Humor, scariness, funkiness, harmony
a picture of Knower with Genevieve Artadi
Image Credits: Knower © Richard Thompson
October 9, 2017
Louis Cole and Genevieve Artadi are KNOWER, the Los Angeles duo who, from the 2010 album of the same name up to their 2016 album Life, mixes funk, electronic and jazz to create an explosive mixture of grooves, powerful melodies and videos that strike ears and eyes. We interviewed the singer Genevieve in the middle of their full band world tour.
> Ivano Rossato
Both of you had a jazz education. If there are some, which jazz elements are now present in your approach to music?
We try to bring fire to the groove that a lot of jazz music has. We also use a lot of chord extensions, and think of the relationship between the vocal melody and the instrumental parts as intertwined, not like the instrumental is just a backdrop for the singer to show off over. We also try to make each moment interesting as it goes by in subtle ways rather than give cut-and-pasted repeat blasts.
We try to bring fire to the groove that a lot of jazz music has. We also use a lot of chord extensions, and think of the relationship between the vocal melody and the instrumental parts as intertwined, not like the instrumental is just a backdrop for the singer to show off over. We also try to make each moment interesting as it goes by in subtle ways rather than give cut-and-pasted repeat blasts.
You have always made great use of YouTube and videoclips building over time a large number of followers. Nowadays, in the “internet era”, can music still exist without images and video?
Probably, but the videos have been essential to our career.
Probably, but the videos have been essential to our career.
Your music, lyrics and visual ideas often have a great energy in hitting the audience; is it only entertainment or the artist has some kind of “role”?
We put a lot of care into every aspect of the music, and even though we aren’t visual artists, we try to make the animations and videos match the vibe. We are expressing the things we think about and talk about; how we experience the physical world, our internal worlds, and the internet world, and put them into the music in a way that is entertaining and satisfying for us. I like to think we are painting a complete picture of what we feel with our overall output, and hope it will reach people…this picture includes humor, scariness, funkiness, obvious harmony, not obvious harmony.
We put a lot of care into every aspect of the music, and even though we aren’t visual artists, we try to make the animations and videos match the vibe. We are expressing the things we think about and talk about; how we experience the physical world, our internal worlds, and the internet world, and put them into the music in a way that is entertaining and satisfying for us. I like to think we are painting a complete picture of what we feel with our overall output, and hope it will reach people…this picture includes humor, scariness, funkiness, obvious harmony, not obvious harmony.
What is your approach in composing and arranging new music?
Over the years we’ve taken different approaches, most recently we’ll talk about the vibe we want to bring, then Louis builds many, many instrumental sections for several songs, then we work together on melodies and lyrics. A lot of drafts, a lot of different ideas have made it into our songs, especially on Life.
Over the years we’ve taken different approaches, most recently we’ll talk about the vibe we want to bring, then Louis builds many, many instrumental sections for several songs, then we work together on melodies and lyrics. A lot of drafts, a lot of different ideas have made it into our songs, especially on Life.
In what direction is your music evolving? What are your next projects? With which artist would you like to collaborate in the future?
We are both working on solo albums. I am also proud to be on the new upcoming Mike Richardson Fame Cult album. We will soon start working on a new KNOWER album, and I think it will be crazy since our lives have been nice and crazy over the past couple of years. I would love to collaborate with Ryan Power. I would also love to be musically involved with David Lynch somehow.
We are both working on solo albums. I am also proud to be on the new upcoming Mike Richardson Fame Cult album. We will soon start working on a new KNOWER album, and I think it will be crazy since our lives have been nice and crazy over the past couple of years. I would love to collaborate with Ryan Power. I would also love to be musically involved with David Lynch somehow.
Your influences seem to be 360°, what’s in your playlist in this very moment?
Henry James Halliwell – Some demos from August 2017; String Boys – Beauty and Good Times; Ryan Power – “Empty the Jewels”; Bernice – Puff EP.
Henry James Halliwell – Some demos from August 2017; String Boys – Beauty and Good Times; Ryan Power – “Empty the Jewels”; Bernice – Puff EP.
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Reservados todos los derechos – All rights reserved – 版權所有 – 版权所有; Humor, scariness, funkiness, harmony a picture of Knower with Genevieve Artadi copyright Jazzespresso 2017.
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Jazzespresso is a jazz magazine, but also a website, a network, a hub wishing to connect the different souls of the jazz world: American, European, Asian, Australian and African. A multicultural reference point in English, Chinese and Spanish language for the lovers of this music in every Country, who want to be updated about what is happening all around the world… Stay tuned.
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JazzEspresso 不只是一个爵士乐杂誌，也是一个能将拥有各种不同精髓的世界爵士乐，包括美洲、欧洲、亚洲、澳洲及非洲各地，互相连结起来的网站及交流站。以中文及英文写成的内容将是一个新的多元文化交流的参考点，为各地的爵士音乐爱好者提供来自全世界最新的消息。请持续关注！
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ABOUT US / 關於我們 / 关于我们 / NOSOTROS
Jazzespresso es una revista de jazz y también un sitio web, una red, un centro que desea conectar las diferentes almas del mundo del jazz: americano, europeo, asiático, australiano y africano. Un punto de referencia multicultural en lengua inglesa, china y en castellano para los amantes de esta música en todos los países que quieren estar al tanto de lo que está ocurriendo en todo el mundo. Manténganse informados!
Jazzespresso is a jazz magazine, but also a website, a network, a hub wishing to connect the different souls of the jazz world: American, European, Asian, Australian and African. A multicultural reference point in English, Chinese and Spanish language for the lovers of this music in every Country, who want to be updated about what is happening all around the world… Stay tuned.
Jazzespresso 不只是一個爵士樂雜誌，也是一個能將擁有各種不同精髓的世界爵士樂，包括美洲、歐洲、亞洲、澳洲及非洲各地，互相連結起來的網站及交流站。以中文及英文寫成的內容將是一個新的多元文化交流的參考點，為各地的爵士音樂愛好者提供來自全世界最新的消息。請持續關注！
JazzEspresso 不只是一个爵士乐杂誌，也是一个能将拥有各种不同精髓的世界爵士乐，包括美洲、欧洲、亚洲、澳洲及非洲各地，互相连结起来的网站及交流站。以中文及英文写成的内容将是一个新的多元文化交流的参考点，为各地的爵士音乐爱好者提供来自全世界最新的消息。请持续关注！
Info: info@jazzespresso.com; Advertising / 廣告 / 广告 / Publicidad: adv@jazzespresso.com.
