INTERVIEW // Knifeplay: New Chapters of Sadness and Living for Music

Knifeplay marries together shoegaze with folky instrumentations, nihilistic lyrics, and everything in between. Originally the solo bedroom recording project of TJ Strohmer, in 2017 they expanded into a full band to push the limits of shoegaze. Hailing from the Philly music scene and challenging genres, Knifeplay is on the up and up in 2023. Their first studio album, Pearlity was released all the way back in 2019, but it wasn't until darkness overtook the rest of the world that their themes really started to catch on.  

Ever since the release of their sophomore album Animal Drowning this past October, they have been on an unstoppable course. From making Stereogum’s “Ones To Watch” list for 2023, to their haunting new Audiotree session, who knows where the future will take them.

The Lamb recently caught up with TJ, the mastermind behind it all, to talk tour, their most recent album, Animal Drowning, and the “prescription for life” TJ escaped through music.

Ida Ward York: Are you guys getting excited excited for tour tomorrow?

TJ Strohmer: Yeah, definitely.

IWY: Are there any specific places that you’re excited for?

TS: For this weekend, I'd say I'm excited for all of them just because of who we’re playing with. Then Boston, we haven’t been there in a while. Once we go back out to SXSW I haven’t been to any of those places so I’m excited for sure.

IWY:  Do you guys have any pre-show rituals?

TS: Not really, I feel like when we get to the show we kinda just go separately for a while because we’re together all day long. Usually once we get there we all kinda need our time alone, so I guess that is a ritual in a way. I found that we drift from each other before playing a little bit, but it’s not really a ritual, it's just what happens.

IWY: How do you see yourself moving forward as a band as you start getting into more touring this spring? 

TS: We’re working on a new album as well and I guess just keeping everything going, trying to get better at everything all the time and just keep pushing what we can do all the time. Definitely getting to play for the people who might’ve been following us for a while and haven’t gotten to see us because we haven’t really done a lot of touring. Just trying to cover a lot of ground while still focusing on what we do at home.  

IWY: Does it ever feel too heavy to play songs like “Suffer” live?

TS: No, because by the time they get to the live setting the meaning for that song is gone to me. It’s really just for other people at that point, I’ll write a song and it probably won’t see the light of day for a year or two at least. When I’m on stage, I'm still nervous about executing it correctly so I’m really just trying to focus on the technical aspects and I’m not really thinking about what the song is most of the time. It’s just notes at that point. 

IWY: I was shocked to find out most of Animal Drowning was written pre-pandemic with its verging on apocalyptic themes that a lot of people seemed to realize during or post-pandemic. How do you think the album would’ve been received differently if you released it at a different time?

TS: I think that the kind of music that we’re making, what we’re influenced by, and all of our peers right now [would be different]. We were always expressing a certain outlook and disposition and I feel like the pandemic and the other events of that time kind of forced it into the spotlight for everyone and put it on this stage that maybe only us on the outside saw before. People just started identifying with sadder or darker music because that time shifted the way they probably think about their lives and everything. Yeah, how it would’ve been received, it would’ve just been not as known, like we were before. It was crazy how much our audience expanded during that time. Even though it's not good that any of that stuff happened, I feel if more people are connecting with cathartic music, that's good because not everyone has a relationship with music that's so connected to the way they feel everyday and so essential to their existence. If more people have that relationship with music then that's a good thing.

IWY: How was the transition from a solo bedroom project to integrating an entire band?

TS: It was grueling, it’s still happening you know, it’s been like five years of playing live and I only have one band member who was there from the very beginning. Every phase of the band has been really great and important to us, but I think now I finally have all the exact right people for what I want to be doing. We’re sharing this feeling and this vision together finally. It’s been very difficult getting a group of people to have that trust in me, and I have trust in them too, but it’s finally paying off because I’m really happy with the way it’s going right now; as far as my relationship with my bandmates and their connection to the music. 

IWY: In “Promise" you say, “You’re born into this shit, and you are what you are.” How did the Philly music scene help you get out of the 9-5 system that you write in songs like “Promise”?

TS: I wouldn’t say it’s specific to Philly because I was always going to shows, I grew up in southern Maryland and they had shows at churches there. 

Well, when I think about it, it is specific to Philly in a sense because that was my draw to come here is the art community. The experience of being one of the weirdest people in a 60 mile radius, I don’t need to have that again. When I was in college I was playing myself in a way because I was still hanging onto this prescription for life. I’ve had every opportunity to have an office job and normal existence, and I’m lucky for that in a lot of ways, but I guess even though I tried, it could never be for me. Living here and seeing the examples of doing whatever you want, and it doesn’t even have to materialize into making albums or anything helped me to realize everything is bullshit and I just want to make music so I’ll just do that and whatever happens is fine.

IWY: What music are you really loving right now? 

TS: I was listening to the new Yo La Tengo Album, it’s really good. Just a lot of songs, I haven’t been into any albums specifically really. Just like Nick Drake and Bob Dylan. I found this song called “Drug Song” by Allen Hull that’s really good. 

I’ve been exploring some of the experimental music on No Rent Records from Pilly, there’s a lot of good noise albums. They have hundreds of albums, I’ve barely scratched the surface of it. The one I really like is Mourners Kaddish by Rose Actor Angle, it’s an ambient album apparently inspired by this person’s dog dying; really good.

IWY: You’re playing your dream show. Where is it and who’s on the bill with you? 

TS: Us headlining a stadium, and just playing for like two or three hours. It’s kind of nerve racking playing with other people or opening for someone. If I said like Bob Dylan, everyones there to see Bob Dylan so it wouldn’t be a good experience for us. The stadium, that's the dream that's only a dream. Just like when everyone’s there for you and you have that confidence of already knowing that they like it. That helps me be more loose and just be better!

Words: Ida Ward York // Photos: Bella Savignano

Keep up with Knifeplay on Instagram and stream on Spotify or Apple Music.