One Eskimo, stylized as One eskimO, is an English indie rock band formed in 2004 by lead singer Kristian Leontiou, sound designer Craigie Dodds and drummer/percussionist Adam Falkner. They are also an animated band that are fronted by four fictional unnamed characters, that are referred to as Eskimo, Penguin, Monkey, and Giraffe. These characters are present in media such as album artwork, music videos, online content, and sometimes appear in live shows. In 2010, the band's debut single, "Kandi", secured a 6-week No. 1 spot on the AAA charts and received the Song of the Year 2010 AAA Music Award. This opened doors to perform on such shows as The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, Jimmy Kimmel Live! and multiple appearances on The Ellen DeGeneres Show, who even called the band back for Ellen's special birthday show in January 2011. After signing to U.S. label Shangri-La Records, the band loaded into a van touring in the United States and appearing at Coachella and Mile High Festival, and supported the likes of Tricky, Faithless, Tori Amos, Gomez and Michael Franti & Spearhead. In 2008, Leontiou teamed up with an animation team, Gravy Media, to produce an animated video for the band's song, "Hometime", which went on to win the British Animation Award in 2008. This video took the band to the United States to secure a partnership with Warner Premiere and together developed a 10-part animated movie "All Balloons" for which One Eskimo delivered the story, music, character design and sound-design. Their second album, Faster Than Turtles, was originally slated for a 2012 release, but the album was delayed for several years. As of 2016, a digital download of the album is available from the band's website.
Appearances
The group's songs have appeared on commercials for Discovery Channel and Toyota, as well as Warehouse 13, Bones and the film Chalet Girl. One Eskimo were also featured on the track "Hope & Glory" on the Faithless album To All New Arrivals.
The band's eponymous debut album was released on 22 September 2009.
Trivia
'The Adventures of One Eskimo' is an animated series set to the band's debut album. Originally, Kristian worked with Nathan Erasmus and his team at Gravy Media to independently produce Hometime and Kandi. After working on a series treatment together they collaborated with Passion Pictures to make the series.
The debut self-titled album was originally to be called All Balloons.
EPs
One Eskimo EP
"One eskimO Live EP"
"Radio Woodstock Music Presents One Eskimo "
Future
On 8 December 2011, the band released their song, "Sunny Day," as a free download off of their website to members on their e-mail list. The band also stated that the release of a new album and tour would be occurring in 2012. The album has been delayed and is now supposed to come out in August 2014 and will be called "Faster Than Turtles".
