Local musician Jordan Knecht believes so fervently in quiet during his performances that, most of the time, he eschews the use of a microphone. He views it as an invitation to the audience.
“The invitation is one of three things: to be present and engaged, to part of the music, or to leave,” he says. “It puts everyone in the room in the context of the performance. The perception of miniscule sounds is heightened. Every creak of the room and every shift of a crossed leg can often be as loud as the music that I am playing.”
Knecht is as thoughtful about his compositions as he is about his performances. He describes his style, influenced by artists as disparate as Neil Young and John Cage, as “slow and sparse folk music integrated with ambient electronics and field recordings.” He says his brand of folk follows his owns distinct characteristics and principles rather than those of traditional movements.
He began making music in grade school while living in a house filled with the sounds of Funkadelic, Earth, Wind & Fire, Tom Waits, James Taylor and The Beatles. His father is a musician and recording engineer, and remains a huge influence on Knecht.
Though he dabbled in piano and saxophone, his main instruments these days are guitar and drums: guitar in his own eponymous project, and drums in Lovesick, a punk band based in Chicago.
Knecht says his writing style is subtractive—he starts with a whole mess of material and gradually whittles it down to a final product.
“I think of my compositional process as analogous to the way that sculptors begin with a block of marble and end up with a bust,” he says. “My process begins with free-writing. I usually start by playing and recording guitar for hours. If I hear something that strikes me, I elaborate on it and create a large palette of options. [Then I] begin picking small movements that I particularly like and try to add lyrics.”
Knecht’s discography includes two CD-Rs, The Things You Leave Behind and Things You Pick Up Along The Way, a vinyl seven-inch called Ashveville, and this year’s Slow Walker, a split cassette release with Lake Mary.
Currently he’s at work splicing 15 recordings of one of his tunes to create a “Frankenstein version” of the song. He is also tracking and arranging two years’ worth of recordings he plans on unleashing on vinyl next summer, to be followed up with a national tour.
For shows and more information, visit jordanknecht.net.
