This is the first of what I hope to be a deluge of rough home recordings. Welcome to my bedroom...

To Be Whole (home recording)

The Grotto Sessions 
- A series of rough home recordings to wake my muse. 

Came across an article on climate change and rising conflict... My first impression was "no shit", but it got me thinking about the source and absurdity of resource conflict on this lonely planet. Where individual desire meets neoliberal consumption, solidified in the boundaries which carve up the planet, and held in place by false allegiance to the state. 

A decision between the machine and divine, realised in every action, defines the world we bring into being. Be your own light. 

Dividing Desire (home recording)

Dave Knowles - Wishing Well (home recording)

Dave Knowles - The Whisper (home recording)

When my Day is Done (home recording)

Dave Knowles - Resonance (home recording)

DAVE KNOWLES - INVISIBILITY (IN WAKING SKIN pre-release)

DAVE KNOWLES - THE WOLVES (IN WAKING SKIN pre-release)

DAVE KNOWLES - AT THE BUTCHER'S (IN WAKING SKIN pre-release)

I first released this song almost a year ago, while students took to the street in my home town of Grahamstown and around the country. While I would have preferred to rewrite this in studio, the original file was lost in a crash. Still, those who it need support now more than ever. So with a little gonzo remastering, this goes out to all those who still wipe pepper spray from their eyes and bare the scars of rubber bullets a year after it all began. Be strong and stay true. 

What follows provides some context, and my perspective of the #FeesMustFall movement. 

The #FeesMustFall movement took South Africa by storm last year with students, staff and supporters from broad social demographics fighting for free quality education for all. The reality is that the bulk of the South African population cannot afford to access their constitutional right to "adequate" and "equal" education.

Students have been violently oppressed during peaceful protests and emerging leaders have been targeted by police. In turn, some students have resorted to violence and destruction of university property. As with any non-heirarchical movement, multiple narratives converge and the values of the core cannot (and should not) be enforced across the whole. Some are co-opted to serve political ends. Some seek to inflame protests, justifying police violence. Some express their anger through actions which contradict the values of peaceful protest. 

But while one can focus on fractures, firebrands and fearmongering, it cannot be denied that this struggle is felt by people from many different social groups and walks of life. It addresses inequities which, while salient here in the education system, constitute pervasive social injustices in multiple sectors. It addresses the failure of state and society to appropriately respond to structural inequities of our past and present. It is a critique of neo-liberalism, kleptocratic cronyism, militarisation and the systematic suppression of opposing voices. There are ways to respond to this problem, but they require a serious mobilisation of political will and economic resources. 

This is not new, it is not isolated and it will not end here. We can criticise those who respond with violence and reinforce the state's ability to silence opposing voices, or we can support those who seek to address these issues with empathy, intellect and urgency. Like it or not, this is the forge of our future.

FEEL UNSTEADY (home recording)

Live-looped home recording of my new project, AMINAL. 

A comment on the current social and political climate in South Africa. 

Oh the apologist, married to her legacy
Tarring a vein to extract the minerals we need
To build up the city - the vampiric bureaucracy
retributively enforce your right to property

Why do we defend the indefensible? 
When we know it's time for change...

Did you fight on the border?
Did you scrimp and save?
Did you picket the concourt?
Or burn the barricades?
Well can we stop being righteous when it's time to heal? 
Don't bother picking a side first - this is anarchy

Oh and the populist rides the rage of history
Lining his pockets he set the stage for tragedy
And all of the players we play our parts so eagerly 
And watch as the cattle bleed out and cry
Their souls to free

Why do we defend the indefensible?
When we know it's time for change...

AMINAL - Indefensible

Dave Knowles is an unfailingly powerful and intimate performer with an innovative style and eloquence of substance. With a prolific appetite for creation, Knowles' music blurs elements of Jeff Buckley, Nick Drake, Radiohead and PJ Harvey in an expression truly his own.

Over the decade since departing from his Manchester band, Shinobi, Knowles' style has been catalyzed by his exposure to percussive guitar and beatboxing, experiments in looping and sharing stages with the breadth of South Africa's top guitarists. Upon completing his studies in Grahamstown, Knowles began establishing himself as a full-time artist in Cape Town, performing the range of the city's venues and booking regular tours up the coast.
Beyond his work as performing artist Knowles has expanded into other media, working as a freelance composer for Pressure Cooker Studios and gaining experience in film and advertising, which he since developed in further private commissions and digital compositions.

In his his upcoming studio debut, recorded at Africa Sun Music, Knowles puts this to good use in his wide arrangements of previously solo pieces both digitally and with session musicians.

In 2016, these various avenues found their fusion when director, Jayne Batzofin, commissioned Knowles to compose and perform the music on the cast of "No Fun ction AlL anguage", a production to be developed for The Chaeli Campaign. 
To meet the challenge Knowles acquired a high-end looper and, over the course of the production, picked up the flute and bass
guitar. With the first run's curtain call behind them, Knowles has emerged as a multi-instrumentalist live looping vocalist with an ear for arrangement and improvisation.

After years of organic growth and exploration, 2016 is proving to be a watershed for Knowles' career and with new productions, collaborations, videos and recordings on the way, there is much to watch from this emerging artist.


Dave Knowles Music

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