The Jazz Breeze of Newcastle: Knats in Beyoğlu…

Blending the energy of Newcastle, the poetic storytelling unique to Northeast England, and the gritty texture of rock masterfully into jazz, Knats is getting ready to perform for the first time in Turkey at the Beyoğlu Jazz Festival. Born from a childhood friendship, this young trio creates a boundary-defying musical world on stage, filled with theatrical moments and intense improvisation. Rooted in their heritage yet constantly exploring new possibilities, Knats invites Istanbul listeners into an energetic and unforgettable musical dialogue. We spoke with the band’s founding members, Stan Woodward and King David-Ike Elechi, about both their enthusiasm for the festival and the creative force behind their music.

Many people will experience Knats live for the first time at the Beyoğlu Jazz Festival. How would you introduce your music and yourselves to those who have never heard you before? We’re also curious about how Knats was formed and the story behind the name.

Hi there, Stan and King from Knats here, we’re super excited to be playing in Istanbul this weekend. We’ll be playing a load of music from our second album due to come out next year. I’d describe the current sound as being a mixture of a range of influences, but largely jazz and rock, with a theatrical live show with use of storytelling in the form of poetry from the North East of England. We’re from a city called Newcastle Upon Tyne in the North East of England and are very proud to be Geordies; Newcastle has a history of great rock bands and this is very much a part of our lineage. 

Myself (Stan- bass guitar) and King (drums) have been best friends since we were 10 years old, having grown up in the West End of Newcastle together; when we were 18 we met a young 15 year old trumpet player called Ferg Kilsby, which then became the core trio of Knats. The name Knats comes from a combination of mine and Kings names, Stan backwards and the K from King.

Your music is sometimes described as blending jazz with hip-hop and electronic textures. How do you approach genre boundaries when composing or performing live?

Our music doesn’t really blend electronic or hip hop textures. Nowadays it is pretty ambiguous genre wise, but it’s super important to us that the music is as killing as possible from a jazz perspective. Everyone in the band has a background in jazz and are all accomplished musicians in their own right. For this show we’ll be playing with George Johnson on Tenor Sax and Sandro Shargorodsky on keys and synth. There’s definitely a rock aspect to our sound which is more prevalent than the aforementioned influences.

‘Our first concert in Turkey’

Jazz has always been a conversation—between instruments, musicians and even eras. When you play, who or what are you in dialogue with?

I would like to think that we’re listening to each other at all times. Because if we were to take more of an idiosyncratic view on improvising, just listening to how YOU sound, it will never translate well to a crowd. However, for me as a rhythm section player and drummer I feel as though locking in with Stan on bass and Sandro on keys to create a solid foundation for the horns to play over is one of the most important ‘conversations’ on stage, for me at least. 

How do listeners respond to your music in different countries, and are you curious about how it will resonate in Turkey?

This is actually one of our first few shows outside of the UK so this is completely alien to us in a live context at least. In regards to the Turkish audience, we’re extremely curious. I think they’ll enjoy the live show from an entertainment and musical perspective. We’re quite animated on stage, really getting into the music and incorporating comedic/theatrical bits into the set, (which we hope everyone will be into. 

If your audience in Turkey were to leave your concert with one emotion, what would you want that to be?

I hope they leave having had a good dance/headbang and that they’ve spent their money well on a good gig!