“Yes, or we wouldn’t still be going,” says the guitarist. “Humour and understanding get all of us through. We have so many shared moments in life, that is where our music comes from, partly.”
There’s a benign sense of possibility to the majority of Turin Brakes’ six studio albums, one that inspires with ease. As such, there’s very little cynicism not only in their approach, but in the manner in which Knight reflects on how him and Paridjanian got their start in the late ‘90s – he insists luck played a part in getting Turin Brakes up and running.
“We were really lucky with our timing,” he says. “Everyone around us seemed to be making electronic beat music in the late ‘90s in London. We could simply pick up some guitars and have a whole sound right there in front of people. And that got us noticed fast.”
Getting noticed may have happened relatively easy for the duo, but sticking with Turin Brakes is another matter altogether. Not only has the band made great efforts to tour with consistency, their focus when it comes to songwriting, is to remain innovative. The light-hearted nature of The Optimist, their Mercury Prize nominated debut LP, gives way to more thoughtful, complex tracks heard on Outbursts, their latest.
Knights doesn’t understate the importance of constantly working towards a new sound in the slightest. In the 14 years he’s been playing as Turin Brakes with Paridjanian, attempting to constantly move forward has been one of the givens within the band.
“If we didn’t make new music we would simply be a nostalgia band on the live circuit,” he notes. “That would never work for us, we can’t help but create new music,” he says before adding with a unabated sense of purpose, “I always feel like our best work is the next thing we’re going to do. It’s something we can’t seem to help; our new album is always a reaction to the one before it.”
So is Outbursts any indication of what the band’s next full-length will sound like? Knights, busy at work in the studio on their next album, doesn’t believe so.
“Outbursts was made with laptops across a whole year, at home and our little studio. The new album is currently being tracked to analogue tape in just two weeks at a wonderful old studio in the countryside with our live band. It’s a totally different approach for a totally different sound and feel. With this album we’re trying to bring back an acoustic rawness we had on our first album as well as the energy and groove of our live band,” he says.
Throughout their 14 years, Turin Brakes has developed a reputation of being a band whose music is easily shared; a language that their fans use to communicate with. Their albums have even consistently charted well on UK Charts, showing promise of commercial success. But Turin Brakes have always preferred to keep their aesthetic a genuine one, relying more on word of mouth support from their fans. (Though getting played on The Ricky Gervais Show didn’t hurt matters much.)
It’s fitting then, that when it comes to inspiration in their songwriting, Knights acknowledges those around him.
“The music of the human condition, our angle on the world,” he says of where the band finds their ideas for songs. “We never really tell stories, I think we’re more interested in atmosphere and the invisible. It’s more about feeling than understanding.”
How Turin Brakes relate those feelings to their crowds is often a source of contention, however. Originally born in London’s pubs, the nature of the band’s folk rock means it’s conducive to intimate venues. And on this upcoming Australian tour, the band will set up shop in some of the country’s more iconic smaller venues. Though when Turin Brakes do roll into larger venues, as they will at the Apollo Bay and Gum Ball festivals respectively, Knights insists not much will change.
“On big stages you just have to pronounce what you’re doing a little more,” says Knights. “But we just adapt, we’ve played so much it’s second nature by now.” You can’t help but believe Knights when he refers to the work he’s done with Turin Brakes as second nature. Turin Brakes have stayed grounded and focused in an industry which so often lacks said qualities. For Knights and Gale Paridjanian, staying honest with each other has always remained top priority. And it’s working.
“I couldn’t imagine it any other way,” he says. “I guess we can only be honest with each other. If we were dishonest the other one would know immediately.”
BY JOSHUA KLOKE
