DANIEL KNOx

A night owl who drowns songs and possibly defaces pianos

Daniel knox was eager take care of unfinished business on his fourth outing, Chasescene. after the experimental left turn of its 2015 predecessor, the chicago-based songwriter instead went back over a decade for inspiration. “it takes a deliberate look at my first two records and tries to stitch up some of its wounds and kill off its main character,” he explains, referring to 2007’s Disaster and 2011’s Evryman For Himself. “The title track of Chasescene is the sequel to ‘lovescene’ and ‘fightscene’ from those albums. most love scenes end with a kiss, most fight scenes end in pain and most chase scenes end with a crash. i wanted Chasescene to feel like the last thing you say to someone before never seeing them again.”

a night owl who works as a movie projectionist at the city’s music Box Theatre, knox wrote “Pack your Bags” in response to a songwriting friendship that ended badly: “We recorded a whole repertoire together and i threw the final copies into the river and waited for them to sink.”

The same failed liaison is the subject of “Blind Deaf and Dumb”, which addresses betrayal. “i wrote this song to commemorate the occasion,” he says. “and i may or may not have carved something into their piano.”