Chris Knox

All Music Guide:

Possibly the most important figure in New Zealand alternative/indie/post-punk rock, Chris Knox has been an integral figure of three of the country's more important rock bands (Tall Dwarfs, Toy Love, the Enemy), as well as recording prolifically as a solo artist. He sang with one of the country's very first punk acts, the Enemy, in the late '70s. The Enemy didn't record, but his next group, the more new wave-poppish Toy Love, had hit singles in New Zealand. However, they broke up in 1980 after an attempt to crack a more international market by moving to Australia proved fruitless.

By this time, Knox, notorious for Iggy Pop-style on-stage self-laceration, wished to move from punk/new wave into more subtle, experimental underground rock. Sharing this desire was guitarist Alec Bathgate, who had played with Knox in the Enemy and Toy Love. Together they formed the duo Tall Dwarfs, lo-fi experimentalists with a penchant for both pop and psychedelia. Tall Dwarfs (whose activities are detailed in a separate entry) were instrumental in developing the quirky aesthetic picked up by most artists on the Flying Nun label, the top New Zealand indie that counted Tall Dwarfs as one of its first signees.

Although Knox has worked with Bathgate on Tall Dwarfs records since the early '80s, he has also maintained a less active, but ongoing, solo career in which he writes, performs, and records without Bathgate's assistance. Knox has had an ample opportunity to work alone given that he and Bathgate, because of their different living circumstances, are usually only able to record together for short, infrequent bursts of time. Undoubtedly Knox's solo albums are more personal in nature than his group projects, yet in all honesty it can be difficult to find much difference between them and the Tall Dwarfs records. Working independently, Knox also staunchly adheres to a lo-fi, home recording ethic; he also favors songs which alternate between acoustic pop, post-psychedelia, and bursts of fuzzy garage noise, just as Tall Dwarfs do.

Consequently, Tall Dwarfs fans will undoubtedly find Knox's records worth checking out, though on the whole the best of Tall Dwarfs is a better place to start investigating Knox's music. Within each Knox solo record there is a great deal of diversity, although it must be cautioned that there isn't a notable difference in approach from recording to recording. This can make his extensive discography less rewarding than those of pop auteurs who take greater care to vary their palette from release to release, such as England's Martin Newell.

Wikipedia:

Chris Knox (born 2 September 1952) is a New Zealand rock and roll musician, cartoonist, and DVD reviewer who emerged during the punk rock era with his bands The Enemy and Toy Love. After Toy Love disbanded in the early 1980s, he formed the group Tall Dwarfs with guitarist Alec Bathgate, much loved for their honest, unpolished sound and intense live shows. His 4-track machine was used to record most of the early Flying Nun singles.

He has also released a number of solo, self-produced albums which feature his Casiotone. Knox has also released an album under the pseudonym 'Friend'.

At the 2001 New Zealand Music Awards Knox's song, ballad "Not Given Lightly" (1990) was announced as New Zealand's thirteenth best song of all time, as voted by APRA members. A love song written for "John and Leisha's mother" - his partner Barbara - this track never scaled commercial heights though it has belately generated some income for the songwriter through its use in TV advertising (notably for Vogel's bread).

Knox has played live in front of audiences all around New Zealand, winning a reputation for his sometimes confrontational style, and performed annually at Wellington's infamous Bar Bodega. He has also extensively toured internationally. His swing through the US in 1995 included, among others, stops in Seattle to play the Crocodile Cafe. His minimalist, DIY sound played well to ears then-focused on grunge, with its retro-punk stylings.

A long-time resident of Auckland, Knox has spent time as a newspaper columnist and film reviewer for Real Groove. His satirical comic strip Max Media appeared in the NZ Herald every week for more than fifteen years. He has also been an occasional television film reviewer, hosted a Television New Zealand season of classic movies, and presented two seasons of arts series New Artland.

Knox launched his own label 'A Major Records' in 2006 to release the album Chris Knox and the Nothing. This was the first album Knox recorded in a professional studio, rather than in his trademark DIY style, since his time with Toy Love.

Knox's "It's Love", from the 2000 album Beat, has been used in "Share the Good", a Heineken Premium Light commercial directed by Todd Haynes and cinematographed by Edward Lachman.

On 11 June 2009 Knox was admitted to Auckland hospital suffering from a stroke. The album Stroke - Songs For Chris Knox was released in New Zealand on 16 November 2009. It features 33 artists performing Knox's songs. The album is a way for Knox's fans to contribute to the costs of his rehabilitation. All artists contributed their time and talent without charge. Artists include Jay Reatard, David Kilgour, The Mint Chicks, Shayne Carter, Yo La Tengo, Bonnie 'Prince' Billy, Bill Callahan, The Mountain Goats, The Bats, The Chills, The Verlaines, Jeff Mangum, The Nothing (including Chris), Tall Dwarfs and Lou Barlow.

The Greenwich Village arts venue Le Poisson Rouge hosted a benefit concert for Knox on 6 May 2010. Artists included Jeff Mangum and Yo La Tengo, who both participated in the 2009 benefit album for Knox.

Since his stroke, Knox has done a very small number of live appearances, for instance at the presentation of Stroke - Songs For Chris Knox in November 2009, and on 22 April 2012.