Who are you and what do you do:
My name is Aidan Knight. I’m a performer of songs, a lover of cereals, and an owner of cat. Just one cat. I’m guessing that I’m here to talk music, though.
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Why do you do what you do:
I’m not the world’s smartest dude, but I’m certainly not the dumbest; An answer could be “I don’t know what else I would do” or “Why give up now?” Music has always moved me in different ways. Whether it’s keeping me in a van for a month, recording with friends, or just listening to someone amazing play their songs.. There’s an eerie force that continually motivates me to keep doing it.
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Current obsessions:
Slow cooking. X-Y Pads. How to keep Que Pasa Chips as fresh as possible, as long as possible.
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Story told to you when you were a child that you will never forget:
Stone Soup Fable. I’m not sure if it’s because we were broke when I was young, but I remember thinking that it probably would’ve been good, as is.
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Song you wish you wrote:
I wish I could’ve written too many songs, but I’ll narrow it down to “Nighttime Anytime (It’s Alright)” by Constantines (my Canadian pick) and I get all jelly-legged when the horns come in on Percy Sledge’s “When A Man Loves A Woman”. Maybe one of the most powerful moments in recorded music for me. It’s a ballad, but it’s cold.
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Most played track on your itunes:
Bee Gee’s “More Than A Woman” at 27 plays. My cat pushed my computer off the desk during a tour, so I’ve been rebuilding the play counts. I think it used to be “Pot Kettle Black” or “This Is The Night And What It Does To You” or some other introspective jam. I like the Bee Gee’s, though; I have dance moves sometimes.
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Most cherished musical object:
Probably my first guitar. I still tour with it. Terrified that I will break it. It’s a Guild Freshman from late 1959. I actually mustered up the courage to go and introduce myself to Bry Webb from the Constantines, and in the process started saying “Do you want to see my guitar?” before I could stop myself. This was in Winnipeg in the middle of winter, so he wasn’t going anywhere. I think he said “Sure” and then his eyes got all sparkley when I brought it over. I’m not a fanboy, but it was cool to talk about our mutual love of Guild guitars. He’s a really nice guy too.
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Go-to album on a rainy day:
Yankee Hotel Foxtrot by Wilco if I’m ready to embrace the day for what it is, or Bruce Peninsula if I want to walk somewhere with a great stride. I love A Mountain Is A Mouth during any kind of weather.
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Proudest moment:
I could cop out and say that meeting Bry was my proudest moment, but I’m not sure if I was proud or embarrassed at the time. When my Nana heard me on Q, that was a proud moment for me. I still have to explain to her every year why I’m not in the running for the Polaris though. I don’t know many grandmothers who know what the Polaris Music Prize is. She’s the best!
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Most vulnerable moment:
Well. Hunh. I guess when my lung collapsed. I was 20 years old and in the hospital for a weekend, I had a bunch of friends coming by and it’s great. It’s great having your friends show up and show you that they care about you. It’s also weird because you’re ashamed to be stuck in this bed and there’s a tube in your chest. I just remember feeling bad that I couldn’t talk to people in actual conversations, like people had this subtext that I wasn’t well and I needed to rest or that something was wrong with me. That’s a pretty selfish thing to say, but that’s more or less what it felt like.
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Are you most influenced by your surroundings or your inner monologue:
I think it’s changed for me, or it’s always changing? I’m in the middle of writing a new record with the rest of the guys (Julia, Olivier, Colin and Dave) and I’ve been feeling the wall recently. I’m finding myself wanting to constantly write about not knowing what to constantly write about. Or about forgetting time and dead people. Usually it’s all wrapped up in sardonic, slow images but I think it’s all supposed to come out feeling like my surrounding life. At the same time, my life isn’t sad. My life feels privileged and I love what I’m doing. I wonder if all songwriters struggle with writing about themselves when they feel elated and have a pretty good life? Sometimes the songs aren’t about me though; It’s always exciting to write about someone else, or as someone else. For someone who really gets taxed emotionally by songwriting, I sure like it.
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Favourite venue to play in and why:
The Vogue in Vancouver. I’ve just seen so many great shows. The sound is incredible. I played before Patrick Watson, and went and listened to his set from the audience. Incredible sound. Maybe the best I’ve ever heard. We did the whole band there last time and it’s just such a great place to go and listen to music, to see music. If not there, probably at Sylvia’s place in Vernon. Either the opera house or someone’s house.
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Dream venue to play in and why:
I am still jealous that Mangan is doing The Orpheum on this tour. Jealous and incredibly proud. I never wanted to be the guy who said “I remember when” but I do remember when Dan played at The Media Club, when he played at Steamer’s in Victoria. For me, I’m a Victoria dude so my version of the Orpheum is The Royal. I’ll have to work my whole life, but I’ll play there someday. I guess Massey Hall would be okay too.
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Top album released this year:
Most played? Tie between Land Of Talk’s “Cloak And Cipher” and Dawes’ “Nothing Is Wrong” but I think I’ve been most affected by Colin Stetson’s “New History Warfare Vol. 2: Judges” and I’d like to give a special nod to Women’s “Public Strain” for being the soundtrack to my working nights. That’s not really choosing one. I think “New History” is just so off-putting, it’s uncomfortable and visceral and cinematic and a technical masterpiece. I love music and ideas that transcend what you thought was possible before you heard them or saw them done. Solo saxophone, with circular breathing, and singing countermelody. Recorded live. I’m not a music historian, but I would compare it to Coltrane’s Love Supreme or Godspeed’s F#. There’s melody and there’s atonality almost equally. I put it on for doing dishes, but I also just sit with it in my headphones.
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First band t-shirt you ever purchased from a merch table:
Great question. It’s taking me 20 minutes to think what it was. I bought a lot of local band’s shirts when I was younger, but the first piece of merch I ever owned was a Rush jacket. Presto tour. I think it was 3rd grade and it had a rabbit on it. I still have the photo of my mom and my Nana with the boys backstage. Neil is looking back, just dreading the photo. Geddy was still in his Fraggle Rock-phase.
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Band you’d leave your bandmates for:
Brian Blade. We still don’t have a drummer.
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Album you wish your parents exposed you to in the womb:
Music From The Big Pink by The Band. I’m pretty sure they did. It was probably Tori Amos and The Band, back and forth.
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Album you want to expose your kin to whilst in the womb:
The Band by The Band. My kid is going to hear “King Harvest” and hopefully picks up some rhythm from Levon. Or maybe a mustache from Danko.
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Last record you purchased:
I finally bought Dawes’ “Nothing Is Wrong” from Ditch Records, but really wanted to grab the boxset for Miguel Atwood-Ferguson’s “Suit For Ma Dukes” That’ll be the next big purchase.
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If for some reason you lost the ability to make and play music, what would fill that gap:
Cooking school. I will master confit.
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