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We had the chance to chat with OHLAYINDO, the Scandinavian electro-pop duo who are performing at14 SXSW. They recently released a very uplifting new track, Golden Chains. Singer/songwriter Hanna Ponth shares,

“‘Golden Chains’ is the kind of song we had wanted to write for a long time, but it was difficult to find the right words. It reflects on how a lot of us who come from privilege value material things ahead of what is really important. The song suggests we take our ‘Golden Chains’ and tear them off – encouraging us all to step back, and reflect on what we could do differently to better ourselves.”

Check out the track here:

Ohlayindigo is a San Francisco-based electronic pop duo from Oslo, Norway, composed of Ponth and drummer Zak Shrapnell. Ponth was selected to partake in a songwriting session with Sir Paul McCartney, based on her songwriting credentials and merit obtained while studying at Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts. During the session, she sang with him and he helped her work on the first single, “Love You To The Moon”, which he was very impressed by.

Music Junkie Press: Thank you very much for taking the time out to talk with us here at Music Junkie Press. We love the new song, Golden Chains. You bring out such colors and bright spirit through your music, can you tell me more about the song?

OHLAYINDIGO: We came up with the initial idea when discussing the concept of the responsibility that comes with being privileged (Golden Chains). We in the western world may have our problems, but we have things pretty good compared to millions of others out there. “Golden Chains” challenges us to step back, and consider the little changes that we can make in our every day lives, that could affect our futures.

All of our songs are like stories, so when we started writing “Golden Chains” it was a very humbling experience. We always go into great depth when thinking of different ways to get our point across and we had many discussions and conversations from climate change to the refugee crisis whilst songwriting. We kept coming back to how history keeps repeating itself and how we should all be aware of the warning signs. We didn’t want “Golden Chains” to be a sad song or a ballad, we wanted to leave the listeners feeling hopeful, humble and grateful.

Music Junkie Press: We understand that you will be heading out to SXSW, that is quite exciting. Will this be your first time and can you tell us about your showcases?

OHLAYINDIGO: It will be our first time at SXSW, and we are super excited! Not only are we over the moon to have been asked to perform, but we also can’t wait to be in the city of Austin, take in all the atmosphere, and listen to some great music. It’s crazy how much is going on. It’s going to be a busy week!

We are performing at two showcases; the first is at Red Gorilla Festival on Tuesday 15th, at the Rooftop bar on 6th (we are on at 4pm), and the second is at Big Picture Media’s Annual Austin takeover on Thursday 17th, at the Handlebar on 5th (we are on at 12:40pm). For more details you can check out our website www.ohlayindigo.com

Music Junkie Press: I understand you are based now in San Francisco from Norway, when did you make your transition here to the states and what were some of the hardest adjustments to make when you came over?

OHLAYINDIGO: Other than buying new electrical power cables for everything we own, and acclimatizing to the weather, there haven’t been too many differences. People in the Bay Area have been really friendly and welcoming, which was a pleasant surprise. Europeans tend to keep to themselves, whereas people will start a conversation with you here in almost every circumstance. We have had more conversations in elevators here in the last few months than in the rest of our lives combined. Also we still don’t understand why all your money is the same color… It just makes it confusing.

Music Junkie Press: What is the biggest different with the music scene from your hometown versus here?

OHLAYINDIGO: We formed in Liverpool, which is a pretty amazing city for live music. There are a lot of independently owned venues and clubs which are very supportive of the local scene. However, we have played a few shows where the promoter didn’t bother to check out our music beforehand, meaning we were playing electro-pop, when all the other bands were playing metal.

We haven’t been in San Francisco for very long, and we’ve only played a few shows but it seems like there is an audience here for our style of music. People seem to be digging the Scandinavian vibe and we’ve had people dancing and enjoying our shows – which is fantastic!

Music Junkie Press: Can you tell us about your new EP and where you recorded it at?

OHLAYINDIGO: Creating our new EP has been a great opportunity to express our music as an extended piece of work. Whereas previously we have only written singles with standalone themes, the tracks on the EP are all cohesive and hopefully tell more of a story. We created the EP in Norway along with our good friends, and producers Boxxes Music. We don’t want to give too much away right now, but for those of you who are attending SXSW we will be playing a few of the new tracks during our showcases. The EP will be available this summer, so you don’t have too long to wait!

Music Junkie Press: With the music industry undergoing so many major changes in the past decade, what is something you personally would like to see changed?

OHLAYINDIGO: One thing we would like to see changed is the way that musicians contact their fans. There are so many different social media platforms to chose from, but one of the main ones for us is still Facebook. They seem to be making it harder and harder to reach our fans without forking out cash to get on their newsfeeds. Even then you have to be a social media expert, knowing all the right algorithms that work, in order to actually capture their attention. Twitter is better, but with so much going on you can sometimes be drowned out. We’d love to see platforms help musicians easily reach out to their fans, rather than hinder them.

Music Junkie Press: What is next after SXSW and will we be able to see you at upcoming shows here in the Bay Area?

OHLAYINDIGO: After SXSW we are going back to Europe for the summer, we are planning some shows, and we might even find the time to write some more material. Either way we will be back in the Bay Area after that, and we hope to squeeze in a few shows before the summer is over!

Music Junkie Press: Lastly, is there anything else you would like to share with your fans or our audience?

We’d just like to say thanks to everyone who has streamed, and downloaded “Golden Chains” so far, the support has been amazing. We love hearing from our fans wherever they are in the world!