SHREDnews

Check Out: Will Knox

By: Jonny Drybanski

Opening acts can be somewhat of a wildcard in the overall experience of dedicated concert goers that flood small clubs and theater venues nightly in bustling cities. Often they are a chore to get through, a kind of musical Great Wall Of China standing between you and the experience you originally sought. This was certainly not the case for those who were treated to an opening set by soulful British indie/folk singer Will Knox at Berkley’s Cafe 939 in Boston, MA last Friday September 11^th.

Knox, hailing from the town of Hammersmith in West London, unassumingly took the stage, alongside his bandmates for the evening, violinist Clayton Mathews and Chris Anderson on double bass, and humbly addressed the crowd. The audience, a calm collection of college aged music appreciators, were sprawled out on the long red couch lining the wall and sitting cross-legged on the floor. All were respectfully in tune with the performance from the start, a luxury many opening acts are not afforded in larger, less intimate settings.

The trio launched into their gingerly bouncing and heart wrenchingly earnest brand of folk tinged songs. Knox’s singing was articulate and well enunciated, allowing the lyrics to resonate with the audience. The music itself meandered beneath the vocalist in a similar vein, not letting any notes go unnoticed, getting the attention they deserved so as to fully serve the overall aesthetic of the songs. I found the inclusion of violin and double bass as a perfect accompaniment, enhancing the songs with a pleasing dynamic and harmonic depth.

The set list included cuts from the previously released Buckled Knees EP, released November 2008, as well as previews of the upcoming LP The Matador And The Acrobat due out sometime this fall. One track I recall that presumably will be on that release, was the aptly titled “Belly Of The Beast”, an interesting track which seemed to chronicle Knox’s love hate relationship with famously hectic New York City, upon first moving there. Other songs appearing on Buckled Knees feature eloquently and contemplatively written accounts of past experiences, love, and finding one’s way in life. The songs all seem to do a fine job of matching the musical tone and atmosphere with the subject matter they deal with. The musical phrases sound equally as optimistic, dramatic, meditative, passionate and insightful as the words sung over them. Overall, my experience with Will, Clayton and Chris at Cafe 939 was a sublime blend of intriguing new music, and relaxing atmosphere to combine for one of the most enjoyably unexpected pre-show acts I’ve ever seen.

I caught up with Mr. Knox a few days after the cafe 939 show to ask him a few questions about his background and what we can expect for the future:

SHRED:  How long have you been playing music /what is your background in terms of why you started and how you learned?

I picked up the clarinet when I was 7. I think nearly every 7 year old plays either a recorder or a clarinet when they’re 7. I played in school orchestras and sang in choirs, but when I turned 13 I realized guitar was ‘way cooler’ and throughout high school I sang and played in a couple of bands. I owe a lot to my music teachers in high school, they were all extremely supportive of the bands we did, and one of them encouraged me to check out a music school in Boston.. which is how I ended up in the States. I brought my clarinet with me..

SHRED: What sort of instrumental arrangements can we expect to hear on The Matador And The Acrobat? Similar to the show? More varied? More simplistic?

The Matador & The Acrobat is vocals, acoustic guitar, upright bass, drums, violin and banjo. It stays pretty consistent in terms of instrumentation, but the record really experiments with dynamics. All the vocals and instruments were recorded at the same time (as opposed to a lot of overdubbing), in the hope that those dynamics would come out.

SHRED: Any plans to return to Boston?

Yes! We’ll be releasing The Matador & The Acrobat this November and will definitely be bringing the full band up to Boston. If you want updates on tour dates we have a mailing list at www.will-knox.com, where you get a free copy of our old EP Buckled Knees just for signing up.

SHRED:Who produced Buckled Knees?

Interesting question! It was a bit of a co-production between myself and Ted Paduck, an incredible engineer at Mix One Studios in Boston. The band are great at coming up with parts, and we’d been playing shows all summer, so by the time we went to record, it was more-or-less a case of just getting it on tape. Ted had some great ideas that helped enhance the sound and Hun Min Park did an awesome job on the mixing too.

Visit  www.will-knox.com for more info on touring, some streaming media, and be sure to join the mailing list for your free copy of the Buckled Knees EP.

Also visit Will’s Myspace page at http://www.myspace.com/willknoxmusic

Look out for a Shred News review of The Matador & The Acrobat sometime around its November 2009 release.