Green curtains, The Knives and Forks

‘The Knives and Forks’ synthesise the whole kitchen-sink of instruments into their fresh music; they emphasise a free spirited approach to genre, incorporating imaginative ballads, jazz, rock, trad, blues, folk and a crack at the synthesizer into their approach. It was great speaking with Fran, the guitarist / mandolin player, Ethan, the rhythm guitarist / lead singer and Tristan the Saxophonist. Unfortunately, Jools, on harmonica, Evan, on bass and Kevin on drums were all missing from our discussion but it is this very challenge for young bands of getting everyone into one room at the same time the lads described as the revolving door that is ‘Knives and Forks.’ 

We first discussed the choppy way in which bands often seem to come about; breaks in the summer, members having to leave Dublin for all the same reasons people normally leave Dublin and an ongoing process of having to get people in and out to cover different instruments just in time. However since November, the importance of moving from the abode to the professional studio ‘Unit One’ where the lads could build a real routine has been crucial. Furthermore, the motivation of having gigs, such as their upcoming Sound House gig on the 23rd of February energises the group for every rehearsal. 

When I asked them about the song-writing process, they described it as a practice of questioning (and a few arguments too): they come up with lyrics and then they ask “how can we incorporate the saxophone? What do we want it to be instrumental? Do we want to bring in the drums at this certain bit?” “It’s an amalgamation:” they continue, “write the lyrics, write the songs, have just the germ of the idea and then slowly let it become a full fledged song. And it helps that we have these songs pre-written in our heads really. We've got the lyrics, chords, and the A, B, C section, y’know.” 

And what are these pre-writing lyrics like then?

“Ha-ha, well, for example, we’ve an interesting ballad that took inspiration from the trad revival, from those slow-build, narrative songs and I really got immersed in the stories they were telling.” 

“The ballad's story is set in an undisclosed past. You have this figure of authority, you have a priest and he's kind of falling into disrepair.

He has a moral scruple. But basically, in order to punish his daughter, he throws her down into a well. Very medieval, y’know. And he expects to keep her there for a few days as a means of punishment. Then she unknowingly drowns. He spends the rest of his days racked by guilt. He's lost his faith. He's turned to the bottle instead.” 

But not all of their songs were didactic tales about despotic pushing priests; some were spoken word rambles, political satires, personal experiences or a 12 bar blues piece, taking the piss out of their bassist. They don’t mind the lyrics being a bit jokey; they just want to make the sound as interesting as possible. 

“And then musically, Ethan’s ballad is complemented by the mandolin at the beginning, the low-to-high progression of the song, the climax where every instrument comes in and the saxophone would carry the emotional melody, the themes of suffering and family. It becomes kind of a marching song. But yeah, each song is about incorporating a balance between the vocals and instrumental. 

Moreover, Tristan, originally from LA, really emphasises a live, folk quality to their sound, with his experience at Session Boston, performing with iconic Irish artists like The Pogues, The Cardinals, Lisa O'Neill and John Francis Flynn in 2025 coming into the group.
When comparing the LA music scene to Dublin’s, Tristan simply noted the youth and sense of fun integral to Dublin’s. 

Then I asked the lads more about the kind of reaction they wanted from a typical gig. 

“Well, we’d be happy with a bit of clapping, y’know.”

“We’ll be happy if people just show up.” 

“I want to make my mother cry.” 

“But in all seriousness, we don’t smoke up our arses. We want honesty; each song is different, and the reactions will be too. We strive to bewilder our audience as much as we can. We just like chaos, but artistic chaos, you know? The chaos we can facilitate during a set.

When asked about the future of “Knives and Forks,” they emphasised a commitment to fun but not a commitment to keeping it going to the point where the fun has been lost. They are less interested in grinding on social media to promote themselves and really just want a small platform to play and have a creative outlet for the members and for others. The film “The Commitments” inspires their daily practice and energy, their patting on the back after each rehearsal and with everyone being at such different stages of life…things could just end with a shrug of the shoulders, and they have this accepted this with grace… but until it does, they’ll continue cutting up some forking good melodies. 

“If we ever got famous, it would be an accident.” 

@knives.and_forks

Written by @ben_Lynch__

Edited by @niall.030