Biography
I’ve had a hard time starting this profile.
A man who’s done so much for New Zealand (underground) music that it wouldn’t really be the same without him – Knox was responsible for so many changes in the way we think about music here in New Zealand.
In The Enemy he proved that New Zealand underground music was indeed a viable and precious quantity, absolutely illuminating the Dunedin punk scene that had sprung up around his quirky (and utterly convicted) troop.
When The Enemy became Toy Love they located and conquered Auckland, but were ripped apart by the complacency and vindictiveness of the big-label music scene (and apathetic Aussie crowds) in Australia.
Knox and his fellow burned band-mates returned with a new outlook on the kiwi music way of life. He saw that creation is far more important than clarity, and with a few simple steps (purchasing a four-track recorder, a chance encounter with Christchurch music-enthusiast Roger Shephard) set about defining the ‘Lo-Fi’ (a term yet later sunned) revolution of early 80’s Dunedin.
Knox then set about forming the utterly eclectic and thoroughly low-tech Tall Dwarfs with his fellow former Toy Love buddy, guitarist Alec Bathgate – the whimsy to his destructive element and a high quality song-writer in his own right.
The Tall Dwarfs remained highly productive and totally engaging throughout the 80’s, forming a cult of quirky, dark songs with bizarre narratives and eclectic touches (tape-loops and sound-manipulation became common-place early on), but in the later 80’s, Knox started working on his own solo material (as well as continuing to record and produce a number of his compatriot artists on Flying Nun).
‘Not Given Lightly’ could be called the apex of Knox’s career – his most commercial success and his most oft referred and covered ‘classic’ song, it’s also well-documented as his very first love song (and some would point out that his wife Barbara had certainly deserved one by the time of its release..).
So into the 90’s Knox stride as an icon of the New Zealand music scene, alternating between The Tall Dwarfs and his own solo albums, just as his journalistic side was starting to bloom.
Come the mid 2000’s and Knox is involved at all levels of New Zealand music. He is an acknowledged historic figure in the New Zealand scene (even winning a Silver Scroll for the heart-wrenching ‘My Only Friend’ in 2000), a valued journalistic resource, an archivist and historian, and yet is still finding new avenues to expand his musical vocabulary, releasing a new recording as Friend in 2003 that explores a new, hi-tech alley.
Knox’s life took an unfortunate turn in June 2009 when he suffered a deliberating stroke that left him unable to speak (or sing). After a long period of recovery and with huge support from the local music industry, Knox struggled own despite his own limitations, recording new material (without actually vocalizing words) with Auckland pop-punk trio Rackets under the name Knoxious.
Awards
RIANZ Awards 1994
- Cover Design of the Year
APRA Silver Scrolls 2000
- Song Writing for ‘My Only Friend’
Discography
- Chris Knox Ego Gratifaction Album – Songs For Cleaning Guppies (1982, Flying Nun Records Records, FN Me001)
- Seizure (1989, Flying Nun Records Records, FN125 / FNE30)
- ‘Not Given Lightly’/’Guppiplus’ 12″ Ep (1990, Flying Nun Records Records, FN127)
- ‘Not Given Lightly’/’Face Of Fashion’/’Love Song (Part 1)’ 7″ Single (1990, Flying Nun Records Records, FN152)
- ‘Not Given Lightly’/’Face Of Fashion’/’Love Song (Part 1)’ 12″ Single (1990, Flying Nun Records Records, FN153)
- Song For 1990 10″ Ep (1990, Flying Nun Records Records, FN155)
- Croaker (1991, Flying Nun Records Records, FN165)
- Polyphoto, Duck-Shaped Pain & “Gum” (1991, Flying Nun Records Records, FN249)
- ‘Under The Influence’/’Stasis’ 7″ Single (1991, Flying Nun Records Records, FN266)
- Not Given Lightly Ep (1993, Communion, COMM26-2)
- Meat (1993 Communion Comm 28-2)
- Song Of Me And You (1995, Flying Nun Records Records, FN313)
- ‘One Fell Swoop’/’Giving Her Away’/’S.O.S.’/’Shrapnel’/’Mother’ Cd Single (1995, Flying Nun Records Records, FN316)
- ‘One Fell Swoop’/’Mother’ 7″ Single (1995, Flying Nun Records Records, FN316)
- Songs From 1990 Ep (1996, Caroline, CAR7528)
- Nunfest ’96 Etched 7″ Disc (1996, Flying Nun Records Records, FN372)
- Yes!! (1997, Flying Nun Records Records, FN400)
- Almost (1998, Dark Beloved Cloud)
- Beat (2000, Flying Nun Records Records, FN444)
- Inaccuracies & Omissions (As Friend, 2003, Flying Nun Records Records, FN470)
- Chris Knox and the Nothing (As Chris Knox and the Nothing, 2005, A Major Label)
- A Warm Gun (As The Nothing, 2008, A Major Label, AMAJ001)