AIDAN KNIGHT
INTERVIEW BY JUSTIN TYLER CLOSE
PHOTOGRAPHY BY KANDLE OSBORNE
Organic and simple by nature, acoustic singer-songwriters do not always create the lasting impression of other genres’ musicians. And then there’s the enchanting Aidan Knight. His debut album, Versicolour, is intensely vivid and very memorable. It’s a journey akin to skimming your hand through a lake, the water thick and dark like oil; bicycling through the suburban summer; lying amongst the barley next to a prairie highway. Versicolour is somewhat nostalgic of a summer in our younger years, however Aidan himself is timeless. He is to 2010, what Nick Drake was to 2005, not necessarily because he sounds like him, but because he encapsulates all the intimate innocence of a true enigmatic and innocent creator. With his smooth voice these songs could be covers of old standards that stood the test of decades. “Jasper” could easily be an old Guy Clark song made famous by Emmylou Harris and sung by countless hillbilly visionaries crossing paths with Johnny Cash. He also loves cereal. He said this much.
JUSTIN TYLER CLOSE—So, you’re Aidan Knight! Where did you come from and how did you get into playing music?
AIDAN KNIGHT—In the least funny way possible, I came from my parents in 1986. I was a huge baby and still am – I was ten pounds fourteen ounces and now I’m a little over six feet tall. I grew up in Victoria, BC and did my time in school band and church choirs, but I didn’t really start pursuing ‘Aidan Knight’ as a solo musician until last November. I’ve been writing so-so love songs since I was fifteen, and just released my first record this year. Life seems really good right now.
JTC—Your album Versicolour is fantastic! What inspired it? A girlfriend? A place you traveled to?
AK—I’m not conceptual enough to create a real theme for the album, at least not on the spot. It’s just about my life: girls, family, past, present, responsibility, not owning a car. You name it: I tried to write about it. When I came to Jon [Record producer, Jonathan Anderson] with the skeletons of the songs in 2008, he listened to me play through a verse and a chorus of each and then asked me, “Where do you want this to go?” I probably didn’t know exactly what I wanted at the time. As I heard a harmony or a certain texture, I started piecing together things I liked. By the time [Toronto’s seven-piece orchestral collective] The O’Darling became involved in summer 2009, Jon and I had laid out some pretty good sonic beds and they just took everything to another place; a better place. I feel like I’m in love with the album because it has so many of my friends on it. It’d feel pretty selfish to love your own album, right?
JTC—For me to get hooked on a certain album, or a certain musician, I have to really believe in the lyrics or in the story they’re telling me. How important are lyrics to your music, and especially performing them to a live audience?
AK—I’m not a performer, and it’s really too bad, because I really love live music. I love discovering bands through a live show and I am blown away when people discover me through word of mouth. Maybe everyone enjoys all that nervous energy on stage? Anyways, I really look up to poised, ethereal women on stage. Until I can pull off Erykah Badu, I’m just another indie singer-songwriter. I’d love to dance a little more on stage. Lyrics, for me, are best under a haze of questions. I’m a gigantic Jeff Tweedy guy, and I’m sure that most of my lyrical associations of his lyrics are completely different than his. Imagine if everyone knew what Nick Drake was talking about? Or Del? I’d like to even be at the bottom of that list of Great Ambiguous Lyricists.
