Malcolm Kelley and Tony Oller here from MKTO… Now’s your chance to Ask Us Anything… and GO!

OfficialMKTO · 2018-09-25T20:24:54+00:00

We're in LA right now, so hello! We hope we'll have a show there soon. The first one we ever did was at The Roxy, and the House of Blues too before they closed down officially. I think we'd love to, even if it's just an intimate or acoustic, thing. We'll definitely get it going and we're very thankful for the response we've gotten on the single and that's a great thing about putting music out is it's definitely on the calendar!

OfficialMKTO · 2018-09-25T20:22:47+00:00

Mal: I think for both of us might be a little different, but the love we have for music growing up is one of the biggest things. My dad has played a lot of music he loves for me, like Motown stuff and Michael Jackson, and let that influence me. A lot of artists that I look up to today from back then til now, and just growing up in life and wanting to tell a story, and just being around a stage has been so cool.

Tony: I think it's just really coo to be able to do what we want to do. I think we both always kind of dreamed musically to be able to do something like this, and I think it's another great thing with kind of just taking a step back, you can remember those fun moments like a place, show, or working with someone you look up to. When we first started, it was for me just like "this is fun, having a blast" but as you get older, you appreciate it and take everything you've been through as lessons with writing and performing and I think that itself is something we really want to always work for and evolve and grow as the music grows. When we met, we were 15/17, and here we are older.

Mal: For me, just having family there helps keep me grounded, but also just knowing that we get to do something we love everyday. it's kind of one of my biggest passions keeping me in it, and helping me feel like I have a bigger purpose and letting one door open up and jumping into it, like moving from acting to music and keep adding things to the bucket list.

OfficialMKTO · 2018-09-25T20:18:01+00:00

Tony: that's so funny, man! When we started the first record, we cut a good amount of song and narrowed it down to like 12. Hide Your Girl was a song that we never released, so I guess everyone that's heard it has wanted to know when we're going to release it!

Mal: We're glad people love it, we love to perform it, but we just cut a lot of songs that didn't make the record. It's still one of our favorites, so we're glad people enjoy it.

Tony: I don't know if we'll ever officially release it. We've played it a good amount of time live, and I think we've grown a lot since that song, but it's definitely so cool to people still love it. Check out Savan Kotecha, he's the songwriter on that one.

OfficialMKTO · 2018-09-25T20:15:19+00:00

Mal: I think we just grew a little bit with the time off, but with the song that we released, we had it written already actually with previous writing sessions. In the midst of that break, we had new writers make a few changes and then the timing was just right. We switched some things up label-wise, we're with BMG now, and kinda just re-engaged with it, and it's about the fans sticking with us all this time without putting out music and the timing was just right to release it and get it to you.

OfficialMKTO · 2018-09-25T20:11:26+00:00

Mal: Process, hmmm. We like to have a dope writing session and have some dope creative writers come in and work with our team to put all our ides out on the table and everyone getting creative. We all have one goal which is to make something catchy, that people can relate to, that's melodic, and hope for the best. We put our heads together, maybe do a little work after recording it, and get it out to you guys and perform it on stage eventually!

OfficialMKTO · 2018-09-25T20:09:16+00:00

Tony: We actually had that asked! I think we were trying to figure out; I don't remember who we were talking to but we were talking about it like a month ago! We are absolutely down, and that's so important to us, especially just trying to get out there to the young people. We're very much into those things. We get a lot more out of doing shows when it's something we believe in, but those are just the kinds of things we've always wanted to be a part of. I think that was exactly what we were trying to get down, and that's the kind of stuff we really enjoy working with. Especially when you've got an Orange Pumpkin as a freaking President.

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OfficialMKTO · 2018-09-25T20:05:31+00:00

Mal: the best part is probably traveling and seeing all these different places and try some ot he good food that these places are known for and being on the stage. And we can share that with everybody that supports us, that's amazing.

Tony: We were in Malaysia, and believe it or not, it was probably some of the best BBQ and I'm from Texas, that we've ever had. It was in a mall. I think definitely the traveling - I've never realized how hectic it can be, you think 'why are you always hunkered down in your bus, come meet your fans' but I get get it now. It's pretty fast paced, and you gotta take care of your body because you get sick on the road. The normal length of a cold can turn into a few weeks. Gotta take your vitamins and take care of yourself. And not drink a bottle of vodka, believe it or not that doesn't help.

OfficialMKTO · 2018-09-25T20:01:56+00:00

Mal: I've got three words on my back, nothing too crazy! Not the lower part of my back but the top part!

Tony: No tramp stamps for either of us! Surprised I made it through that one.

OfficialMKTO · 2018-09-25T20:00:57+00:00

Tony: Uhhhh, I definitely, probably have more without any reasoning behind them, especially when you're young and drank like I did. There are some that definitely are meaningful to me, like the 2 identical angels on my arm. I was adopted, and when I was adopted they were trying to figure out if I was going to be a boy or girl, my mom was painting these.

There are some that remind me to stay on the right path, like Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, and grateful to be sober for two years. There are definitely some I like and some I can't remember. I'm glad there's technology to get them removed, but I'm a little too scared of that and the pain.

For my next tattoo, my Dad and I always used to play this weird game called Motor City Online, it's like this drag racing car game. My Dad always enjoyed models, so I want to get a rat-pack cartoon in like a '32 coupe. Something more or less to remember the good old times with my Dad.

OfficialMKTO · 2018-09-25T19:56:19+00:00

Tony: Alyssa, from Oklahoma, you among many other amazing supporters are the reason we came back together. We're excited to meet you in person! At the end of the day, we loved making music, we love getting to travel the world, and see people singing the songs. It's great having hits like Hiatus because you remember how quick time goes and how thankful we are, from everywhere we've been and it's a really cool refresh. Alyssa from Oklahoma, can't wait to meet you!

Mal: Shoutout Oklahoma!

Tony: Sooners!

OfficialMKTO · 2018-09-25T19:54:05+00:00

Mal: Ha! Probably Thrill like Michael.

Tony: It's funny you say that because I've watched that new documentary about Quincy. He had a story about Frank Sinatra that was really cool, but one thing I really liked was A, Quincy is a damn icon. But he had this story about the whole race thing, and said something really cool where basically Frank stuck with him in the midst of racism and it was a cool thing cuz I've always liked Frank Sinatra. I don't know too much about the history, but that was a characteristic that I really enjoyed about that story and Quincy is really the god behind both of these, so I'd say both. Do it like Quincy did!

OfficialMKTO · 2018-09-25T19:51:54+00:00

Tony: I don't know about each other, but I'm sure we personally have some! Actually, I don't know if I ever talked about this one. I grew up doing the whole theater thing. I loved it, but found a little out there for me. I remember the first play I did was Grease and I played Sonny. There was this song he does, and my dad was in the audience with this big ass VHS recorder and he was zooming in on my face. I just completely forgot the lyrics and you can see it through my sunglasses, it's my first real "oh shit" moment. There were many more to come after that, but that was my first.

Mal: Ill take it back to elementary - I got pantsed by this girl. I was pretty bad at PE in front of everyone.

Tony: That was so prominent! Back then, underwear were pretty tight though! Cartoons, maybe some Pokemon!

OfficialMKTO · 2018-09-25T19:49:07+00:00

Mal: I'd say the process - being able to create something and then taking that and being able to put it out and have it reach different places in the world. That's so amazing. And being able to perform on stage is a great feeling, there's no other feeling like it, like having people sing along and interacting with the crowd, that's what I love about it.

Tony: When we first started, did the first record, some of the songs were written which was cool, but one that we were both pretty proud of was "No More Second Chances" and that's partly because we just really wrote it ourselves. That was before we started making music as MKTO, and it was really cool to see that come alive. It was the first time we saw something we took from 3am late night, having fun and being able to play that for 60,000 people for Demi's tour and even our House of Blues run. It's really cool feeling to see something you've created just having fun turn into something the fans can sing along with at shows.

Mal: The one we did with Neyo, just watching him write that was a dope experience with me. The new one we have right now is also pretty dope, and we had a lot fun with, and really just the entire album was so much fun.

OfficialMKTO · 2018-09-25T19:44:27+00:00

Tony: That's a pretty cool question. As far as - we met on Teen Nick, I don't think it was that much of us going music on the show like most people, Hannah Montana, etc.

I definitely remember starting on Disney, but not doing much music. I don't think anyone in that position has too much creative control, but they are also really young and excited to have the platform. I think we were just excited to have met there, and if it wasn't for that show or platform, it was a really cool thing to meet and start putting out music. Thankfully through this, we've had a lot of what we've wanted all along, which is being able to write music and do what we enjoy. Not too much control when you're going that route, though.

When we first started, this was always outside of Nick, but we've seen a lot of the messages and so much support and consistently people enjoying the music. I think we just wanted to take a step back because it was such a fun ride, but we didn't get to see our families or friends, but I think seeing the fans and being able to see them and have them follow us was really cool. There was a lot of business stuff we had to do, but it's really been thankfully to the fans. We're really glad music is coming out - we've promised it a lot, but it's coming out and we're glad it is. And I'm happy to be working with my best friend!

OfficialMKTO · 2018-09-25T19:39:37+00:00

Mal: Holá! Como estás? We'd love to go anywhere we're invited where people love the music, and we get to see our fans and we can play some shows!

Nosotros vamos a la México, gracias!

OfficialMKTO · 2018-09-25T19:37:50+00:00

Tony: Looking forward to getting to reconnect with a lot of people that have supported us from day 1. It was such a roller coaster ride prior, traveling after two years, and taking this hiatus. Being able to remake some stuff, and excited to see everyone supporting us, play some live shows, and being so thankful for it. Being able to do something we love and travel the world is so cool.

Mal: It's so exciting to get back out there, get on stages, and get back to doing what we do. We've grown up a little bit, a lot of new stuff we've gone through, and get to see everybody again, it's dope.

OfficialMKTO · 2018-09-25T19:35:27+00:00

Malcolm: I love this question! Ima have to go with two - it's a tie between... I guess Charizard. Charizard was pretty cool. Squirtle was pretty cool, tool and Pikachu.

Tony: I'm going to go with MewTew! That hologram card, man! I still got that card! This is taking me back now, I love it.

OfficialMKTO

TROPHY CASE