They've already guessed the order they will go. Brian's probably dying first. Gregg's dying second, followed by Jake. Lena will certainly out live them all.

But for now, they have music on their minds—no time to think about dying.

Surrounded by egg-shell blue walls, record-strewn bookshelves and only steps away from the cushioned couches where their listeners sat, members of the band Tomten rocked the KSUB lounge on Friday. Their cool tones and subtle vocal harmonies wafted through the intimate crowd gathered to see them as the steady beats inspired many a foot to tap.

Finding their inspiration from The Kinks, The Beatles, Elliot Smith, Papercuts and Big Star, just to name a few, the organ-driven band came together a year ago at Cornish College of the Arts. Since then, they have worked hard and made a name for themselves.

After winning the 2011 Soundoff! Competition, they earned the opportunity to play at Bumbershoot.

"I was really skeptical about it because we were the first band, the first day and it was the first time they used this stage in the EMP so I had a bad feeling that nobody was going to go," said Gregg Belisle-Chi, Tomten's guitarist. "The backline didn't show up until minutes before the doors opened so we barely got a sound check, but then the crowd was actually pretty good."

After performing together for more than a year, and playing an average of two shows a month, the band's pre-show jitters are minimal, even in high-pressure situations.

But it hasn't always like that.

"I was a little bit nervous for our first show," said drummer Jake Brady. "The first show was a fifty-fifty chance it could go really badly."

More recently, the Soundoff! Competition had band members uneasy. Because it was a 21-and-under battle of the bands, 22-year-old Brady couldn't participate.

"The three of us had to rearrange the songs. We all switched off instruments," Belisle-Chi said.

"We had one song where we stopped in the middle of the song while we were still singing a cappella and changed all of our instruments and came back into it," said Brian Noyeswatkins, the group's organist and lead man.

Bassist and vocalist Lena Simon is comfortable on stage, but admits to having her own apprehensions.

"I'm never nervous about the show, I'm more nervous about the audience," she said.

Local audiences, however, have proven to be big fans.

In August, Tomten got the chance to test out its music internationally.

After receiving an email about a trip to play in Iceland, Noyeswatkins didn't believe what he saw.

"[I thought] This is a scam," he said. "I scrolled down and I saw that it had the stamp of the Seattle Office of Multicultural Affairs and I was like ‘This is real.'"

The eight-day, all-expenses-paid trip to Iceland has been the highlight of their band experience and most memorable show.

"Icelanders are so accommodating and everyone pitched in time and help," Belisle-Chi said. "Within two days we got three opening bands, the venue, and the place was packed when we played. It's just funny how fast things happened and we played, like, the best show we've ever played."

Tomten's writing process starts with Noyeswatkins.

"Brian just writes the skeleton and we put the flesh on it," Belisle-Chi said.

"I feel like there's other bands that kind of have a purpose behind their meaning or like some kind of message and we've never really talked about that," Noyeswatkins said.

They focus on music that is fun.

Supporters of Tomten will be pleased to hear that the band just finished recording its second album which will hopefully be released in July. Though they have the orders of their death predicted, the band members agree that, providing they all stay alive, they will stay together, at least for a while.

Colleen may be reached at cfontana@su-spectator.com