Erlend Øye

Active since 1996 Erlend was in a string of bands which saw relative success, including the chance to perform at various venues within the United Kingdom. This developed Erlends' musical style and in 1998 upon returning home to Bergen for a vacation, he formed the band "Kings of Convenience" alongside his friend from a prior band - Eirik Glambek Boe.

"Quiet Is the New Loud" was the debut album from Kings of Convenience and received mixed reviews, with Pitchfork media rating the album 5.2 stars out of 10 and Allmusic giving the album a rating of 3.5 stars, it became apparent that it was up to personal taste for people to decide whether they liked the release or not. The album contained two successful songs "Winning a Battle, loosing the War" and "Toxic Girl" both songs managed to secure a place in the top 100 of the UK charts in 2001.

It was through a collaboration with Norwegian duo "Royksopp" also in 2001, that Erlend developed a taste for electronic music; after collaborating with the band for two songs "Poor Leno" and "Remind Me". The fusion would inspire Erlend tremendously and from 2002 to 2006 he would travel around the world, working on his solo album "Unrest" which contained ten artists from ten different cities including: New York, Rome, Berlin, Barcelona and many others. The album received amazingly positive reviews and peaked at number 3 on the Norwegian album chart.

Erlend is also known for his skills as a DJ. He has worked with the DJ Kicks series, providing them with a few remix records. Erlend currently lives in Siracusa, Italy. It was during a small concert that he had announced he had bought a house there. A new single was also released called "La Prima Estate" which was completely sung in Italian, showing how much the city was loved.

When Erlend was growing up he would often listen to Leonard Cohen, Nick Drake, Suzanne Bega and The Smiths. This diverse taste of music would undoubtedly go on to influence the topics and the style of music which the artist now performs with. For example the song "Garota" has the intricate details to each word and how they are sung, whether that is in a high or low pitch, this can be seen as similar to the way in which The Smiths would perform. As it gives extra value and emotional connectivity to the listeners, one of the things the band is famously known for.

As of today Erlend has released two solo albums and 7 collaborative albums altogether with Kings Of Convenience or with the group he started in 2003: The Whitest Boy Alive which as of 2014 has come to an end.