Knower (band)

Background

Louis Cole studied music in Los Angeles, California, graduating from the Jazz Studies program at USC Thornton in 2009. He became good friends with fellow musician Jack Conte in 2006. Both composed and recorded some songs which are present on Conte's YouTube channel. Conte suggested Cole start releasing his music online. Genevieve Artadi also studied music in Los Angeles. Cole met Artadi through the LA-based saxophonist Robby Marshall. They then joined forces in 2009 to begin creating pop music. They released their first album in 2010. In addition, they maintain their own respective channels, often collaborating on each others' solo releases.

Style

Knower performs a unique mixture of Electronic Funk music with elements of EDM, Pop, Rock, and Jazz Fusion. Staccato Jazz-tinged chords, layered vocals, and Cole's fast-paced, technically proficient drumming can be found throughout their repertoire.

Their unique arrangements of Pop tracks that defined their earlier work often exhibited a disregard for keeping to the original melody, creating new and eclectic compositions around the original lyrics.

In addition, the duo have created their own special visual effects, often featuring abstract, surreal, low-poly/low-fi, cosmic, or otherwise unusual imagery and animation. Many of their videos consist of the band members interacting with the visuals either through projection or green screen technology. Their aesthetic and use of projectors has inspired other YouTube bands, including collaborators Pomplamoose.

Career

In early 2010, the group began to upload their music to YouTube. Their first video, a cover of Britney Spears's song "3" got a lot of hits quickly thanks to Jack Conte promoting it on YouTube. Another early video release, "Window Shop" (originally recorded on Louis Cole's first album) also got a lot of hits thanks to a front page YouTube feature. In this same year, they released their first album called "Louis Cole and Genevieve Artadi."

The following year in 2011, their second album "Think Thoughts" was released. Songs such as "Around" and "I Remember" presented some heavy funk grooves. Soon after the release of this album, the group collaborated with Pomplamoose to release a single, "It Goes On." Sporting the group's distinctive electro-funk sound, the single brought increased visibility to the duo.

"Let Go", Knower's third album, was released in 2013. They followed the release of "Let Go" with a performance at Bonnaroo Festival with Soul Khan, Jenny Suk, and Black Violin. Knower also went on a tour of the east coast United States with duo WeYou, consisting of Nate Wood and Jesske Hume.

In 2014, Knower released the non-album single "I Must Be Dreaming", and toured the East Coast and the South. They were also presented by Quincy Jones in a new artist concert series in Los Angeles. Their song "Fuck the Makeup, Skip the Shower" was featured on FlyLo FM on the next-gen version of Grand Theft Auto V.

In 2015, Knower recorded with Snarky Puppy on their Family Dinner Vol. 2.

In 2016 they formed a 5-piece live band as an alternative lineup. Apart from the core members, the band at various points included Tim Lefebvre, Dennis Hamm, Sam Wilkes, Sam Gendel, Nate Wood and Jonah Nilsson. Their European tour of 2016, as well as parts of the US tour, featured the live band.

The duo have created their own special visual effects and projector technology, which inspired other YouTube bands like Pomplamoose.

Members

Albums

Singles

Videos