MKTO
Back Together For a Good Cause
By Emma Fox
The dynamic pop and hip-hop duo MKTO got their start in 2012, climbing the charts with tracks like “Classic,” and “Thank You.” Consisting of Tony Oller, and Malcolm Kelley, MKTO quickly became fan favorites, known for their infectious pop melodies and upbeat tracks. After over five years, pop and hip-hop duo MKTO is reuniting to take the stage for the Hold On Til Dawn Benefit Concert in Orlando, Florida on January 26th!
The Hold On Til Dawn Benefit is an event supporting the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention and is a blend of live music and mental health resources. We were lucky enough to get the chance to sit down with our old friends from MKTO, and talk about what the benefit means to them, mental health in the music industry, the excitement surrounding their return, and more!
It is so nice to meet you both! So, if you want to go ahead and introduce yourselves, tell us a little bit about who you are and what you do.
Tony Oller: Mal, you want to go, or you want me to go?
Malcolm Kelley: I'm Malcolm Kelly, MK and we're in the group formerly… well man this is kind of odd (laughs). This is the first time we've done one of these like this, but yeah with my boy Tony, how do you do this? This is going to be good. (Laughs again.)
Tony Oller: We haven't done this in years!
Malcolm Kelley: Yeah, we’re formerly in the group MKTO, but yeah that's me.
Tony Oller: Malcolm’s too modest.
Malcolm Kelley: I definitely didn't think this part through, the intro part, but this is funny.
Tony Oller: He's done a lot of things but I'm still the biggest fan of Lil Saint in You Got Served. I flipped bricks when I found out that was him. I was so grateful because I was like the one thing I hated about that movie was Lil Saint got popped. Not cool. So I'm glad, I'm glad you didn't get popped.
Malcolm Kelley: You’re not good at intros, either.
Tony Oller: I’m not good either! My name is Tony. I'm the other half of the group formerly known as MKTO. We were able to do something we both love for many years, performing music. We always say this, but we were best friends. We still are but it’s awesome to be able to do music with somebody you enjoy being with. Of course I don't think many of us would have been able to survive if we didn't love working with each other. But yeah, we just love to make music, I did the whole acting thing as well and had some fun with that but definitely you know one of my favorite blessings and accomplishments was getting to do the stuff that we did together. So that's half of me, I guess.
That's awesome! We’ve spoken to you guys before, we're happy to be back with you again!
Tony Oller: Yeah, you guys have always been great supporters to us, so thank you.
Of course, thank you! we're happy to have you. You guys are reuniting for the first time in over five years to play the Hold On Til Dawn benefit concert in just a few weeks. Tony, I know you've performed it before, but can you talk a little bit about the benefit and what it entails?
Malcolm Kelley: The benefit is for a great cause. I'm also going to be down there for another convention, a part of the thing as well, dealing with the loss stuff, so for that as well. Being able to do the show this time, to be able to be there, is cool! We get to link up. Like I said, it’s the first time in a long time, so you get to do something special for the fans a little bit, for people to come out and vibe. It's going to be dope. It's going to be cool.
Tony Oller: It’s so funny, I saw an article, this day and age you're seeing and reading, but it had to do with, this is about suicide prevention obviously, and just awareness as a whole. This person who, condolences to his family, ended up taking his own life in the middle of a park. Two cops showed up, decided we're not going to help the guy as he's hurting, and decided to leave. He ends up dying, but it was a suicide. He left a letter, and I just think it's only gotten worse. I know I've gone through that. I think everybody does throughout life. But as social media and everything is just... the more controversial, or hurtful, the good, the bad, and the ugly all get views. In this day and age that is what kids want. They want attention. They want the views. They want to be heard. It's now in my eyes just become this giant cluster of those kinds of needs, and it's a shame but I think these events, or awareness, or just talking about it is more prevalent and more needed now I feel like than even years ago. If that's the way it's headed, then it's only going to get worse. I've always really been down for this kind of stuff. This just came up out of the blue. It was an awesome thing to do. We always were very outspoken about that stuff. We just always try to keep it honest, and I think we do that. We get to make music, or we get to play music that we've done, and meet people and talk to people who want to come out. Just have a good time and just talk if you need to talk.
You guys are amazing for being a part of it! It’s a great cause.
Tony Oller: You're amazing for covering it! I'm serious, it's a team effort.
What has the fan reaction been like since the announcement of your reunion?
Malcolm Kelley: I mean, excited! I definitely see some people coming out. People saying they're traveling in. The songs still stream well. People are still tuned in. Obviously, we stepped away for whatever reasons, a lot of stuff going on. The opportunity came about. He's done it, and they were like “you guys want to do it?” I'm like, yeah, let's try it out! We also have some other things maybe going on, so this was a good first step to get back on that stage and see what's going on. It's definitely going to be cool, coming to Orlando, vibing about man.
Tony Oller: Seems like it's going to be – not giving anything away – it's going to be a fun year as far as getting to some stuff together. Not going to say what but definitely going to be doing some stuff together this year. It's very exciting.
I was going to say: is this a one-time reunion? Can fans expect any projects in the future, or are your lips sealed on that?
Tony Oller: You never know!
Malcolm Kelley: We’re going to take it a step at a time.
Tony Oller: You never know, we might go down under. Wink wink.
Tony, I know this is your second time performing the Hold On Til Dawn benefit. What does it mean to you to be a part of the benefit and what does it mean to have Malcolm alongside you this time?
Tony Oller: Oh man, I wish it would have worked out last time I did it. The last time was just a random last-minute thing. It was the only time I'd ever actually done songs, MKTO songs, and it is not fun without the other half of the entire thing. But again, it was for a cause, last minute, I was grateful that they asked me to be a part of it, but through that connection I'm even more grateful because now we're going to get to do one together which is way more fun. Yeah, these things I really appreciate, and like I said it should be open and talked about a lot.
That's great! The Hold On Til Dawn benefit includes a mix of live music and mental health resources. How do you feel music can play a role in starting conversations about mental health and creating that safe space?
Malcolm Kelley: Just bringing people together. Music always brings people together I
think first. When you can bring people together for a certain cause, that just gets people talking, awareness. We're going to take advantage of all of those things and have a good time at the same time.
Tony Oller: Yeah absolutely, I agree! What’s the point of music if it doesn't give you something? I mean, I don't think anybody just listens to it because they have to. You’re listening to it for something, right? We saw it, we still see it all the time, and it's heartwarming and it's awesome. We were kids really when this whole thing started, and we've both grown up. We're both way older and we I think the older we've gotten, the different perspectives anybody has in the world. It's hand in hand. I will say though if you're
listening to Country you're definitely listening about booze, or women, or love, or divorce, you know? (laughs) But no, with any music that's the one thing that's beautiful. Whatever your art is, it doesn't have to be music. Art is a very general term, so whatever you define as “art” and whatever you need to do to help yourself, or by doing something you love, help others, then that's the beautiful thing.
That’s awesome, I think that sense of community is huge in music and art in general like you said, so I love that. With the set that you're planning for the benefit concert, can fans expect any surprises during your performance? Any fresh takes on old hits? What's the
vibe that you're going for?
Malcolm Kelley: Yeah, we’re going to dive into it. We haven't even… we're in different places right now but definitely going to be a good time. Look forward to some good
vibes man.
Tony Oller: Yeah, we definitely won't be playing “Classic.” Absolutely not. We'll never play that again. No, I'm kidding, we absolutely will play that and the other songs, but this thing has brought it back together a bit, so you never know what's going to be in the future. But
yeah man just come out! Come out, hang out, and spread awareness.
There's a VIP experience that fans can purchase to meet you before the show, get some pictures. What are you most looking forward to about reconnecting with fans after such a long time, especially at an event like this?
Malcolm Kelley: Oh man, it's always a good time seeing people that support us. So yeah, we can't wait, definitely look forward to that. We're going to be out in Florida so
make sure you guys come out! It's going to be a good time.
Tony Oller: We've always been the kind of people that if you want to meet or if you don't have the money to meet and greet, wait outside we'll say hi. I don't care. Meet and greet is just part of the ability to actually help funds go towards the cause but that does not mean that if you can't get that you won't. I'd like to meet everybody and I'm sure Mal would too.
Malcolm Kelley: I’m going to be there all weekend, so I’ll be meeting a lot of people.
Tony Oller: Whoop! Raise the roof!
I'm sure fans are looking forward to it, that's awesome.
Tony Oller: We're looking forward to doing it and seeing everybody again. Definitely going to be nice to see some familiar faces and some new faces, possibly. Who knows?
With the focus on mental health, as artists how do you manage your own mental health while navigating what can be such an up and down heavy industry?
Malcolm Kelley: Definitely just got to know how to clear your mind, get your own space, do things that satisfy you. For me, that’s like making music, just chilling out, listening to music, vibing, a little bit of meditation. But whatever fits you! Just find that peace and comfort.
Tony Oller: Yeah, I think the best thing to do is you’ve got to be comfortable in your own shoes. You’ve got to figure out what place you need to be in mentally to be that. This world now with social media, it’s all out there, right? It's constantly out there, but how are you when you're not out there, right? I feel like that sounds stupid but it's hard. Everybody goes through it. I'm sure you go through it. I'm sure it's a battle every month, but I think like we already talked about, that dialogue is important. It's okay if you don't get a like, right? It's okay if you don't have 1000 followers. I mean all of this is so superficial. We're losing what humanity is about and the second we lose that, the second we've used up all the resources or whatever, or on Mars, that's only going to get worse. It's more or less how are we going to cope with it? How are you going to talk about it? How are you going to deal with it? Because you had to prepare, I guess.
100%. I think breaking past that surface level is super important especially right now and opening those conversations.
Tony Oller: Instagram’s total… sorry… BS. Anybody that's got a bunch of millions of followers, and you see in these photos of them, and it’s just so superficial, man. So
superficial. But what can you do? There's nothing we can do to change it. Definitely love, one person sees it and says hey okay I feel a little better about myself. Then hey, life well done.
Obviously, suicide prevention is an extremely important cause, how do you guys hope that your involvement in the benefit will help raise awareness and support the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention?
Malcolm Kelley: We can do what we can, just by being there, and meeting everybody. Like we said spreading awareness. So make sure everybody comes out! Come enjoy yourself, but it's going to be for a good cause.
Tony Oller: Yeah. I mean we haven't done anything in a minute. I'd say this is probably the one kind of cause that we’ll always be like, “Hell yeah! We’ll absolutely play a show for that.” It's a good opportunity. Even though years can go by, I still have faith that everything happens for a reason. [I’m] just hopeful for the world to get back to being nice to everybody. There’s a lot of anger. A lot of anger, a lot of wars, a lot of stuff going on in the world.
Yeah definitely, get back to being nice and get back to being real. How do you guys think events like the Hold On Til Dawn benefit inspire more conversations about mental health in the music industry and beyond?
Malcolm Kelley: I think that goes into everything we said. Especially within the music industry there's a lot of that, so it's a big conversation there. But events like these spread awareness. Anytime we can be a part of it or something like that, or something we're passionate in, we're always down to do it. Just got to keep spreading the word. Keep putting it in their faces like they're doing everything else.
Tony Oller: I agree. And it's okay to be insecure. I don't know why, that's a random pop
thought.
I’ve just got one last question for you guys, what message do you want to send to people struggling with mental health challenges? Fans, and people in general?
Malcolm Kelley: Oh man, keep fighting. Keep going. There's a lot of people going through the same things. Also with social media you can find a community out there that’s dealing with that, it's just how you use it. I think that's a big thing too. It's just like what you get on your algorithms, you kind of bring on yourself. Just make sure you filter that out. You can find some good things in that way, or wherever else you need to find help. You can definitely go get it. Whether that's music, or wherever else, just trying to find that outlet, that's the most important thing.
Tony Oller: Yeah, there's a lot of great places even in music. I think there's one foundation called MusiCares. I guess the one thing that always stuck with me throughout my life and with people I've met over the years has been the sentence “It's okay to not be okay.” It sounds very generic, but I think that's a pretty deep thought if you think about it. I think that stems from the whole insecurity, and thinking you have to be the person you follow on Instagram, who at 6:00 AM is waking up in Malibu on a beach, with a white horse getting a banana basket. I don't know, I'm just saying very over the top stuff. Just because you see that doesn't mean they're happy. Be you. It’s okay to not be okay. That's my answer.
Copyright ©2025. All rights reserved. Posted: January 15, 2025.
Photo © 2025. Courtesy of Hold On til Dawn. All rights reserved.
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