New Artist Feature: Kai Knightley
Kai Knightley: ‘I Want to See The Whole City in Lights’
Southampton’s Kai Knightley is a musician of Estonian decent who is just about
to drop his first EP Origami, but already has big plans for the future.
Kai Knightley leans back in his chair at the local Starbucks, looking like an Urban Outfitters’ model had just escaped the pages of its magazine. His plaid button up matches the beanie that sits a top his mop of black hair, not to mention the large black-framed glasses that he immediately dismisses as simply “fashion”. This upcoming Estonian musician’s debut EP Origami drops on 2nd December, just two days, and he seems calm yet excited.
He has brought a gift with him, an origami figure of a cat. With each EP he sells, he will be giving away a homemade origami figure with the bundle. His favorite figures to make are the quite complicated elephant and T-rex. “I’ve been doing [origami] for a long time,” he comments. “It started when I was thinking what to give a girl when we were in a relationship.”
The acoustic-pop EP Origami may only be Knightley’s first release, but he has big plans for the future, including eventually starting his own independent label named Storytime Records. “I want to tour. I want to play. It’s really important for me because I have this vision in my mind, this spark.” This spark is what brought him to England from Estonia, and is currently driving him through his music production degree at Southampton Solent University. England has become his second home and a place where he can be active in his genre within the music scene.
Knightley regularly plays at many of Southampton’s open mic nights, as well as small, and sometimes usual, gigs throughout the city. “I played in Southampton airport once. The stage was right next to the arrivals corridor. It was my first ever time playing in an airport,” he says seriously, as if it is a common occurrence in every musician’s initiation.
Though he is a regular live performer, Knightley still gets nervous every time he has a gig. He has a method of keeping calm by being as confident as possible and pumping himself up. “It’s just how I become the act I am. I tell myself ‘I’m excited. I’m fucking excited. I’m killing it.’ And it kind of works for me.” People tell him that he’s egotistical because of this, but he admits to being less confident in everyday life. On stage is when he is able to come alive.
As Knightley relaxes onto the table, a tattoo becomes visible on his forearm. It reads “Nightly Skyline” in flowing script. “It was the name of my first ever band. It meant so much to me, I just put it into my skin. I see myself reaching the top of skyscrapers, opening the door, and seeing the whole city in lights.” It seems this vision is a bit of a metaphor for his musical goals.
On leaving the coffee shop, Knightley’s confidence shines through in his eyes. Though he is just in the first stages of his career, he has the right frame of mind and “spark” to make it far.
