Kevin Bronson on April 13th, 2020

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A sound engineer with no sound to engineer, Daniel Knowles is turning his energies toward The Know, the dream-pop music he makes with his wife, Jennifer Farmer. Their first single “143” has taken off, and in today’s QUARANTUNES, they share a “Bedroom Sessions” version of it, along with their creative workarounds and a playlist for a “candlelit bath and glass of wine.”

THE LATEST FROM THE KNOW

The Know is the continuation of the work that husband-wife Daniel Knowles and Jennifer Farmer began under the name Ghostel. Legend is that once upon a time, instead of traveling home for the holidays (to the U.K. and Texas, respectively), they stayed home to create music together. Knowles had a deep background as a musician, producer and engineer; Farmer had no training at all. But inspired by their shared love of artists such as Beach House, Julee Cruise, Ye Ye, the Jesus and Mary Chain, ’60s girl groups, they dove in.

The Know debuted in late 2019 with the single “143,” a song that takes the spirit of Tom Waits’ “(Looking for) The Heart of Saturday Night” and send it into the ether. “Weekends are all I wanna do,” Farmer sings over the warm, dreamy textures. The duo followed early this year with “Hold Me Like You Know Me,” a lament about isolation that feels particularly relevant right now.

Both songs will appear on the duo forthcoming EP, “Wearetheknow,” arriving soon (see below). The hazy soundscapes come courtesy of Daniel, once of the U.K. shoegaze band Amusement Parks on Fire and since he alighted in the U.S., a touring sound engineer for bands such as Cigarettes After Sex, Sharon Van Etten and Phoebe Bridgers and the production honcho at L.A.’s Bootleg Theater. Jennifer’s plaintive vocals are perfect for the mix. She also directs the duo’s videos.

Today, the duo unveil a quarantine/”Bedroom Sessions” recording of “143” — find it below, with the original video for the song.

HOW ARE YOU HOLDING UP AND WHAT ARE YOU DOING TO MANAGE THE ‘STAY AT HOME’ EDICT?

Daniel Knowles: We’re bored, of course, as I think is everyone is right now. It’s crazy how much you take leaving the house and seeing people for granted.

We have been using the time to record some new songs. We made a live bedroom recording for “143” and will likely be making more of those. Lots of cooking, cleaning, trying to find creative workarounds for lost work. Our dogs are stoked, of course, that we’re all together all day every day so there is that upside for them.

“Twin Peaks: The Return” and “The Leftovers” will be getting a full re-watch, too, I’m sure, before this is over.

WHAT ARE YOU MOST LOOKING FORWARD TO WHEN THIS IS OVER?

Daniel Knowles: Lots of mundane things: Going to buy orange juice and not having to mentally calculate if I’m six feet from another human being, not worrying about “droplets,” knowing I’ve got the rent covered, dog parks, beaches, bars and restaurants, wandering the aisles of Amoeba aimlessly.

We were, as all this escalated, set to release a new single (“Someday Maybe”), and Jennifer had directed a video for it, but with all the uncertainty we decided to postpone releasing both a few weeks. It should be seeing the light of day, hopefully in April, and the EP will finally come out not long after that.

Also, for now, the Bootleg Theater (which I production manage and do sound at regularly) is closed, and I miss that place and the people that both work and play there very much. Other tours that I was set to mix were canceled overnight and we (The Know) were in the process of putting our own live show together, but had to halt all of that for now. Sadly, these experiences are far from unique to me, all musicians and those that work in live music are in the same boat right now, this has hit a lot of people I care about hard, and I’m wishing everyone the best.

ANYTHING WE SHOULD KNOW ABOUT THIS PLAYLIST?

Daniel Knowles: For the most part we tried to steer clear of downbeat and apocalyptic stuff (“Apocalypse” and “The End of the World” being the exceptions). Instead, this is a playlist to soothe in troubled times, the aural equivalent of a warm candlelit bath and glass of wine.