Mar. 24, 2010 - Issue #753: Zion I

Prevue

Long time coming

Aidan Knight's Versicolour two years in making

Known as a helpful side man in plenty of local bands around his hometown of Victoria, BC, Aidan Knight recently stepped out on his own with the dense and melancholy Versicolour. On it, he and producer Jonathan Anderson played nearly all of the instruments, going so far as to sleep on the floor of the studio where the album was recorded to fully immerse themselves in the project. To flesh out the sound, Knight invited Toronto's The O'Darling to play additional instruments and add harmonies. Vue Weekly recently had the opportunity to converse over email with the affable Knight about the making of Versicolour.

Vue Weekly: You've described making Versicolour as a long process of recording whenever you could scrape together the money. Can you tell me about that process?

Aidan Knight: I spent a little over two years putting together Versicolour. It started out as a way to record four or five new songs, before I had played them live or really finished the songs. I had a very basic understanding of the forms, usually with only a few verses and a "that'll do" chorus idea. Jon Anderson and I spent three days experimenting with the arrangements and came up with something very unexpected. I had no notion of how things should be or what anything would sound like. In the summer of 2009, the O'Darling came through Vancouver and I invited them out to Langley for the final four days of tracking. In total, Versicolour was recorded over 10 days, over two years.

VW: Did the disconnected recording sessions affect the album's cohesion in your mind?
AK: It certainly shaped it into something much less affected. I had the ability to step back and listen: to hear the parts that I liked and the parts that didn't quite capture me. I have bizarre things that get my attention, and a lot of those things might sound like mistakes or very unassuming moments in the music. That's what I love about recording—the moment that the hi-hat falls over in time with the song or when the telephone recording fits right into the instrumental pause. Exciting!

VW: You describe the recording process as a collaboration between you and producer Jonathan Anderson. Can you talk a bit about how that worked and what roles each of you fell into?
AK: Jon and I work in such a tandem way. I'm not sure if we're studio soulmates or if he simply changed his work process for me, but he's a great collaborator. A brilliant musician in his own respect, we played nearly every instrument in his studio at one point or another. His steel playing on "Jasper" was a real highlight; he really gets the ideas that I was going for and spins them in the absolute best direction.

VW: Would you record the same way—bit by bit, building it up—in the future?
AK: I've done that now, I feel like it was a great experience and now I'm ready to put together a little more structure for the next one. I'll probably add one more track for everyone who thought Versicolour was too short. I like Revolver a lot, so it's not a bad thing when your album is only 38 minutes long.

VW: Are there any themes in the lyric writing you found yourself returning to?
AK: I'd hate to give away my lyrical crutches, but I find myself writing more and more with religious imagery. In the same way that Daniel Lanois or David Bazan writes about the light and dark portions of faith, I love exploring those metaphors and characters. John the Baptist is an indirect protaganist in a new song of mine. And then, of course, girls. I have a terrific one in my life right now. V

Sat, Mar 27 (7:30 pm)
Aidan Knight
With Toast, We Are The City
Haven Social Club, $10

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