From Norway to the highway, Kings of Convenience reign

By Linda Laban
Wednesday, February 9, 2005

``Apparently we are doing this crazy TV show,'' said Eirik Glambek Boe, as he and his partner, Erlend Oye, prepare to make their U.S. television debut on ``Last Call with Carson Daly.''
This month, the Norwegian duo, better known as the Kings of Convenience, is notching many firsts, as they also will embark on their first extensive tour of America, playing outside of New York and Los Angeles. The tour includes the band's first-ever gig in Boston, Friday at the Paradise.
``We will get to see a lot of things traveling around in our bus. It's great,'' said Boe, matter-of-factly rather than enthusiastically.
`To be honest,'' he added in his stilted, Scandinavian-accented English, ``I am not really that curious about America. In Europe, we hear so much about America; we see so many American movies. The first time I came here five years ago, it was exactly the same as I saw in movies. I felt like I've been here before. I wasn't surprised by anything.''
Oh dear. Is America overexposed?
``You could say that, yes,'' said Boe, who, along with playing music, has spent six years studying to be a clinical psychologist. He has one more year to go.
What with his partner'sstatus as a Trivial Pursuit genius with an astounding memory, Kings of Convenience are clearly not your average rock 'n' roll outfit. From the start, these two weren't about to play anyone's game but their own.
``It's nothing new, but it was kind of original at that time, the fact that we were just two guitarists,'' said Boe. ``We had a clear idea of what kind of aesthetic we were about: two guitarists and the two harmonies, no electronic productions whatsoever. A pure presentation of a song.''
Within two years of forming, the 29-year-olds - who met in high school in their hometown of Bergen, which is Norway's second-largest city - landed, quite deliberately, an international record deal to take the name beyond Norway.
``Most artists signed to Norwegian record labels, they don't get anywhere outside Norway. I guess it's the attitude of the Norwegian record companies, they only sell records there and don't bother outside,'' said Boe.
However, as Kings of Convenience released their Astralwerks debut, ``Quiet Is the New Loud,'' the band's sound was deeply at odds with the emerging garage-rock revival, in which music was anything but quiet or acoustic.
``At any given moment, a lot of different people do a lot of different things,'' said Boe. ``I think there's no point in dwelling too much upon the fact that there were bands that were playing electronic, simple-produced pop music and we were doing our minimal acoustic thing.''
In short, he doesn't care what the market is up to.
Last year, the lush, jazzy pop of ``Riot on an Empty Street'' hit with mellow grooves, built from strummed bossa nova pop and airy harmonies.
``I love old bossa nova performed with a Brazilian acoustic guitar,'' said Boe. ``Joao Gilberto, I love the way he plays guitar, it was very inspirational to me.''
These days, the pair is split between Bergen and Berlin, where Oye moved three years ago and where he recorded a solo album, 2003's ``Unrest,'' while Boe worked on his psychology degree. ``It's good for our collaboration that we can spend time away from each other,'' said the laissez faire Boe, ``and then meet up every now and again and play together.''

( Kings of Convenience play the Paradise, 967 Commonwealth Ave., Boston, Friday at 9 p.m. $12. 617-423-6000. 18-plus. )