Tiny Desert Concerts is a series in which we bring local bands and musicians into the KJZZ studios to play a couple songs and talk about the music.
This month, we hear from singer-songwriter Max Knouse.
Knouse is a veteran of other local bands, but now he’s on his own and just released his first solo album, “Dinasaur from Jensen.”
Soft and ethereal, Knouse’s gentle guitar melodies paired with his lilting voice creates a sound that is both soothing and full of longing. Knouse and some of his favorite collaborators joined us in the KJZZ studio, and The Show started by asking how his training in jazz and experience playing in other bands shape his music now.
You can hear more of Knouse’s music on Bandcamp and on Facebook.
Full conversation
MAX KNOUSE: Now for me, those musics all bleed together. I mean, I just think it's, you know, American music, and the longer I've played, the less I've cared to try to figure out what I'm doing stylistically. I just think that that question is more of an afterthought, which shouldn't, shouldn't, you know, happen while you're creating it.
STEVE GOLDSTEIN: So are you open to sort of whatever comes into your mind from a creative standpoint, you're obviously not pigeonholing yourself, even if others may want to do that at times, because it's easier to understand. I think if people could say, Well, this sounds more like this to me, and this sounds more like this, do you feel like what you're creating is something that is a blend, depending on how you're feeling and the people you're working with, depending on where that creative use comes from?
KNOUSE: I mean, I would say yes. I definitely felt like earlier in my life, I was more concerned with those things, with labels. And I think the way of saying that, of blending genres, I mean, I don't think that's even exactly it. You know what I mean? I think each piece is a singularity.
GOLDSTEIN: Max, you in the band are gonna play a song for us. What's it gonna be?
KNOUSE: This song is called “Their Little Garden.”
[MUSIC]
GOLDSTEIN: Your voice is very haunting, and I wonder how important you think that is to what you're trying to get across. Does that affect you in terms of thinking about your voice with these lyrics and with these songs?
KNOUSE: I mean, I'd like to say, “No, I don't think about it at all,” but it's a never ending struggle, I think, to sound like you.
GOLDSTEIN: So lyrics seem to be a really huge thing when we listen to the music that you do, because it really does feel like stories. And I know songs are supposed to sound like that, but in essence, the lyrics that you have are seem more expansive to me, and they seem much less simple, even if, even if, at its core, we're all human beings, and there's a universal truth and whatnot when you write lyrics, how important is that to you when you're processing the whole music overall?
KNOUSE: I think about that in a similar way to like the style question, like not thinking about, is this expansive, or is this simple, or whatever? I mean, I hope that there's a simple, you know, truth at the core of a song, for sure or a lyric.
GOLDSTEIN: Are there certain themes that are most important to you when you're writing lyrics? I mean, how does that come across to you? And how often do you write songs? Do you try to write songs together, and you write a song all at once? Or is it something? Is there a process to that as well?
KNOUSE: It’s sort of random. I guess it's kind of scattered. Some songs will sort of just come out of nowhere in the more romantic way, and then other ones, it's like it might take me, like, years to, like, figure out how to put it together to, like, where I feel like I'm actually saying what I want to say.
GOLDSTEIN: Is that something that you can recognize? I hate to use the Pat phrase, the aha moment, but do you feel like that as a musician? Sometimes you know that this, this subject, this feeling, is going to turn into something?
KNOUSE: Yes, actually, profoundly Yes. Sometimes it's a very, very long Aha, you know, over years. But for certain musical ideas, they can kind of arise, and it's like, oh, that's that's such, like the feeling that I want to convey, or whatever. And then after that, there's a long, laborious process to get it to the final product, I guess. But I think there is a seed, an original seed, to that.
GOLDSTEIN: And Max, why don't you take us out on the song.
KNOUSE: All right, thank you for having me. This song is called “Corduroy Tattoo.”
This performance was filmed at KJZZ's youth media center, SPOT 127.
If you’re in a band or know of one you’d like to hear on air, send us a note at [email protected].
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