Interview by Arye Dworken
Consisting of Karin Dreijer Andersson and her brother Olof Dreijer, the Knife creates cold and dark music infusing icy electronics, or “computer music”, with peculiar instrumentation (i.e., Jamaican steel drums on “You Take My Breath Away”). They’re a distinctive pop band introducing familiarity to the unpredictable. Karin’s jarring vocals sound urgent, cooing and vengeful; a cross between Björk’s dramatic range and ABBA’s deceiving innocence. After two criminally ignored records (neither Deep Cuts nor their self-titled debut album were released domestically), the Knife is finally getting widespread attention, albeit in a backhanded way. Fellow Swede José González recently recorded an acoustic cover of their single “Heartbeats” for a heavily-circulated television commercial featuring 60,000 rubber bouncing balls. The calmly seductive 60-second clip was posted on various popular music blogs, bringing long-due attention back to the song’s source.
And just in time.
The duo’s just-released third album Silent Shout is another melodramatic and shadowy warped pop pleasure reinforcing the Knife’s jagged edge. More concentrated than previous releases (Deep Cuts had 17 tracks, while Silent Shout only has 11), it may be the record that finally hits at the apathy of American listeners.
Whose decision was it to start the Knife? Or rather, who takes all the credit for it?
We just wanted to try out a few song ideas I had; we didn’t plan to start a band. After a while we noticed we were continuing making music. Maybe that’s when we became a band.
What was the Knife’s first recording session like? Was it awkward being in a band with someone who could tell on you to your parents if you did something wrong?
Recording, writing and making music are the same for us, as we work in the computer all the time. I don’t think our parents have any idea about what’s right or wrong in our music.
How did the José González cover of “Heartbeat” come about? Where you excited when you heard the cover? And what were your feelings about the song being used in a commercial?
He did the cover without telling us and when we heard it we were amazed; it’s beautiful. Mixed feelings about having it in a commercial, but it’s his performance, and that makes it possible for us.
As a brother and sister duo, do the two of you always get along? And do you resent the White Stripes for pretending to be brother and sister when clearly they’re not?
We have discussions and sometimes we work with each other too much, but we have similar ideas about what kind of music we want to make together. I don’t have anything to say about the White Stripes. It seems the media liked the story, though.
How do you collaborate when it comes to the songwriting? Who writes what and how? What are your respective inspirations?
We work a lot together in the studio. Sometimes I start a song and sometimes Olof does. We try to take part of all different levels in the song making. But I do the lyrics and Olof’s more into drum programming.
“What Else Is There?” is one of the best songs of 2005-how did that collaboration with Royksopp come about [from Royksopp's The Understanding]?
They simply asked me to do lyrics and to sing them. I guess they liked what we had done before.
The Knife seems very press-shy; you don’t enjoy taking photos. Could it be because you are on the run from the authorities and do not want to be identified?
We do a lot of interviews, but we don’t think what we look like has anything to do with the music. When we have to take pictures we choose to look like the music instead, dressing up in a way we think the music looks like.
Your press release describes the Knife as “precise, particular, dark, occult, funny-peculiar, funny-ha-ha.”
Someone else wrote that. We are completely humorless.
Speaking of which: why doesn’t the Knife perform live?
We are, once a decade.
What qualifications are necessary for a producer to remix one of the Knife’s songs? And let’s say Fatboy Slim calls you up and asks to remix “Silent Shout”. What do you say to him?
We normally ask those who we want to work with. Sometimes they say yes, sometimes no. And we have not asked Fatboy, I don’t think he’s my bag.
Although we haven’t heard the new album yet, we’re told it’s quite different. Can you articulate to us the differences?
It’s dark – no pop. Cold, suggestive and more ambient.
And finally, the lyrics from “The Cop” read, “I’m a cop, I piss in your mouth…
I shoot you in the face, you motherfucker.” Do you have anger management issues?
We are angry, mad and dangerous. It’s about when friends of ours were shot at the EU Summit in Gothenburg 2002.
Thank you for your time.
Thank you.
