Use Knife

Use Knife is Saif Al-Qaissy, Stef Heeren and Kwinten Mordijck in collaboration with multidisciplinary artist Youniss Ahamad. Their residency at art centre VIERNULVIER during Covid-19 sparked the enthusiasm to bring their Belgian and Iraqi musical backgrounds together. Youniss Ahamad is responsible for the scenography and visual component. Use Knife’s debut album 'The Shedding of Skin' was released in September 2022 by VIERNULVIER records. The title refers to the human instinct to survive and to leave war and disaster behind and build a new life in a completely different environment. The album was mixed by Radwan Ghazi Moumneh (Jerusalem in my Heart) at Hotel2Tango (Godspeed You Black Emperor, Vic Chesnutt, Arcade Fire). Radwan also plays buzuq and synthesizer on the track ‘To feed the Gentry’. For Use Knife’s liveshow Youniss Ahamad projects shifting and reassembling abstract images and text on three separate gauze cloths, with the musicians, who are behind these cloths, always present either as moving shadows or faraway aspects. “There is nothing half-hearted about Use Knife as a live act. You get the distinct feeling that each member is totally energised by this iteration of their collective art. A Belgian article dubbed their sound “electronic outsider music,” yet for me it is an all-embracing vortex that allows those experiencing it a chance to plunge, headfirst, into a hypnotic state that veers between a dreamlike trance and a sensual workout.” said The Quietus. In 2022 and 2023 they played at Le Guess Who?, Sonic City, Videodroom, Grauzone, Worm, Wrong Fest, among others. 2024 will bring Roadburn and Peel Slowly and See Festivals.

Ihre Musik handelt von Flucht und Vertreibung und von der Hoffnung auf Leben, sie erzählt von der Sehnsucht nach Frieden und vom Neubeginn durch die Anverwandlung des Alten. Den Namen ihres Trios haben Saif Al-Qaissy, Stef Heeren und Kwinten Mordijck bei einem Song von Current 93 entlehnt: The stars spell grammar or use knife. Ihre Musik ist von arabischen und westlichen Stilen geprägt. Gerade Techno-Beats werden durch komplizierte Polyrhythmen gebrochen, durch geloopte Samples von Doholas, Kishbas und anderen arabischen Perkussionsinstrumenten. Beim donaufestival stellen Use Knife ihr neues Album État Coupable vor.