The band started out as a solo project for Nick, how did it blossom into the band it is now?
The band started out as
a six-piece monstrosity! One day Nick came to me and said "Hey bro, what
do you think of making it into a two piece, Ill play drums, bass, and sing at
the same time while looping everything!” I thought, “Ok bro you go away and do
that, and give me a call!” 2-3 weeks later he calls me we have a practice and he
actually pulls it off! Freak!
Where did the interesting band name come from?
We cut a bunch of random
words up put them into a hat and pulled out the first 3 which said 'cairo knife
fight'
Being a duo, do you feel that since it is just the both
of you what you can do is restricted in terms of sound or gives you more
freedom?
It's actually quite the
opposite. When we first started out as a duo we were trying to fill me every
nook and cranny with sound because we were trying to compensate for a lack of
members. But it's amazing how little you have to do to sound big. At the end of
the day a good song is a good song whether it's done with a couple of matchsticks
and a piece of bread or a full orchestra!
Hailing from New Zealand, has your country played an
influence on your sound?
Of course. We have a
beautiful and diverse history of music in our little country. Your environment
effects your feelings which in turn shapes your sound.
Who are some of your influences?
To many to name. Obviously
all the biggies from The Beatles to Jimi to Radiohead to Captain Beefheart,
Miles Davis, Prince and Back! But also in New Zealand I would say The Gordon's,
The Skeptic's, Baliter Space, Shihad, Neil Finn, HDU, The Unfaithful Ways,
Supergroove. That list can go on and on and on.
The artists that have come from New Zealand have struck
big internationally; do Cairo Knife Fight have the chops to be New Zealand’s next big band?
If you think about pie in the
sky things like that then I think your pretty much a moron. We don't waste our
time thinking about stuff like that. Wherever the journey leads too we want to
enjoy the ride wherever that may end up. Our version of big down here is to
make enough money to pay our bills, feed our family's and to keep doing what we
love doing! Anything beyond that is awesome. (Yes we would like the be the
biggest band in all the universe of universe's)
2011 was a big year for you, releasing two EPs, playing
festivals and opening for Foo Fighters. What was it like playing for Dave and
the boys? How did the opportunity come about?
2011 was great and
we've had some great support slots. Supporting the Foo Fighter's was a
highlight for sure. They are some of the most unrock starry guys you'll ever
meet, which is often the case with artist who are truly at the top of their
game. We sent our CD in with a whole other bunch of band's and got the call up
because we heard they liked our music. That's pretty cool.
At the last CMJ festival in New York, you guys really
started a buzz for yourself. What was that festival like for you and would you
ever return and play?
New York is a awesome wonder
of a town. Just getting an opportunity to play there in any capacity was a
dream for us boy's. It was one of our goals. CMJ is awesome if not
intimidating! with so many other bands there you just feel like a little dot on
someone's music scale. All you can do is do what you do to the best of your
ability and hope that it connects with people on some level. We will always
play in New York in a heart beat if given the opportunity, we love that place.
There has been a lot of buzz about you guys in the
blogosphere, do you feel that thanks to music blogs small bands can make a name
for themselves?
I've only recently come
to learn how important music blog's are, and they are. I was quite naive about
the power of the 'Blog' before our New York trip. It's the power of free speech
at it best. I think it's awesome to think that some 18-year-old kid can share
his opinion about something to a keen audience of thousands if not millions! If
a blog can open the door to something new and fresh, something that’s not spoon
feed to the masses because it's backed by millions of promotional dollars,
something real. Then that’s bloody awesome.
You released a few EPs, when can we expect a full length?
We will have a album out this
year. Really looking forward to that.
What has been the best thing about being in Cairo Knife Fight?
No limitations. I love
how we both try and go for the extreme. One of the goals for the album is to
try and get that down to tape.