Spend any time in the Victoria music scene and you are bound to hear Aidan Knight’s name come up at least once. This Victoria native has been taking stages by storm for years and has previously performed and recorded with The Zolas, Hannah Georgas, Dan Mangan, We Are The City, Jeremy Fisher, and Counting Heartbeats. Knight launched his own musical quintet under his name in 2008, creating their own brand of experimental folk in his Victoria home. He hasn’t looked back since.
Knight was also a major player in the creation of his current label, Adventure Boys Club. Knight co-founded the label alongside Tyler Bancroft, guitarist and vocalist for Vancouver indie rockers Said the Whale.
Adventure Boys Club’s first release was Knight’s acclaimed debut album, Versicolour, in March of 2010. The momentum kept rolling into November of that year with the release of Knight’s first EP, Friendly Fires. Since then, Knight released his second and latest studio album, Small Reveal, in October of 2012. Taking a break from recording new tunes, Knight’s band is headed on tour in North America and Europe, starting March 16 in Los Angeles, California (no Victoria dates as of yet, but keep your eyes and ears open! For now, the closest date is March 21 in Vancouver.)
Knight says that growing up in a musical family has made all the difference in his motivation. “My family put a lot of importance on music and being creative,” he says.
His success is a product of his background, but Knight has built on his musical roots and thrown in his own touch.
“I’d say there is a time when you are really shaped by what music your parents have around,” he says. “Eventually [artists] start moving away from their roots and start making their own choices, and some of those choices are hilarious.”
Growing up as an only child left Knight time to experiment with his music and sort the gold from the cringe-worthy, he says. “I would explore lots of different ideas, whether musical or fantastical. By playing music, I could create my own worlds.”
Much of Knight’s inspiration comes from his local roots. Growing up just down the road from the Lansdowne campus, one of Knight’s favourite musical memories was with his music teachers at the now-dissolved Richmond Elementary and his memories with the jazz band at Esquimalt High.
Knight jokes that he’s sure “all my teachers loved me… I was not a kid who practiced. I think I took a lot of things for granted in school. But I still liked all my time in those music classes.”
And living in British Columbia has also had a profound influence on him, he says.
“It’s hard not to be inspired by such a beautiful place. I’ve seen a lot of Canada through touring and travelling, and this is one of my favourite places,” he says. “It’s influenced bits and pieces of the songs that I’ve written.”