PLACE OF BIRTH: Stewarton

DATE OF BIRTH: 16/8/71

PERSONAL MOTTO: It begins with you.

STYLE OF MUSIC (IN FIVE WORDS): Dark epic electronic pop music.

DESCRIBE YOURSELF (IN FIVE WORDS): Sporty, Ginger, Scary, Posh, Baby.

 

Union of Knives are a perfect balance of youth and experience, brutality and compassion, dirt and clinical cleanliness. On stage Craig Grant and Chris Gordon play dual frontman roles, supported, like a seesaw on an axis, by Dave McClean. The music they make is steely hard, yet cut through with raw, emotive longing and power. Chris and Dave are from Glasgow, and Craig is from Aberdeen though he’s now an “adopted Glaswegian.” Chris and Dave met in Glasgow’s Nice and Sleazy. Dave was a soundman there, Chris ended up working behind the bar when he wasn’t singing on Dave’s tracks or producing demos of local bands. The pair eventually set up their own studio where they recorded bands and did remixes for Craig Armstrong, Snow Patrol and others. Then, one night, back in N&S, they met Craig. Craig had moved to Glasgow and was writing songs in his bedroom. He had been singing at a local acoustic night and was recording with his band, Close to the Ground. When Chris came to produce demos for the band, things changed. Quickly. Chris and Dave’s band, now called Union of Knives, were static. “The tracks were great but we were unsure what to do with them,” says Chris. “There were songs that didn’t have lyrics or melodies, but Craig would come and improvise this amazing stuff over them.” Gigs started happening, new recordings were planned and in the summer of 2004, Craig became a full time member. Union of Knives share the same mix of light and shadow to their music characteristic of other bands found on similar northern hemisphere lines of latitude, such as Sigur Ros and Arcade Fire, probably a consequence of those long nights and short days. Their intricate melodies and harmonies part combine and part collide with an array of serrated sonics and darker overtones. The result is an intense yet pleasurable experience that really breaks the mould.

Questions answered by Chris

 

Have the masseur rub my aching limbs til I am revived enough to flop into the limo on my way to the five star hotel for a late supper of nearly extinct species and Buckfast Tonic Wine

Those occasional moments when I slide from the illusion to the void and come back with a small trace of the truth that burns inside me til the next time.

Lately I love Sigur Ros, Arcade Fire and Bruce Springsteen.

Union of Knives make music with a computer or two and whatever else is lying around. We twist and torment natural sounds til they fit our needs then sing our gospel over the top. It took a while for us to come by what we thought of as our sound but we knew we could find it eventually and when we did we were like, “fuck yes”.

To do something even better than we did before and expand simultaneously in all directions that suit our needs or sing to our souls.

I know a ton of talented people in Glasgow that I have the pleasure of working with. It regularly blows me away.

Heard a Filthy Dukes remix of I know not what and it had that “fuck yes” effect on me.

I think we all want to have a rethink about success and just how we might re-frame it so that it will no longer bring the planet to the brink of rejecting us.

Two frozen chicken breasts were the last thing to properly rile me. Oh and when that Ampeg bass cab landed on my finger and broke it I was a bit miffed too.

Two Sigur Ros albums, I can’t believe I just let them into my life last year but then again I do spend a lot of time with my head in the sand/up my own arse (delete as appropriate).

‘Hallelujah’

A footballer of course! Oh, how my friends and team mates will howl with laughter but I was only talking about carving out a reclusive career in the Highland Leagues.

 ‘I DECLINE’ - THE EP IS AVAILABLE THROUGH RELENTLESS ON MAY 1. THE DEBUT ALBUM BY UNION OF KNIVES IS DUE FOR RELEASE IN JULY.