too excited to reveal this little secret. “When I was growing up, I really liked Silverchair,” he claimed proudly. “It was one of my favorite bands as a teenager. I really liked the album Diorama – it’s one of my favorites still. So I’ve always wanted to go there.”

After travelling the world over and even having the pleasure of playing on Saturday Night Live last month – which Raggi says was “quite hectic” – the gang are pumped to come back to Oz and cuddle a couple koalas on the beach while drinking a VB. “We’ve had some great times there,” he said. “Last time we had a house by the beach in Byron Bay. It was very, very cool. We went in the ocean and stuff like that… Byron is a cool town. The mood there is good. I like it.”

After spending a solid year and a half on the road, OMAM will be working their way home for a well-earned break after this stop. But Raggi tells us they won’t be sitting around for too long. “We’ve had some time to throw some ideas around, and we have some ideas for new songs. When we stop touring, we will definitely start really working on it and hopefully bring out a new album soon after that.”

Despite a tiny population of around 300,000, over the last three decades Iceland have brought the world a variance of brilliant rock royalty. It’s safe to say, these guys are well and truly on the way to joining that list. Multiple sell-out shows on the opposite side of the world are testament to this mystical and love-riddled folk-rock ensemble.

Gallery: Of Monsters And Men – The Metro Theatre, Sydney, 29/01/2013

Of Monsters And Men are touring Australia this winter as part of Splendour In The Grass. Details below.

Of Monsters And Men Australian Tour 2013

Presented by Music Feeds

Monday, 29th July – SOLD OUT

Enmore Theatre, Sydney

Tix: www.ticketek.com.au 132 849

Tuesday 30th July – SOLD OUT

Enmore Theatre, Sydney

Tix: www.ticketek.com.au



Wednesday, 31st July – NEW SHOW!


Metro Theatre, Sydney

Tix: www.ticketek.com.au 132 849

Saturday, 3rd August – SOLD OUT

Palais Theatre, Melbourne

Tix: www.ticketmaster.com.au 136 100



Sunday, 4th August – SELLING FAST


Palais Theatre, Melbourne

Tix: www.ticketmaster.com.au 136 100

Also appearing at Splendour In The Grass 2013 and Spin Off Festival 2013

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