Breaking The Waves - Khünnt

 

Breaking The Waves Feature.

Band:  Khünnt

Location: Newcastle, UK

 

“I remember one of the first gigs we played, there was a guy who walked out the venue and said ‘I want 20 minutes of my life back.’”

Such are the reactions of people who watch, listen and experience the unadulterated, erosive drone of Khünnt. The Newcastle act challenge the mental threshold of anyone in the audio vicinity – whether it’s at one of their destructive, slug-paced shows or on one of their devastatingly heavy EPs, the doom quintet create an apocalyptic barrage of existential grief to unsettle listeners.

But as guitarist Sam Grant explains, the standard crowd reaction isn’t a side-effect of listening to Khünnt – it’s the usual diagnosis for about 50% of their audience. “Just about every gig we’ve played, about half of the room have walked out, but that’s in no way a concern because that’s inevitable when you want to do something that is challenging,” he says. “The first couple of gigs we did were about trying to offend with music or trying to incur a different emotion from what audiences usually go through. We’re trying to keep that level of uneasiness that you get from horrible music; it’s not meant to be pretty.”

The band is a caustic phenomenon to behold onstage to say the least, but there’s an audience for them, whether they intend it or not. With a bizarre support slot with Wolves In The Throne Room at the end of 2010 and a recent performance warming-up for Liverpool doom metallers Conan, the band have proven how much sonic destruction they can cause. But as drummer Matt Baty explains, technical prowess is not the main reason for onlookers to observe this colossal disaster event that is their live show.  “It has its roots in noise music,” he says. “We’re not so much bothered about playing technical music. I guess when people come to see us it divides them because we’re not doing anything flashy at all. It is what it is; it’s minimal and it’s pummelling. If you watch it with a perspective of ‘I want to be impressed by musicianship’, then maybe you’re not going to get involved with it!”

It’s not a premise for popularity. But then again, Khünnt aren’t exactly bothered about how they’re received either. So, is there a goal? “The goal is to write the heaviest song,” says Grant. “There are some bands out there that are currently beating us,” continues Baty. “But we’ll keep working at it! There’s not really a goal in that sense, as such. In a way, it’s very, very selfish music – we’re doing it to appease ourselves and no one else. We play live because we can get more of energy behind it in front of people, but I wouldn’t necessarily say that we’re doing it to please anyone else.”

But despite the band being a selfish endeavour for all involved, it’s not in any way egotistical or centred around individuals. The five-piece – who have a revolving membership that surmounts to seven members with two bassists and three vocalists – are a collective, and that’s even reflected by their stage attire in the earlier days. “We used to wear balaclavas onstage because for me, it was about removing individuals from the band and not having five people, but having a source of sound,” Grant says. “But it was hot! It was really fucking hot, so we came to an agreement ‘let’s not wear the balaclavas anymore!’”

It’s clear that Khünnt are willing to take things one step at a time and see what materialises. They don’t plan gigs often and believe the novelty will wear off if they over-familiarise themselves with local venues. But that doesn’t mean they don’t have plans for the rest of the year. They’ve got their first gig in Middlesbrough booked and are working on a video, as Grant explains. “It’s a load of kids – about five or six three-to-seven-year-olds – playing all our instruments rocking out, and now and again we’re in it with our balaclavas on. But it’s in no way sinister as in ‘the kids are in danger,’ it’s more sinister in that the kids are embracing it. In my mind it’s like these kids are what I want to be – no balaclavas, no walls, no hang-ups. We put some music on and they dance to it and they don’t give a shit how they dance, they’re just loving it and rocking out, and that’s what we want to experience. They don’t have any rules, but when you start to think ‘does my hair look good’ or ‘does my guitar look good like this’ – the kids don’t get that.”

Khünnt play in Middlesbrough on 14th July @ O’Connell’s Bar with Bong, Cromlech and Neolithic.

Check out Khünnt’s split EP with Leeds grind quintet The Afternoon Gentlemen or their 2010 EP ‘Dead Eyes’ at their bandcamp page: http://khunnt.bandcamp.com/

Khünnt are:
Johnny Hedley - Bass
Al Roberts - Bass
Sam Grant - Guitar
Matt Baty - Drums,
Stephen Palmer - Vocals
Michael Bridgewater - Vocals
William Westall - Vocals


Feature by Calum Robson 
Breaking The Waves - Khünnt