It's a bromance that spawned a hit album for new group MKTO. The duo—made up of Malcolm Kelley and Tony Oller—met while making the Nickelodeon series Gigantic, combining their initials to form the band's name.
They were signed to Columbia Records and released a first single, "Thank You." The second single, "Classic," has brought them tons of radio play breaking into the top 20 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and gaining exposure all over the world. Opening for popsters Emblem3 brought them even more screaming teens, and Demi Lovato's world tour promises to do the same.
The have continued to balance the world of acting with their music careers, Kelley is from the television series Lost and Oller is from The Purge.
WCT talked with Kelley right before the album dropped.
Windy City Times: Hi, Malcolm. Are you currently out on tour?
Malcolm Kelley: No, actually I am calling from California. It is good to be home for a couple of days and relax before we get back on tour.
WCT: Are you originally from California?
Malcolm Kelley: Yes, I am originally from Los Angeles, Californi,a and from Long Beach. Tony is from Texas. We both have an apartment here in Studio City. We are L.A. men!
WCT: You two met on the TV show?
Malcolm Kelley: Right; we played best friends on a show called Gigantic on Teen Nick. We became best friends outside the show as well. When the show ended we both started making music and found out we had the same love for music. It was awesome.
After a couple of years we put up some covers then Columbia Records signed us.
WCT: Is it hard to shed some of the teen image that comes along with a Nickelodeon show?
Malcolm Kelley: Sometimes you get typecast off certain things you have done, but if you keep improving I think people will respect you for that. I try not to get caught up in the whole Nickelodeon aspect of things, although we are about to do a guest appearance on a Nickelodeon show coming up right now. I think that will be pretty cool.
WCT: What's it called?
Malcolm Kelley: It's called The Thundermans. We are getting ready to shoot it sometime this week.
WCT: This album is so fun.
Malcolm Kelley: Thank you, man. We are so proud of it and this is our first time on tour. It took us about a year to make this album. We put 11 songs on there, all talking about real life. Being new artists we have a great team that we work with.
We got a chance to write a lot on this album. Everything is pretty much real. We talk about heartbreaks and the girl you want to get noticed by. We got to work with Ne-Yo on this album and that was amazing. Max Martin and Rami Yacoub are great producers that have made so many hits.
The producers we were assigned to were legends in themselves. It was taking in so much in such a short time but we are just so humble and can't wait to get this tour out there for you guys.
WCT: Who writes the songs, you or Tony?
Malcolm Kelley: Tony is great with piano so sometimes we produce the stuff ourselves; [with] the song "No More Second Chances," we did it when we weren't even signed yet, like three years ago. It actually made it to the record because it was such a great song. They just added Jessica Ashley on it. She might come out for one of the L.A. shows.
The whole team puts in a lot of input and sometimes it will be three in the morning when we are messing around with the songs. It is still in my head after a couple of days then we know we got something. We will go into the studio and our producers will break it down. We all just mesh and vibe off of each other. We came up with some great songs. We weren't rushed and didn't really have a deadline to make this album. It was all organic, and that is one of the great things about this album. I think you can hear us grow as well from where we started.
As we were working together so many great things were coming out. We would make a song then the next week we thought the next one was even better. We are just so excited for this album.
WCT: Who wrote the words for your hit "Classic?"
Malcolm Kelley: That song was already written when we got to the project. We had to rewrite the rap and put some input into the song. Our producers are amazing so when you get a song like that we had to do it. I think it was played for a couple of other people. We got first dibs on that song so we worked through it. We were just happy to be a part of it.
WCT: Do you feel the same as the lyrics, and like all that classic music?
Malcolm Kelley: Oh, yeah! It is about the music of our parents growing up. My dad was big into Motown and walking women on the right side of the road. I carry all of those things with me today.
Tony and I love the Southern belles and treating a woman right. "Classic" is about that kind of girl. Especially in Hollywood you see girls come from other places and they change because of the lifestyle. When you find a girl that is comfortable with herself and doesn't need all the glamor to feel okay about herself.
That's the main thing and what we think is classic. It was important to touch on. Everyone is digging it so we appreciate that.
WCT: You opened for Emblem3 recently. Those fans are loud and were screaming in my ears when I was in the photo pit at their concert.
Malcolm Kelley: Oh, those fans get wild! Coming off of X Factor with that big platform, to see them up close and personal that is great things about the power of music these days and TV. It was so cool to be a part of the tour with those guys. That was a crazy ride!
Our styles of music kind of mesh. Our fans are some of their fans so the fact that they enjoy our music is a great thing. We will be seeing a lot of familiar faces on this tour as well.
WCT: That is the same spot at the House of Blues where I saw them perform.
Malcolm Kelley: We are doing some of the same spots. That is crazy. I think the next tour we have coming up I think Emblem worked with Demi as well. To be headlining these venues is going to be awesome.
WCT: This is your moment to be in the spotlight. I saw a photo booth opportunity on Twitter with you and Tony.
Malcolm Kelley: Yeah, we are really into social media. Look for us on Instagram, Twitter and our website www.wearemkto.com .
The photo booth is kind of cool. We did it a couple of weeks ago so I didn't know how it was going to come out. I had an idea but actually seeing it and watching the fans enjoy it was a great thing. I try to retweet everything. It is funny to see the pictures they post.
WCT: Do you consider yourself a boy band, or more like Macklemore?
Malcolm Kelley: Some call us a pop duo as well so "hip-hop pop duo" works for me. We are boy band-ish. We talk about that on the album sounding like a boy band. We have different styles. Sometimes you just get put in categories but I am glad it is hard to put us in a category.
We are trying to figure it out and being us at the end of the day. We are making music we love.
When we started this we were inspired by B.o.B. and Hayley Williams' "Airplanes." There is the great rapping, chorus and how well they meshed together. You have all of that on one album and almost every song.
WCT: Macklemore has done a lot of gay rights with his music.
Malcolm Kelley: We also believe in love and loving whomever you want. That is important.
WCT: I didn't realize you were on Lost until I was reading about you.
Malcolm Kelley: [Laughs] That happens quite a bit now. It is pretty funny when people catch on that I was on it. I grew up with it. It is really fun to watch fans that enjoyed that come to hear the music. It is humbling.
WCT: You don't even have to work after making that money so you must love making music.
Malcolm Kelley: That's the thing—I really love music. We both put a lot of stuff on hold but then we look at people like Justin Timberlake and Jared Leto and the way they balance their careers. Acting is something I love to do and will jump back into it soon. I am trying to focus on music right now.
WCT: You can do it all, Malcolm. I believe in you.
Malcolm Kelley: Thank you!
MKTO lives the American Dream Tour Aug. 17 at the House of Blues.
