Aidan Knight has always been known as the back-up guy. He's been in the Zolas, Counting Heartbeats, Maurice and more. But now, he's about to release his debut solo full-length, Versicolour, and get his first taste of being front and centre.
Sticking with his friends has in no way been a bad thing. Knight stayed with Maurice for the recording of their new album, Young People With Faces, which comes out on the same day as his on March 2. He almost went on tour as Yukon Blonde's bassist in the U.S., recently wrapped a tour with Dan Mangan and is about to embark on his first cross-Canada tour with We Are the City. Knight even has had a ton of help from Said the Whale: the band's Tyler Bancroft created record label Adventure Boys Club just for Versicolour.
Knight describes all of these experiences as fate, but also credits it to networking around his hometown of Victoria and neighbouring Vancouver. "I feel really lucky to be able to play with so many great bands and still be able to do my own thing as well," he said in a recent interview with Exclaim!
One of the most interesting collaborations for Knight at the moment is with Bancroft and the creation of Adventure Boys Club. "He was the one who was like,' I believe in your music [and] that a lot of people would like to hear it,'" said Knight.
The now-front-man was completely sold when the pair decided to make the label a partnership. "I don't really know exactly what I do and he does," said Knight. "We just work together and we're like the Wizard of Oz, I guess, combined. We're like one big floating head."
Knight admits the label came at the perfect time for him. "I want to be 100 percent into something right now, and if some people believe that I can do my music, and I believe in my music, then maybe I could just be my own boss and I could go and just try and do the impossible thing, which is be an independent Canadian musician." And soon, Knight and Bancroft will be someone else's bosses, as they plan to add more releases to the roster.
As for Versicolour, which features Toronto, ON outfit O' Darling and musician/producer Jon Anderson as Knight's back-up band, it will be available to purchase in stores throughout Canada for only six dollars. Knight has even already given away two of the album's songs for download, and four more stream on his Facebook and MySpace pages.
"I don't know why people would buy the rest of the album, it's really hard for me to believe that anyone buys CDs anymore," he says. "Right on the back of the CD, I'm like, 'hey, if you want to do anything with this album, if you want to spread it around and give it to your friends and you think that they would enjoy the music, then that's great.'"
Versicolour will be out digitally on March 2 and in stores on March 9. Knight will embark on his tour with We Are the City shortly after, including a couple stops at Toronto's Canadian Music Week.
To read more of Exclaim!'s interview with Aidan Knight, click here.
Tour dates:
2/25 Winnipeg - Lo Pub
3/3 Toronto - Rancho Relaxo
3/4 Kingston - Clark Hall Pub
3/5 Quebec City - Le Cercle
3/6 Montreal - Green Room
3/8 Sherbrooke - L'Antiquarius
3/9 Ottawa - The Observatory
3/10 Toronto - Global Village
3/13 Toronto - Criminal Records
3/24 Calgary - The Gateway
3/25 Lethbridge - Henotic
3/27 Edmonton - Haven Social Club
Sticking with his friends has in no way been a bad thing. Knight stayed with Maurice for the recording of their new album, Young People With Faces, which comes out on the same day as his on March 2. He almost went on tour as Yukon Blonde's bassist in the U.S., recently wrapped a tour with Dan Mangan and is about to embark on his first cross-Canada tour with We Are the City. Knight even has had a ton of help from Said the Whale: the band's Tyler Bancroft created record label Adventure Boys Club just for Versicolour.
Knight describes all of these experiences as fate, but also credits it to networking around his hometown of Victoria and neighbouring Vancouver. "I feel really lucky to be able to play with so many great bands and still be able to do my own thing as well," he said in a recent interview with Exclaim!
One of the most interesting collaborations for Knight at the moment is with Bancroft and the creation of Adventure Boys Club. "He was the one who was like,' I believe in your music [and] that a lot of people would like to hear it,'" said Knight.
The now-front-man was completely sold when the pair decided to make the label a partnership. "I don't really know exactly what I do and he does," said Knight. "We just work together and we're like the Wizard of Oz, I guess, combined. We're like one big floating head."
Knight admits the label came at the perfect time for him. "I want to be 100 percent into something right now, and if some people believe that I can do my music, and I believe in my music, then maybe I could just be my own boss and I could go and just try and do the impossible thing, which is be an independent Canadian musician." And soon, Knight and Bancroft will be someone else's bosses, as they plan to add more releases to the roster.
As for Versicolour, which features Toronto, ON outfit O' Darling and musician/producer Jon Anderson as Knight's back-up band, it will be available to purchase in stores throughout Canada for only six dollars. Knight has even already given away two of the album's songs for download, and four more stream on his Facebook and MySpace pages.
"I don't know why people would buy the rest of the album, it's really hard for me to believe that anyone buys CDs anymore," he says. "Right on the back of the CD, I'm like, 'hey, if you want to do anything with this album, if you want to spread it around and give it to your friends and you think that they would enjoy the music, then that's great.'"
Versicolour will be out digitally on March 2 and in stores on March 9. Knight will embark on his tour with We Are the City shortly after, including a couple stops at Toronto's Canadian Music Week.
To read more of Exclaim!'s interview with Aidan Knight, click here.
Tour dates:
2/25 Winnipeg - Lo Pub
3/3 Toronto - Rancho Relaxo
3/4 Kingston - Clark Hall Pub
3/5 Quebec City - Le Cercle
3/6 Montreal - Green Room
3/8 Sherbrooke - L'Antiquarius
3/9 Ottawa - The Observatory
3/10 Toronto - Global Village
3/13 Toronto - Criminal Records
3/24 Calgary - The Gateway
3/25 Lethbridge - Henotic
3/27 Edmonton - Haven Social Club
