The Knocks Go Behind The Scenes Of Their “I Wish (My Taylor Swift)” Video: Idolator Premiere

Bianca Gracie | November 16, 2015 11:05 am
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The Knocks have always been an Idolator favorite, and with their latest “I Wish (My Taylor Swift)” single the NYC duo are ready to full take on the dance-pop mainstream arena.

Today (November 16) we are premiering an exclusive behind-the-scenes clip from the fembot-filled music video, which stars singer and fellow New Yorker Matthew Koma. I also caught up with The Knocks about the current status of their forthcoming debut album, joining Taylor Swift‘s squad and collaborating with Carly Rae Jepsen.

Get into the behind-the-scenes video up top, and catch our latest chat with The Knocks below!

First off, how did you guys come up with the video’s concept?
B-ROC: That was mainly the director [Allie Avital], really. She is a cool chick that we’ve worked with before on the “Classic” video, and I’ve always liked her stuff because she tends to make things a bit weirder and borderline uncomfortable. We said we wanted a video that definitely had a nod to Taylor Swift, but just in a more clever way. So she included all of the fembots, which I thought was cool.

I’ve been following your music for a few years now, and this new single has a defined pop sound. Were you nervous about releasing a song that was more mainstream?
JPATT: A little bit, because I think our fans are so used to what we do. But we think we did a really good job of fusing the two so it still sounds like a Knocks record, it’s just a little more pop.
B-ROC: Exactly, it doesn’t feel like it’s a huge departure from us. We just look at it like with every song we put out, we’re always evolving instead of being a one-trick pony. It feels like a slow and natural process, which is good.

I remember when speaking with you guys at SXSW about the album, you said it has a slower, groovier feel with less bangers. Does that still apply?
B-ROC: I think the definition of “banger” is always changing, but there’s songs that can be played in both a club and concert environment. But I think it’s less EDM-leaning.
JPATT: We just made a cool pop record, and the production is a very evolved version of us.

So when can we expect this album? I’m getting impatient!
B-ROC: [laughs] We actually will be announcing it soon! It will come out early next year, and we have a big tour rolling out in January. It’s our first U.S. headlining tour, which will be fun. Between now and then, we’ll slowly start putting out new music instead of dropping it all at once. That seems to be how people are ingesting music nowadays. I promise it’s coming — the album is completely mastered — but it’s just a matter of rolling it out properly.

I can’t wait for it! But back to the “I Wish (My Taylor Swift)” single. You first remixed Matthew Koma’s “So Fuckin’ Romantic” song a few months back, so why did you decide to choose him again for the album’s lead single?
B-ROC: That happened after we had already made the song. He reached out to us when we were performing with RAC, and he saw our opening set and really liked it. He DM’ed us on Twitter and was like, “Hey, let’s do a song!” The first thing that came out was “I Wish.” He’s a really nice guy and actually cares about the music. He’s done some big shit, like he’s all over the Zedd album but he believed in us as artists. It was an honor to have him reach out.

Going along with the Taylor Swift trend, her squad is becoming massive. Do you ever plans to be a part of it?
JPATT: [laughs] No, I don’t!
B-ROC: Yea, I don’t think that’s something for us. I’d love to hang out with her, for sure — but the song is less about being down with Taylor and more about a metaphorical picture of success in general, whether it’s her or any other popstar at the moment. It’s all about making it and an imaginary dream world, which is what the video represents.

I’m going to sidetrack a bit here. I saw a photo on your Facebook page with Ben posing with Carly Rae Jepsen. Can you give any hints on what we can expect?
B-ROC: We can just tell you to expect something! That was another collaboration that happened naturally. We did a technically illegal bootleg remix of her [“All That” song] and put it online. She liked it so much that she posted it, so we followed up by saying we wanted to do a song with her. She’s the coolest girl ever and the song is rad. Hopefully the world will hear it soon.

Tropical house seems to be taking over mainstream, with songs like Justin Bieber’s “What Do You Mean?” In the midst of all that, how do see The Knocks fitting in with what’s happening in dance right now?
B-ROC: I think the idea of going back to song-based dance music and songs that have a little bit more emotion is a good thing, and I think that is what’s generally happening in dance music. It has feeling, instead of pounding 128 BPMs to get kids to jump up & down as much as they can. That era seems to be over, so it’s a good time for us. We’ve been doing this for a while now, and it seems the mainstream is just now catching up. All the kids who were listening to Swedish House Mafia a couple of years ago are now turning to acts like Disclosure.

So wrapping up here. There has been some truly great albums released this year, and I wanted to know what were your favorites that came out in 2o15.
JPATT: The Ghostface Killah album [Sour Soul] was good, I loved Tame Impala‘s Currents. I’ve actually been listening to older ’60s music for inspiration, like the Doobie Brothers.
B-ROC: For me, [Future and Drake‘s] What A Time To Be Alive and Sufjan Stevens had a really great record. I like the Carly Rae Jepsen album as well!

The Knocks ‘Route 55’ North American Tour

10/30 – San Francisco, CA – Armory (DJ Set)
10/31 – Denver, CO – Club Vinyl (DJ Set)
11/13 – Austin, TX – Kingdom (DJ Set)
11/20 – New York, NY – Webster Hall (homecoming show)
1/15 – Philadelphia, PA – The Foundry @ The Fillmore++
1/16 – Washington, DC – 9:30 Club++
1/19 – Cambridge, MA – The Sinclair++
1/21 – Montreal, QC – Le Belmont**
1/22 – Toronto, ON – Mod Club **
1/23 – Chicago, IL – Lincoln Hall **
1/26 – Minneapolis, MN – 7th Street Entry **
1/28 – Ames, IA – The Maintenance Shop**
1/29 – Lincoln, NE – Vega**
1/31 – Salt Lake City, UT – Urban Lounge **
2/03 – Vancouver, BC – Imperial Vancouver **
2/04 – Seattle, WA – Neumos **
2/05 – Portland, OR – Doug Fir Lounge **
2/06 – Eugene, OR – HiFi Music Hall**
2/08 – Orangevale, CA – The Boardwalk++
2/09 – San Francisco, CA – The Independent++
2/12 – San Diego, CA – Casbah++
2/13 – Los Angeles, CA – El Rey Theatre++

**Supported by Cardiknox

++Supported by Cardiknox + SOFI TUKKER

Click here for ticket information about the Route 55 tour. Are you amped for The Knocks’ debut album? Let us know below, or by hitting us up on Facebook and Twitter!