Datewiththeknife Newsletter Interview

Datewiththeknife started life in 2011 in Feilding out in a back shed. Datewiththeknife were the musical side project of Daniel and James. In 2012 a full band was created with the addition of Mickey, JT and Neil.

2012 also saw the introduction of the 12 songs in 12 months demo sessions. the best of these demos were recorded in 2013 for the self recorded self released LP I Read A Book About A Mountain with the addition of musician’s Gauds, Phil, Annie, Dion and Mike (vvb). Datewiththeknife was born in 2013. Daniel answered the following questions for muzic.net.nz:

How would you describe datewiththeknife’s music in one sentence?

I can’t really describe the music, maybe If I mentioned a few of our influences, Explosions In The Sky, Mono, This Will Destroy You, Godspeed You Black Emperor, Fuck Buttons, mewithoutyou, My Bloody Valentine.

However the overall feeling of each track is so far from these influences as well. I guess we are a mongrel of postrock and shoegaze with a bit of 90s emo.

Someone who reviewed and interviewed us described us as “Friday Night Lights” I still don’t know what that means.

That’s not really one sentence is it.

How did you come up with the name datewiththeknife?

Long story short I was in Wellington Hospital getting my lung removed (true story) and that’s when James came up with the idea to record some demos I had been sitting on, so the idea was cemented to start a band whilst waiting for my datewiththeknife. The name is so lame now… but we’re stuck with it.

What is the most memorable show to date?

I am sure each member of this band (there are 10 of us… not all make gigs) will have a memorable show but I think the last one we did with Die!Die! Die! in Whanganui. Firstly the fact we got to play with one of NZ’s best live bands (recorded ok… but live they are sick) but we also got to play at one of NZ’s best live music venues Space Monster. Space Monster Jack who runs the joint is such a nice dude and the venue is super rad. Whanganui has such a cool supportive scene with rad people and such a sweet vibe it was choice. It was also the first time we had played together since 2012 which was a good 5 months since we all last stood on a stage together. We are based all over the place, Feilding, Bunnythorpe, Whanganui, Wellington, Lower Hutt, Kapiti that for us to all get together is a special thing and this gig on this night… it was just super rad.

What local albums have you been enjoying recently?

I can’t really answer for the others but in Palmerston North we have some pretty choice bands and the albums that I am still really enjoying listening to are:

Robin – Always Different http://robin.bandcamp.com/releases
Sweater – Sweater http://sweaterr.bandcamp.com/album/sweater
A Forest Fires, The Bamboo Shoots – Grooming Tips For The Upset http://aforestfiresthebambooshoots.bandcamp.com/
Castlecliff Lights – Castlecliff Lights http://castleclifflights.bandcamp.com/
Spook the Horses – Brighter http://spookthehorses.bandcamp.com/

All of these bands have influenced us hugely and they are local artists which is super.

What is datewiththeknife’s long term goal?

I guess we are most comfortable…or most uncomfortable depending on how you look at it…on the stage…we really love playing live… so our long term goal is to play more gigs. This year has been a bit slow for gigs due to family commitments (new baby girl) but we are just starting to book some shows for the end of this year. Actually the next gig is going up in September at Puppies in Wellington on the 19^th of September with our friends Gains and Swifts and Sparrows.

What sets you apart from other bands?

I was recently chatting to Callum from Spook The Horses, he’s a super nice dude that helped us with advice on gigs and gear and recording just good sound advice from someone in the know. He said the other day, “4 guitars! damn dude you’re the first band in NZ I know of to have upped us. People use to laugh at us having 3 guitars, we officially pass the torch” so what sets us apart…. hmmm… we are a band of 8 people… sometimes 10.