Knotted at Hull beach while on tour
Steve Farrell is a man as defined by his many talents as he is by his work ethic and relentless creativity, but that work reflects years of graft and discovery.
From growing up in the Montagu council estate in Newcastle, Farrell has progressed with his endeavours to become an professional wrestler, create his own show, and start a band.
Knotted were set in motion when Farrell moved to Great Yarmouth, Norfolk.
The first gig took place in a music venue in Canning Town, East London.
Relaxed from a short day’s filming of his popular TV show Our Town, Farrell sits down to chat about that first gig.
“It was at a venue called the Arch1 Club, a very small venue, with a capacity of 60 people.
“I’ve always been a fan of intimate venues. You’ve got that connection with an audience. It still sticks with me, because these venues – it’s like playing in a large living room.”
Knotted at Canning Town’s iconic Arch1 venue in their early days
A testament to the time, Knotted’s first gig was performed at the Arch1 before the nearby Star Lane DLR station was even there.
“You could only get off the tube at West Ham or Canning Town.
“It’s on the old archways [hence the name]. Now there’s the entrance to Star Lane [but before] was a little road which backed out onto industrial units.
“I think that was their problem getting people in, because it’s not obvious.”
But therein lied the appeal.
“At the time – I can’t say now because I haven’t played there in a long time – it was a very good vibe. It kind of felt like an upcoming area, and you had quite a mix of people.
“We sold that place out for our first gig.”
After many line-up changes, Knotted are now a three-piece band made up of Farrell on vocals, Will Allinson on rhythmic guitar and Andy Marr on cajon, a percussion instrument. They have been described by Timeout magazine as “acoustic pop-folkies from Yarmouth”, a description Farrell appreciates.
The story of Knotted has taken them from humble beginnings to nationwide touring.
Every story collects its funny characters and wild experiences, and Knotted’s journey was no different.
Steve recalls, “There was a band called East End Promises, and the owner asked us to support them. They were proper London cockney ‘geezers’.
“One night, we’d done a support slot as a duet, and [after the gig] we were following them around Canning Town., and they were stealing fruit outside the shops.
“This is really bizarre… no one sort of batted a eyelid that they just wanted an apple and picked it out, everyone just sort of knew them!”
Others would even offer him places to stay.
“There was a solo singer called Marcus Barr, whose stage name was Electric Fringe.
“He came out on tour with us in 2013, and when we were playing the London leg of that tour, he said, ‘don’t get hotels’. I’ve got a unique living situation.
“So, he brought us into this house, well I say house, but I use the term very, very loosely…
“It was an abandoned doctors’ surgery that was closed down, and he was renting the top floor of this place.
“His bedroom would’ve been something like a GP’s room, and he had a little mattress for me next to his bed.
“The toilet was on the lower floors, so you had to come out of the living accommodation, into what was the waiting room and the nurses’ room.
“There was something that really eerie about it, because it was late at night, it was pitch black and the lights didn’t work.”
Knotted performing live
Farrell does qualify that this was not quite “slumming it”, as Barr’s accommodation was rather nice despite the curious decor, though he did endure that experience elsewhere.
“Some of the B&Bs, I genuinely don’t know how they stay in business!
“When we were touring, we used to stay in a place in Rainham called The Bell Inn.
“One night, I thought, it’s draughty in here. I pulled the curtain back, and there was literally a window pane missing. You could put your hand through the window!
“Another time I went there, they said they’ve got TVs in the room, so I went downstairs and said there’s not a TV in the room.
“They took me back up, opened the wardrobe, and there was the TV in the wardrobe.
“Of course we’re gonna look in a wardrobe for a TV!”
Funny stories aside, there was a lot of work Farrell had to do to get Knotted off the ground, and not a lot of initial reward.
Hospitality venues were often fairly basic in terms of what they wanted, and there were many bands applying to each job posting, giving the venues a lot of bargaining power.
As the tragic story continues of pubs closing, and as the takings and variety of the hospitality trade continue to sink due to larger societal trends, this issue has been amplified in recent years.
Farrell says, “I’m thankful I started out when I did, because I think it’s got a lot harder since.
“Starting out, it was a case of booking your own venues and hosting the events yourself to get yourself out there, and then you’ve got something behind you to show a venue.”
People are going out less, a trend before the COVID-19 pandemic but greatly accelerated by it nonetheless. This general death of hospitality is probably the “major factor”, Farrell agrees, behind the difficulties in performing live music to people.
Indeed, the Arch1 club, where Farrell and Knotted started their journey, declares on their X page that they are “only offering rehearsal services & using the garden to serve beverages in the good weather”, which has now long since passed for the year.
However, as with all issues, there are many reasons why live music is a harder market to emerge into now, as Farrell explains.
“A venue now, instead of paying a band, can put on a karaoke night. Karaoke is getting more and more popular while live music declines [and] it is technically live music, it’s classed as live music.
“The other thing is just the influx of people who do music. [If someone new approaches a venue] and the venue asks, how much? And they say, give me £50 for the night. Someone who’s gone through the rounds knows you should be asking for £150-200. So, they undercut them.
“I don’t even bother looking at the Yarmouth band page anymore, because a venue will put something out, we need a band for such and such. Within a couple of hours, you’ve got 80-90 replies to it. A venue is not going to sit through 80-90 replies. If you’re the first to reply, then you might be there.
“Because of things like the X Factor and Britain’s Got Talent, where it’s people saying my mum said, or my mate said, I can sing, they get backing tracks out and sing and then they get gigs, and then it takes away from anyone who’s actually paid their dues.”
Knotted live at a festival
These waters run deeper for Farrell than your average musician, as Knotted, like a lot of Farrell’s other work, is a passion project before it is a quick moneymaking tool.
Knotted had a devoted following of nearly 2,000 on Facebook which they built from enthusiasm at their gigs, until their page had to be restarted due to a hacking, but Farrell maintains he was never interested in the money or the stardom.
“I just want to do what I do and enjoy it, and I thought back to young Steve, and the dream wasn’t, I wanna make loads of money, it wasn’t I wanna be famous, I wanna be popular.
“I thought, hang on. This is what I’m doing and what I’ve been doing for years. I achieved my dream. That was the aim and that’s what I do.
“Now, someone forcing that ‘I’ve got 50K followers’. Alright, but do 50K people listen to your music? Do they interact with you?
“[When musicians say] please help me get to 50K followers, what’s that saying about your talent? It’s not about their talent or the content, it’s about a number.”
Fortunately, Farrell’s experience in the real world means more than anything social media could offer.
He has been able to turn his life experience, of “being in the pub with the other working classes”, and his work in Newcastle’s largest psychiatric hospital, into music for all to enjoy.
Knotted have performed all over; London, Newcastle, Liverpool, Hull, Scarborough, Norwich and Leicester, among others.
They were one of the frontline bands at the Bannaroo festival in North Norfolk, where they performed in front of a couple of thousand.
They have released 9 albums and continue to tour, having celebrated their 15th anniversary by supporting a sell-out concert by Ultimate Coldplay in August.
They are also currently recording their tenth album.
With longevity now behind Farrell, unlike when Knotted first gigged there, it feels like a good time to ask: how does Arch1 compare to the other places Knotted have gigged?
“I’d still say it’s one of the most unique experiences from anywhere.
“I can’t say it’s a better or worse experience than, say, playing in an old defence fort in Liverpool, or anywhere else, because there’s completely different feelings to them.
“But my affection will always be with the Newham area, because that was the starting point.
“We played a lot of our early gigs there; because the first one went so well, we kept getting invited back.”
15 years on, Knotted live to tell the tale of Arch1, and a great deal else.
Knotted’s tenth album is released in Spring 2025, available on Spotify and Apple Music, as well as in physical CD copy.
