Nashville-based, electronic-pop band Five Knives, comprised of singer Anna M’Queen, multi-instrumentalists Nathan Barlowe and Zach Hall and drummer Shane Wise, push the boundaries of traditional music genres, fusing pop, alternative, and electronic sounds. The band, signed to Red Bull Records, recently released their debut album, Savages, with several tracks having reached the top of the Billboard club charts. We caught up with M’Queen and Wise in the press area after their show at the Electric Zoo Festival in New York, New York:
You guys just played at the MasterCard Hilltop Arena. What was that like?
Shane Wise: It was awesome. The sound is amazing, the light is amazing; all of the production is off the chain.
Anna M’Queen: Yeah, and just the people that have come to Electric Zoo are just those in a great state of mind, which is a good time.
This was your first time here. How does Electric Zoo compare to other festivals and concerts you have played at?
SW: It has that whole Tomorrowland vibe where the main stage is massive, and it has the crazy background.
AM: It’s pretty awesome, though.
What’s a dream venue you would want to play at someday?
SW: I’d probably say Madison Square Garden.
AM: Yeah, that’s taking it big. I’ve always said Red Rocks – I’ve just always dreamt of it.
You guys just released your debut album. Are there any specific songs you enjoy playing live?
SW: “I Love You to Death” is one of my faves, “Money” is one of my favorites…
AM: Yeah, when you come to see our show, we really put on a show, so everything is really just such a performance. I love performing to “Money” and “Shake My Bones” is one of my favorites, too. It’s really emotional and just personally I love that one.
Your song “Sugar” was recently featured in the movie The Transporter – Refueled – how do you feel about having your songs included in movies and shows?
SW: That stuff is cool; it just came in through relationships that we have.
AM: We also had “Rattatat” featured in American Ultra…
SW: Bloodsucking Bastards [also] had three of our songs from our old EP, actually.
Have you guys had times where you would randomly recognize your songs somewhere?
AM: Yeah, with American Ultra, I was a little bit out of the loop since I had been traveling a little bit. I didn’t even know it was in that movie, and I was watching TV when the commercial came up, and I was like, “What?”
SW: I first saw that on one of the NFL preseason games; I was watching the game and the trailer popped up, so that kind of stuff is pretty awesome.
How would you describe your style in a sentence?
AM: Pop, rock, and electronic dance music. We kind of just combine them into one; people always ask how our sound is so unique, but we’ve just figured out a way to manipulate it and make it happen.
You guys must have a lot of different types of musical influences.
AM: Absolutely, yeah. We all just come from different backgrounds and it has blended into beautiful circumstance.
Any particular artists that really inspired you?
SW: Everything has been a total blend. Anna listens to certain things, I listen to certain things, Nate listens to certain things…we all listen to different things and completely different types of music, so when we come together you can hear all of that
AM: There’s a lot of hip-hop influences, 80’s like Depeche Mode, there’s some Nine Inch Nails, and for me performance-wise, I love to put an Iggy Pop vibe but fashionably like Gwen Stefani. And Shane comes from a metal background; that’s why he hits his drums so hard, and for some reason, it just really works.
What’s your creative process like with all of these genres combining?
SW: We just get together and make a track, have Anna come in to do vocals, and then after that we’ll start with all the live instruments…
AM: And sometimes it’ll morph into something else by accident, maybe.
SW: There’s not really a goal in mind when we make a song. It’s just whatever we’re feeling that day.
Are you planning on touring or focusing more on making new music?
AM: We just released our new single, “Savages,” and we’re just doing radio promo right now, hitting up different stations in different states just pushing that.
What’s it like being on the road and traveling?
AM: It’s super fun.
SW: We’ve been doing it for a long time now.
Any funny stories from the road?
SW: I don’t think we can talk about some of them…but yeah, there’s always weird stuff.
AM: Some of them are just too wrong.
SW: We’d probably get in trouble if we talked about some of them.
AM: Yeah, we have a blast.
Any plans for while you’re in New York?
AM: We fly out tomorrow actually; we love the city, though. We’ve played some venues in town: Webster Hall, Bowery…we love it.
SW: We’ll stay here the night; we’ll get a little weird and chill in the city.
Anyone here you guys are interested in seeing?
AM: I’m just interested in going to party at the main stage. I want to see it all.
SW: I was super bummed because a good friend ours, Kennedy Jones, played yesterday, and I had to miss his set since we just got here last night. But everyone’s cool here, pretty much.
Anything else to add?
SW: If you want to check us out, everything is usually on our website; our album is out, “Savages” is out on radio right now so you can request it anywhere, and we have a new single “Wild Ones” coming out early next year.
