An Interview with KNEECAP
KNEECAP are a Northern Ireland based hip hop trio. They sing and rap in Irish. NSG’s David Lancaster & Nathaniel MacParland spoke to Mo Chara, Móglaí Bap and DJ Próvaí, along with the band’s manager Dan, to chat about growing up in west Belfast, writing a song for their mums and their love of homemade soup!
NSG: Hi guys, thanks again for the interview. You fellas grew up in Belfast, were you all into music from an early age? You lads are now an established, exciting, and energetic live act, how did it all come together for you as a band?
MC: There was an Irish language act and there was a march coming up and we were gonna march from the Falls Road down to the City Hall and the night before a couple of lads were out spray painting on the route and someone wrote the word “cearta” which means rights, as in language rights and there was gonna be 10, 000 people at the march who were going to march past it, that was the idea, and anyway, they made a balls up of the letter C so that had to be fixed as it was fucking stupid looking, just as that was going on a police car pulled up and one of the lads managed to get away but the other lad got pulled, but he refused to speak English and would answer to the police in Irish only, so he had to spend the night in the cells till there was an interpreter found the next day. So, we always wanted to do something with music and we thought fuck it, this is probably the best idea for it and that was like the perfect story for us to start and start our first song.
MB: That was it and obviously we all grew up in Belfast, all young people speaking Irish, partying, taking some substances, class A narcotics.
MC: That’s pretty much the summary of how it all started anyway, we’re all musical and we all play instruments and it just sort of happened naturally after that. It’s kind of a representation of a subculture that exists in Belfast, us speaking Irish language, just community and craic and DJ nights.
NSG: For me, a lot of your stuff is based on humour, like everyone from the North you love taking the piss. Who created the band’s logo?.. It’s a laugh.
MB: We came up with the idea of the hat and the knee, we were thinking for ages and we were wanting a gun with it and stuff, but that didn’t really make the cut, no AK47. We scribbled a load of drawings onto the back of an envelope and then we sent it on to this guy who made it look all professional. A guy called diabhal666, you mighta seen him by now on Instagram, he does all our artwork and he’s incredible. I think that logo encapsulates West Belfast in one image, so I think we got it.
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NSG: The last 12 months have been such a challenging time for everyone working in the industry, did you manage to keep active and stay creative? Did anything have to be rearranged or scrapped?
MB: A lot of gigs got scrapped.
MC: It was very very hard to be creative during the lockdown. I thought there was fuck all inspiration there, just looking at the same four walls, drinking the same tins of beer every night. Gigs were cancelled and gigs weren’t getting booked and it was hard to get back on it but we’ve been back on the bandwagon now for about three or four months and at the end of lockdown the creativity started again.
MB: It only took us three lockdowns before we started being creative.
DJP: It was like having a big massive wank at the end of it all.
NSG: Following on from that, how did you deal with things yourselves in terms of staying in contact with family, friends, and fans?
MB: Social media was good for anybody who’s interested in the band, we did try and keep in touch that way. It was quiet over lockdown but now we’re working on a movie and stuff, so things are kicking again.
MC: It’s actually a feature film, we were going to do a documentary film a while back but that didn’t happen. This feature film is loosely based on KNEECAP with us as characters and it’ll be about West Belfast life… so we’ve been helping to write that for the last year or so, and the writer, he’s just finishing the script and we’ll be filming in May. We’ve already filmed the trailer for it, a trailer that they send off to investors, so that’s almost edited.
NSG: You have a unique sound, rapping in Irish, something we don’t really hear too much here in England. What artists have you heard yourselves being compared to?
MB: Not many really.
MC: Punk, Hip Hop artists, our performance is very punk like. When you come to our show you’ll be leaving soaking wet, covered in our sweat.
NSG: Tell us about the song MAM, a gorgeous tune that you wrote about your mums. It’s a bit of a gear change compared to your usual songs, was there a bit of a Tupac influence coming through on that tune?
MB: I’d say we’re all into Tupac but we had the idea for that song a few years ago.
MC: Yes that tune was in the pipeline for a while.
MB: I don’t know where it came from exactly but we wanted to do something that had a bit of contrast to our other tunes.
MC: That was the idea, that we can “roundhouse” you off the stage but we can also give you a hug afterwards. We wanted to do something a bit sentimental, we don’t wanna just box ourselves in with masculinity all the time.
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NSG: So you lads have been seen shooting the breeze with Jon Snow, (Channel 4 news), talking about what it means to be Taig or a Prod in today’s seemingly trouble free Northern Ireland. What do you think the future holds for you ‘Good Friday agreement babies,‘ Is there still work to be done or are the balaclavas getting retired? And what about the sea border? Do you think it’s another imaginary border or one that could bring about its own future issues?
MC: It’s been very quiet here for a while now but up until three or four years ago you were guaranteed riots every July. It’s been quiet until all this Brexit and Sea Border thing and the Unionist community is starting to kick up. I don’t think they can pinpoint what they’re kicking up about and it’s being masked as a sea border thing. It all comes from a long string of bad decisions made by unionist leaders over the years.Working class people are now starting to feel the frustration of that. You obviously saw the rioting last year and all the camera crews were loving it for their “Poverty Porn”.Tensions are a little higher but other than that we’re all working class people and nobody wants trouble, everybody just wants to get on and have a few extra pound in their pocket.
MB: There’s been a suicide epidemic on the streets since the Good Friday agreement, so it seems like the violence has moved from the outside to the inside.
DJP: The working class people need to come together now.
MC: Them riots last year was just young kids, 16 year olds with nothing to do, all the youth clubs closed because of covid so they had nothing else to do.
DJP: You have to remember too that rioting is good craic so who could blame them.
MC: It’s more fun than being sat in missing penalties on FIFA.
NSG: Would you go out for a romantic meal with Arlene Foster every night for a year if she agreed to only speak in Gaelic? or …..would you rather spend 22 days in a cell in Maghaberry with Edwin Poots to have a number one album?
MC: Fuckin’ right I would, on both those things.
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NSG: Some great musicians have come out of Northern Ireland such as Van Morrison, The Undertones, and Snow Patrol, to name just a few, were those guys an inspiration for you? Do you feel any pressure to match their successes?
MC: No, The Undertones were good though.
MB: Snow Patrol are dire.
MC: Stiff Little Fingers were good too, but no, we don’t feel any pressure whatsoever, and I wasn’t inspired by them at all.
MB: Those artists didn’t really sing about our culture and they were singing in borderline American accents, they weren’t singing about anything here.
NSG: I was reading that back in the day you never used to leave the gaff without your bucket hat because of your love for the Stone Roses, what’s your favourite tune by them?
MC: Oh fuuuck that’s a good question. Bye, Bye Badman is probably my favourite tune or Ten Story Love Song.
MB: Wonderwall haha!
KNEECAP
NSG: And on that subject was ‘C.E.A.R.T.A‘ inspired by Ian Brown’s acrostic styled ‘F.E.A.R’ tune?
MC: Nooo, actually aye fuck it yeah it was (laughs)..we were just making it straightforward so people could follow it.
MB: Yeah we were making it easy for people to say it out loud.
MC: Because obviously, it was our first tune as well like so if we hadda put a beautiful, rich 4000 year old Irish sentence in it dya know what I mean?…don’t think people (on the radio) would be going …” And next up is” ….haha, make it straightforward for people even if they don’t speak Irish. C.E.A.R.T.A, like it’s pretty fucking take ya by the hand and walk ya round it dya know what I mean.
NSG: Best place to bevvy in Belfast these days? Would you lads prefer a session in Thompson’s Garage or would you like something a bit more chilled like Lavery’s or the Duke of York?
MB: Thompson’s Garage definitely, I used to get beaten up and thrown out by the bouncers there!
MC: They had some trigger happy bouncers down there for years like. They had to change their bouncers every few months because they were throwing kids downstairs and all, big ‘Wall Punchers’ like.
MB: But we went every week anyway haha.
NSG: So where would you’s drink these days in Belfast?
MB: Madden’s probably, sit outside, smoke a joint, and have a pint of Guinness.
DJP: TEACH BUG, the wee house, it’s a wee house bar.
MC: It’s at the end of our street. I mean, it’s handy but it’s also dangerous, being able to walk down for a pint in your slippers.
MC: We owe him 14 quid for four pints. I came up one night and said dya mind tickin’ us and he was like “of course not”, so I was like “see you know we’re good for it” and he was “no no no I just know where yas live!!”
NSG: What do you fellas consider to be your best work so far, what song do you reckon will stand alone and stand the test of time?
DJP: My favourite would be ‘H.O.O.D‘.It’s a banger like. It’s the signature.
MB: ‘Sniffer Dogs’ for me I think. I like the track and it has all different parts to it.
MC: I’d go with ‘Fenian Cunts‘.
MB: All of them!!
DJP: ‘Get your Brits Out‘ would be a fan’s favourite.
NSG: You play here in Liverpool on Saturday the 18th at The o2 Academy at the beginning of your ‘What’s The Story Moaning Tory’ tour and we’re very much looking forward to catching you lads on stage… How’s the current tour going? Any funny stories from the tour van? Any bad habits, who snores the loudest?
MB: Who snorts the loudest?
MC: Who snorts the most? Big fuckin’ hoover face there (looks at DJ Provai) 100% DJ Provai snorts the most. If anyones reading this or whatever, never split a gram with DJ Provai or that’s the end of it!!
MB: Before lockdown, we were going to America on tour and we all got working visas, but DJ Provai got rejected.
MC: They wouldn’t let him in and he won’t tell us why.
MB: There was something on his laptop haha!!
MC: Haha security reasons!!
DJP: It was when they’d seen a guy wearing a tri-colour balaclava.
MC: As far as tour stories go, on the van, it’s mostly sleeping. You’re up till all hours see, trying to have a wank in a van.
MB: It’s bizarre
MC: Moglai Bap has the smelliest feet though.
NSG: So as you lads are getting ready for your Liverpool gig are there any bands from Merseyside that you listened to when you were growing up? Anyone from this area you are influenced by now?
DJP: My dad was a Beatles fan so we always had them on in the house when we were growing up. I’ve a Zutons album in the house too. I actually used to hide my porno mag in the sleeve..keep that a secret though.
MC: Nah keep that in.
DJP: Aye it was the one with the wee spaceship kinda vibe.. ‘Who Killed The Zutons’.
MC: It’s all stuck together now, haha. We love the scouse like, anytime we’re over we’re only here for a few days but at the gigs, it’s maybe 50% scouse and 50% Irish.
MB: Aye the Scousers are sound as fuck.
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NSG: What’s the best gig you have played so far and where would you really like to play, what’s your dream venue?
MC: Best gig so far for me was the Body and Soul gig we done. This was about three years ago, we were getting a bit of a following and they gave us a Friday slot at a festival at 6pm and we thought ther’d be fuck all people there. Nobody was expecting anything and they had one security guard on. It’s a big stage like and the laptop overheated coz it was going that mad and the stage was rushed by about thirty people and it was just chaos, nobody was expecting it. 80% of the crowd didn’t know who we were but there was a few thousand there. There’s not much music on the Friday like so the place was electric.
MB: Probably playing in front of 6 or 7 thousand people at Electric Picnic. We managed to sneak in some flares, and we give them out to the crowd and they lit them up. Once they lit them up then the promoter rang our manager saying turn them flares off, but it was nothing to do with us ha.Yer, like 6 or 7 thousand people there and it was our biggest gig yet.
MC: That was about 8pm, but the lineup was a dance tent, all DJs and stuff.The poster we were on, the names surrounding it was fucking surreal.
MB: After that gig, we were all back in the green room off our heads on ketamine and Bono was there, right in front of us with his security guards, and our manager Dan was trying to get a photo organised with him. The security guards we’re like ”fuck off” and then we we’re shouting at Bono taking the piss out of him.
MC: They all left. I was calling him something from one side and you were giving him shit from the other side.
DJP: I was talking to a band from Derry, a punk band called The Touts and we were sitting there and their manager was saying Bono wants to meet yas and I jumped out in front of them and shouted ”Bono ya wanker!!!”
MC: The amount of people that were raging with me, I was like chill out he’s Bono, he’s not gonna be that annoyed he’s gonna laugh all the way to the bank.Dream gig would be a good stage at Glastonbury, that would be class.
DJP: Croke Park would be class, It’d be fuckin’ massive.
MC: I tell you what, it wouldn’t be a dream gig but it would definitely be up there just because it’s been a tradition since I was 16 or 17, every year I would go to it… the FEILE in Falls Park. Just coz it was all the people that washed my arse when I was a kid. You know like people from West Belfast, but that will happen, it’s inevitable that one.
NSG: So you’ve just finished that dream gig then at Croke Park, your manager here treats you all to a chippy tea on your way home.. what are you all ordering, and who has the worst diet in the band?
DJP: I’ve just recently turned vegetarian.
MB: So that’s shit for him then, toast haha.
DJP: A nice curry, salt’n’pepper chips, and a veggie burger.
MB: I don’t eat, I’ll just have two yolks and a line.
MC: To be honest like we’ve all got a pretty decent diet like we all do plenty of cooking. Loads of soup, we make our own soup every fuckin’ day, lentils and you name it, put what ya want in it. It’s going in my fuckin’ stomach and out my hole. On tour, it is different though.
DJP: Yeah it’s a nostril diet and it’s a lot more difficult to maintain like.
MB: Not as many nutrients.
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NSG: Tell us about your album then, ‘3cag‘, where did you record it? Who was it produced by and did anyone else give you a hand in the studio and was it good working with them?
MB: We produced it, we did C.E.A.R.TA. first, we just stuck it out and we didn’t have any idea of what we were gonna do next we just stuck it out for the craic. We didn’t know if anyone was gonna like it but some people did so we cracked on and made a lot of the mixtape in the house and got DJ Provai in the house in our attic room in Beechmount, our estate. Then we went to our local studio and had other people helping. We just made up the ideas, just cracked on with all the concepts ourselves. We knew we’d have to play live to properly have an influence on people. We just rushed on coz we wanted to get those tunes down.
DJP: We rushed the fuck out of it too because there was only so much studio time we could afford, two hours here, two hours there.
MC: In fairness, we have to give a shout out to Stephen from AMPS studio, Ciaran too. Stephen was basically gonna just be the sound engineer but he was expecting us to have it complete, we had about 80% of the tunes done for most of them, but we were like “here Stephen fuckin’ wire the guitar in there” or something. Fair play to him like he carried it.
MB: Yer AMPS is our local studio, they gave us everything very cheap, we were very lucky.
MC: Yer we owe them a lotta tick as well haha. So yer, it’s all self funded self and self produced aye, self published too.
NSG: What’s coming up next for the band, what’s your plans for the next 12 months or so?
DAN: The next 12 months have some pretty big things in store! After this UK Tour, we have a 4 city headline tour of Ireland, finishing with a 2000 capacity sold out Olympia Theatre in Dublin which will be special. That venue was our last Irish gig before lockdown where we played support to Fontaines DC on a night they curated for a homeless charity.
NSG: Once again thank you for giving us the chance to interview you guys, anything else you’d like to add?
DAN: Nah just to say thanks for taking the time to chat to us, We love Liverpool and can’t wait to be back!
MC: See you soon in Liverpool.
KNEECAP play Liverpool’s Arts club this sat the18th Sept, follow them on social media and buy tickets click the links in pink below.
