Amy Viking

Delicate guitar leads and harmonies hover over the stereo field, while lush vocals play hide and seek amid a solid bass, relied on like a trustworthy friend. Amy Viking’s 11-track album, Opener, captures a familiar essence of the 60’s psychedelic rock era and covers it with a bright shade of optimism. The end product is a very unique sound that accentuates pleasant memories back to one’s consciousness.

The entire album is tidily put together. It is cohesive and smooth. As a whole, each song merges with one another, creating an overarching image that firmly establishes their identity. Certain songs in the album do pop out as a bit different, but it never strays far from the overall creative style. In fact, these songs serve to not only highlight the uniqueness of the album, but their ability to explore various styles and incorporate it into their own.

One such song, “Lead in Water,” introduces the listener to a lonesome, retro synth that submerges each element into a grainy, digital world. The guitars, drums, bass, and vocals are minimal but effective in their depiction of heaviness and weight, displaced like lead in water. Occasionally, there is a catching of the breath as everything ceases, save for the vocals; however, this moment of relief is soon drowned back into the grainy synth. Not to give spoilers, each song on Opener possesses a certain unique character.

Amy Viking was founded by guitarists Max Olsen and Nicolai Wallace, and the two later found bassist Sam Calhoon and drummer Sam McDonald. Eager to share their creative work, they began playing shows around Seattle as a complete roster. There’s a great opportunity to check out Amy Viking as they perform at Central Saloon on November 20th for their album release and the Tractor Tavern on December 29th, so be sure to save the dates and pick up a copy of their sparkling debut album, Opener. - Kai-Yao Lan (Seattle Music News)

A new face is emerging in the indie dream rock genre and their name is Amy Viking.

Out of Seattle, the band has been writing and recording music since 2012. Last November, the band released their debut album and it delivers with melodic instrumentals, smooth vocals and ethereal guitar riffs. The entire album feels as if it were written while driving down the Pacific Coast.

As a debut album, I am impressed in a lot of different ways. One of the most impressive surprises is that the album is eleven tracks in length. Most of the time bands will drop an EP before releasing an album. Amy Viking hits the ground running.

One of my favorite tracks would have to be "Guanajuato." It features all of the elements that I loved throughout the album, especially the guitar solos. The album closes on a favorite in "Guns Are Ready." It has a mature sound to it, showing the spectrum of their style.

The band has a wide variety of inspirations and some of them can be heard, especially on "Molina." The song is a tribute to Flamenco artist Paco de Lucia, and that can be heard in the riffs of the guitar as it has that Flamenco sound. The Flamenco guitar sound is prominent in many of the songs on the album and it adds a unique element.

The album blows away the thought that this is a debut. From the unique and varying sound that Amy Viking brings to the genre to the flow from one song to the next. I am thoroughly impressed and without a doubt a fan. If you find yourself in the same boat, be sure to stay up to date on Twitter and check out the album in its entirety. - Elephant Ear Music

Maybe its because their most catchy song features Bud Light Lime as its main subject, but Seattle’s newest band, Amy Viking is setting the tone for the summer. They are a smooth, bluesy 4-piece with Hawaiian vibes. Perhaps the most impressive quality is the sound and production for their (literal) first few recordings. Despite the fact that no one in the band is named Amy or even female for that matter, make no mistake, they are no bar band bros. In an already very eclectic local scene, Amy Viking fits a different sonic landscape.

To now, they have been mostly jamming at house shows and a few casual gigs, but this summer they hope to make a proper Seattle splash. Though Amy Viking’s conception is still very fresh, their forming may have been years in the making. Vocalist/guitarist Max Olson and guitarist Nicolai Wallace met at a diner at the age of 14 in their native Bainbridge Island. Over the years and after a revolving roster of jam mates, the duo linked up with Sam McDonald (drums) and Sam Calhoon (bass) in Seattle to create Amy Viking and give it a go.


Old Rookie: You guys have been friends for awhile, how long have you been playing music and what made you decide to start a band, and go for it?

Amy Viking: (Max) We’ve been friends since we were 14 and basically started playing music when we became friends. Both of us picked up the guitar when we were 12 or 13. We started with a couple acoustic guitars. We formed a somewhat “acoustic/synth” band in high school with a couple friends. (laughs) yeah, good times. We played a few shows and ended up winning our local battle of the bands, which gave us a little taste of “glory”. Nico where did we go from there?

(Nicolai) Come on man.. we went our separate ways in college, but played over the summers. Once Max moved back to Seattle, we moved in with each other to a shitty basement apartment. We started playing a lot of music again down in that dungeon. We tried out a lot of drummers and bassists and eventually found a great match with Sam and Sam.

OR: (to Max) Most good bands have a DIY aesthetic, but as a graphic designer, you created your own logo, website and everything. Do the guys give you full artistic freedom or is mostly for convenience and a way to be creative and resourceful?unnamed[3]

AV: (Max) The guys give me freedom, but I did design a lot of the band graphics and website out of necessity. You record a few songs and your ready to upload but you need a place to show them and some art to accompany it. As a graphic designer you can’t let things look bad so I made sure they looked good enough, but with more time I’d like to do more with the designs.

OR: There’s a song called All The Different Places that has an obvious Bud Light Lime influence.. is there a story there or is it just a fun lyric?

AV: (Max) Nicolai first wrote the foundations to the song after watching Jerry Springer. The chorus went “Bloodline, your mine”, because the episode was on who’s whose dad or something like that. It sounded like he was saying Bud Light Lime when he was showing us the song and our drummer, Sam, is a big fan of Bud Light Limes so we decided to rewrite the song about Bud Light Limes. The song started about a broken family and ended with Bud Light Limes. I think it took a turn for the better.

OR: How many shows have you played? Youre playing the Sunset on Friday and some pretty big names have played that room when through Seattle. Any special plans for the show?

AV: (Nicolai) The current full band has played a few bar and house party shows together. Yeah, the Sunset’s always been a place we’ve admired. It’s cool to think of all the names that’ve come through there. As for plans for the show, we have some theatrics… can’t say too much, but Amy will be present. And by Amy, I mean that Sam might be dressed as a woman.

OR: You are working on putting out a full LP, do you have any working details, like album name or release date?

AV: (Nicolai) Hopefully by the end of July.

OR: Any summer plans musically? more shows?

AV: We’ve been focusing on recording, but we’re flushing out some details for upcoming shows. We’ll post them on our website amyviking.com when they’re ready. - Ian Bremner (Old Rookie)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_GlFkPjgSxM - Plastic Jet Airlines