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It’s like the plot of a coming-of-age movie, isn’t it? As the credits start to roll, we are introduced to six of Bristol’s most tenacious young musicians, who are thrown together to turn their frustration into sonic friction. Creating a bombastic collective hellbent on pushing the boundaries of sound, their resentment of the world and its soul-crushing inequalities becomes a reason to riot. In the three years since founding members Erin Cook and Jay Schottlander created the unbottled chaos that would eventually become KNIVES, the band had managed to headline their dream local venue, Thekla, a converted German cargo ship moored in the city’s harbour.
“It’s all been building up to this,” explains guitarist Dan Farren with a smile. “The amount of work we had put into it has all gone into that show, and I’m so happy with how it turned out.”
“It didn’t matter how tired I was. I had slept for three and a half hours the night before. Sleep didn’t matter because the room was so jam-packed. It was ridiculous,” bassist Ben Marshall continues. About an hour and a half before the show, full of nerves and pacing around the venue, he had found out that the venue had sold out, leaving him asking: “This is so bizarre. How are we in this position?”
The release of their debut album GLITTER earlier this year throws together a genre-defying concoction of post-punk, noiserock and jazz into a cathartic release of sound. Schottlander‘s deep-set vocals ground their sound with the reality of Islamophobia, toxic practices in the music industry and social inequality. Throwing together the brutality of IDLES with the intense rhythm of RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE and the groove of MADNESS has truly made KNIVES sound truly unique. The result is a sound that both the Glasto dads and the youth of today would be all over in a heartbeat.
Within the record is a potent collection of singles that truly pack a punch. Whilst the abrasive clamour of Rhinestone Cowboy harks back to their early punk roots, tracks like Eat Thy Neighbour truly allowed the band to experiment in the studio, recording percussion by hitting canisters as hard as possible in a similar vein to the mania of SLIPKNOT’s Clown in Duality, The atmospheric closer I See Them Fall, one of Ben’s favourite tracks, smushes fast bass melodies with sensual saxophone.
The Dagger, their standout single from the record, capitalises on the increasingly real threat of the far right after the damaging riots in the UK late last year. In a live context, one of the most admirable things about the band is offering a safe space for marginalised voices, offering a manifesto of inclusivity to anyone who wants to take them on at their shows.
As Dan explains, “I just think it’s a really powerful song with a really powerful meaning, and I think that’s really important. It’s like the song that we first dropped for the album, and it’s kind of like the song that I think about the most when I think about this album.”
Erin, Jay, Ben and Dan, alongside guitarist Josh Cook and saxophonist Izzi Allard, all met whilst studying at university. Whilst Ben and Dan barely knew each other during their studies, let alone find themselves in the later iterations of the band, they’ve now grown to become the best of friends. Dan says, “I think the band is just full of like personalities. We don’t clash like ever. I feel like we just all bounce off each other’s personalities, and I think that’s why it works well.”
“Trying to get all of us in one place is the most ridiculous task. Like, you go to sound check and it was like, ‘right. Where’s everyone else? Someone’s on the toilet. Someone’s outside smoking. Jay‘s gonna come to do his vocals, and the sound guys are getting angry. Where is everyone?’” Ben adds, with a grin.
Both Ben and Dan agree that chaotic is the best word to describe the band. It is the glue that binds their infectious energy into everything they create, even if at times, the result can be messy and sticky. KNIVES work best in a sweaty venue, a rage room of pent-up emotions, where only during their set can they let loose.
As the band conquered their first headline European tour earlier this year, their shenanigans have only grown in size. Ben recalls heading to Paris in his dad’s minivan, “that was one of the most intense days. We were in France for 24 hours, maybe even 48. Me and Josh were booking flights back in the green room of the show. We were not doing that drive home.”
KNIVES’ summer is set to tour the festival circuit in Europe, as well as touring Germany with shoegaze giants SUPERBLOOM. In the UK, they’ll meet the Burn It Down and No Play crowds, offering an entirely new dimension to the heavy-centric lineups.
Always ready to take on whatever is next for KNIVES, members of the band almost live a double life, balancing school and work alongside travelling the world with their closest friends, who are just as strong on the road as they are back at home.
GLITTER is out now via Marshall Records. View this interview, alongside dozens of other killer bands, in glorious print magazine fashion in DS122 here:
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