Cairo Knife Fight (CKF) is a rock band originating from

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

, founded in 2007 by musical artist Nick Gaffaney, featuring a drum and guitar duo incorporating real-time layered loops.

History

Cairo Knife Fight (CKF) began as Nick Gaffaney's unnamed side project along with several other band members in 2004, namely Aaron Tokona (guitar and vocals), Ritchie Pickard (bass), Roslen Langton (vocals), Katie Tayor (vocals), and Nick (drums and vocals). Nick was a successful professional session and recording artist with several popular New Zealand musical groups when deciding to pursue an original project. In 2009, the initial multi-member line-up was narrowed down to a duo composed of electric guitar and drums, with Nick playing drums with his right hand, using a keyboard bass with his left hand and utilising a loop station to make live vocal and rhythm loops, the guitar parts also being looped and layered live. CKF is listed as a notable band at Kiwi Rock (bands of New Zealand). The duo gained notoriety when playing the Opera House in Wellington opening for UK act Gomez in late 2009. This performance brought the attention of

Them Crooked Vultures Them Crooked Vultures is an American rock supergroup formed in Los Angeles in 2009 with American musician Josh Homme on lead vocals and guitar, English musician John Paul Jones on bass and keyboards, and American musician Dave Grohl on drums a ...

, who invited CKF to open for their New Zealand tour in early 2010. CKF release their self-titled EP in July of that year, the first single entitled 'This is Love' being included on the NZ Radio Hit Disk for mid 2010, and being rated as one of the songs of the year. The EP went on to be nominated in the 'Best Rock Album' category at the

New Zealand Music Awards The Aotearoa Music Awards (previously called the New Zealand Music Awards), conferred annually by Recorded Music NZ, honour outstanding artistic and technical achievements in the recording industry. The awards are among the most significant that ...

in 2011. Later in 2010 a trip to New York City brought the attention of

CMJ festival CMJ Holdings Corp. is a music events, online media company and a distributor of up and coming music CDs, originally founded in 1978, which ran a website, hosted an annual festival in New York City, and published two magazines, ''CMJ New Music ...

team members, and were invited to play a CMJ bill at the Bowery Electric with a tour of Australia being realised . 2011 began with a New Zealand tour with

Kiwi Kiwi most commonly refers to: * Kiwi (bird), a flightless bird native to New Zealand * Kiwi (nickname), an informal name for New Zealanders * Kiwifruit, an edible hairy fruit with many seeds * Kiwi dollar or New Zealand dollar, a unit of curren ...

rock hall of famers

Shihad Shihad were a Rock music, rock band formed in Wellington, New Zealand, in 1988. The band consisted of founders Tom Larkin (musician), Tom Larkin (drums, backing vocals, samplers), Phil Knight (lead guitar, synthesiser, backing vocals) and Jon To ...

in January. Them Crooked Vultures front man

Josh Homme Joshua Michael Homme ( ; born May 17, 1973) is an American musician, singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and record producer. He is best known as the founder and only continuous member of the rock band Queens of the Stone Age, which he for ...

again requested CKF to open for his

Queens of the Stone Age Queens of the Stone Age (commonly abbreviated as QOTSA or QotSA) is an American rock band formed in Seattle in 1996. The band was founded by vocalist and guitarist Josh Homme shortly before he returned to his native Palm Desert, California. ...

New Zealand tour in February. In early 2011 a deadly earthquake occurred at Christchurch, NZ, Cairo Knife Fight's hometown. Absorbing the horrendous aftermath, the band took solace in recording the follow-up EP 'II', released in August 2011 to 5 star reviews and a top 40 chart placing. The band was then to appear as special guests of the

Foo Fighters The Foo Fighters are an American Rock music, rock band formed in Seattle in 1994. Initially founded as a one-man project by former Nirvana (band), Nirvana drummer Dave Grohl, the band comprises vocalist/guitarist Grohl, bassist Nate Mendel, gu ...

for an earthquake benefit concert in Auckland, NZ, ending the year by again joining the Foo Fighters onstage at

Western Springs Stadium Western Springs Stadium is a stadium in Auckland, New Zealand. Built within a natural amphitheatre, it is primarily used for rugby union matches during the winter and for speedway racing during the summer. It is also occasionally used for large ...

in Auckland, New Zealand in front of 45,000 people for the band's Wasting Light tour, considered one of New Zealand's biggest ever stand-alone shows. In 2012 Cairo Knife Fight returned to the United States to perform at

SXSW South by Southwest (SXSW) is an annual conglomeration of parallel film, interactive media, and music festivals and Convention (meeting), conferences organized jointly that take place in mid-March in Austin, Texas. It began in 1987 and has conti ...

, being labelled as 'Bands to Watch in 2012' by Alt Press and made several 'Best of SXSW' lists at the Texas festival. After SXSW, the band returned to New Zealand to work on and record their debut full-length record "The Colossus", released by Warner Music in May 2015, produced by Justyn Pilbrow (

The Neighbourhood The Neighbourhood (abbreviated as the nbhd) is an American alternative rock band formed in Newbury Park, California, in 2011. The band is composed of vocalist Jesse Rutherford, guitarists Jeremy Freedman and Zach Abels, and bassist Mikey Marg ...

and

King 810 King 810 (pronounced ''King eight one oh''; formerly known as and often shortened to simply King) is an American nu metal band from Flint, Michigan, formed in 2007. The band currently consists of David Gunn, Eugene Gill, Johnpaul Vega and Bryc ...

). In October 2013, Cairo Knife Fight featured on the soundtrack for the surf documentary ''Waverider'' by Gareth Davies and RedYeti Films, directed by Karl Lear, winner of Best Picture (2013) in New Zealand and Best Picture (2014) in Hawaii. Guitarist Aaron Tokona left the band in 2014 and George Pajon joined the band in early 2015 after initially meeting Nick in New Zealand years earlier through engineer and record producer Neil Baldock. After releasing their debut record ''The Colossus'', the band relocated to Los Angeles in 2015 and performed tours of New Zealand and Australia opening for Shihad, and once again returning to perform at SXSW in Austin, Texas. That summer CKF toured Australia in support of ''The Colossus'' and opened for the Australian band

Karnivool Karnivool is an Australian progressive rock/progressive metal, metal band formed in Perth in 1998. The group consists of Ian Kenny on vocals, Drew Goddard and Mark Hosking on guitar, Jon Stockman on bass, and Steve Judd on drums. Karnivool emerg ...

, with a subsequent tour of NZ further supporting their debut release. CKF has toured and opened festivals for

and several other international acts. In 2015, ''The Colossus'' was nominated for a New Zealand Music Award for Best Rock Album, and in 2016, the album was nominated for the

Taite Music Prize The Taite Music Prize is an annual New Zealand music award event. A prize of the same name (sometimes called the Taite Music Main) is one of five to be awarded. It recognises the best New Zealand album from the previous year. The prize is named ...

Band members

Current

* Nick Gaffaney – vocals, drums, synthesizer (2007–present) *

George Pajon George Pajon Jr. (born April 10, 1969) is an American guitarist, songwriter and record producer. Early life George Pajon Jr. "attended private St. Matthias Elementary School, a Catholic K-8 school, in Huntington Park. Growing up in conservative ...

– lead guitar, rhythm guitar (2015–present)

Nick Gaffaney

Nick Gaffaney currently plays in Los Angeles rock power trio Santa Barabara, and previously played drums with

Dimmer A dimmer is a device connected to a light fixture and used to lower the brightness of the Lighting, light. By changing the voltage waveform applied to the lamp, it is possible to lower the Luminous intensity, intensity of the light output. Al ...

, Goldenhorse,

Hollie Smith Hollie Smith (born 17 November 1982) is a New Zealand soul singer-songwriter based in Auckland, New Zealand. Her four solo albums '' Long Player, Humour and the Misfortune of Others, Water or Gold,'' and ''Coming In From The Dark'' have all rea ...

and has recorded and performed with songwriters such as

Anika Moa Anika Rose Moa (born 21 May 1980) is a New Zealand recording artist and television presenter. Her debut studio album ''Thinking Room'', was released in September 2001, which reached number one on the Official New Zealand Music Chart, New Z ...

Jan Hellriegel Jan Hellriegel is a singer/songwriter based in Auckland, New Zealand. Her first recorded appearances were with Dunedin band Working With Walt in the mid-1980s when she studied at the University of Otago in Dunedin. She then formed all-woman b ...

, Leila Adu and Godfrey de Grut; Hip Hop/Roots artists

Scribe A scribe is a person who serves as a professional copyist, especially one who made copies of manuscripts before the invention of Printing press, automatic printing. The work of scribes can involve copying manuscripts and other texts as well as ...

Fat Freddy's Drop Fat Freddy's Drop is a New Zealand seven-piece band from Wellington, whose musical style has been characterised as any combination of dub, reggae, soul, jazz, rhythm and blues, and techno. Originally a jam band formed in the late 1990s by mus ...

, Solaa, King Kapisi, Nuvonesia, and

Sangha Sangha or saṃgha () is a term meaning "association", "assembly", "company" or "community". In a political context, it was historically used to denote a governing assembly in a republic or a kingdom, and for a long time, it has been used b ...

; Jazz musicians

Mark de Clive-Lowe Mark de Clive-Lowe (born 16 August 1974) is an Japan-based Japanese-New Zealand musician, composer, DJ and producer raised in Auckland and now based in Tokyo, Japan. Early life Born in Auckland, New Zealand, de Clive-Lowe was raised bi-cultu ...

, Joel Haines, The New Loungehead and Jeff Henderson; and has worked on film soundtracks for The Truth about Demons and

Fracture Fracture is the appearance of a crack or complete separation of an object or material into two or more pieces under the action of stress (mechanics), stress. The fracture of a solid usually occurs due to the development of certain displacemen ...

with composer Victoria Kelly. Nick won the 2013 APRA Professional Development Award.

George Pajon

George Pajon recorded and toured with

The Black Eyed Peas The Black Eyed Peas are an American musical group formed in Los Angeles in 1995, composed of rappers will.i.am, apl.de.ap and Taboo (rapper), Taboo. Fergie (singer), Fergie was a member during the height of their popularity in the 2000s, and ...

for 17 years, is a

songwriter A songwriter is a person who creates musical compositions or writes lyrics for songs, or both. The writer of the music for a song can be called a composer, although this term tends to be used mainly in the classical music genre and film scoring. ...

, producer and session recording musician, and has writing and recording credits with Fergie,

Carlos Santana Carlos Humberto Santana Barragán (; born July 20, 1947) is an American guitarist, best known as a founding member of the Rock music, rock band Santana (band), Santana. Born and raised in Mexico where he developed his musical background, he r ...

Sting Stimulator of interferon genes (STING), also known as transmembrane protein 173 (TMEM173) and MPYS/MITA/ERIS is a regulator protein that in humans is encoded by the STING1 gene. STING plays an important role in innate immunity. STING induces typ ...

Ricky Martin Enrique Martin Morales (born December 24, 1971), known professionally as Ricky Martin, is a Puerto Rican singer, songwriter and actor. He is known for his musical versatility, with his Ricky Martin albums discography, discography incorporati ...

will.i.am William James Adams Jr. (born March 15, 1975), known professionally as will.i.am (pronounced "will I am"), is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, record producer and actor. He is the frontman of the musical group Black Eyed Peas, which he ...

Macy Gray Natalie Renée McIntyre (born September 6, 1967), known professionally as Macy Gray, is an American contemporary R&B, R&B and soul music, soul singer and actress. She is known for her distinctive raspy voice and a singing style heavily influence ...

Candy Dulfer Candy Dulfer (born 19 September 1969) is a Dutch jazz and pop saxophonist. She is the daughter of jazz saxophonist Hans Dulfer. She began playing at age six and founded her band Funky Stuff when she was fourteen. Her debut album '' Saxuality'' ...

Los Lonely Boys Los Lonely Boys are an American musical group from San Angelo, Texas. They play a style of music they call "Texican Rock n' Roll", combining elements of rock and roll, Texas blues, brown-eyed soul, country music, country, and Tejano music. The ...

Cheryl Cole Cheryl Ann Tweedy (born 30 June 1983) is an English singer and television personality. She rose to fame as a member of Girls Aloud, a Pop music, pop girl group created through ITV (TV network), ITV's reality competition show ''Popstars: The R ...

"Weird Al" Yankovic Alfred Matthew "Weird Al" Yankovic ( ; born October 23, 1959) is an American comedy musician, writer, and actor. He is best known for writing and performing Comedy music, comedy songs that often Parody music, parody specific songs by contempo ...

Kelis Kelis Rogers (; born August 21, 1979) is an American singer-songwriter and chef. She attended Manhattan, New York's Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts, where she played saxophone and was selected for the Girls Ch ...

Richard Cheese Richard Cheese & Lounge Against The Machine (or simply Richard Cheese) is a cover band and comedy act, performing popular songs in a lounge/swing style. Lounge singer Richard Cheese is a character created and portrayed by Los Angeles–based a ...

Nas Nas (born 1973) is the stage name of American rapper Nasir Jones. Nas, NaS, or NAS may also refer to: Aviation * Nasair, a low-cost airline carrier and subsidiary based in Eritrea * National Air Services, an airline in Saudi Arabia ** Nas Air (S ...

Damian Marley Damian Robert Nesta “Jr. Gong” Marley (born 21 July 1978) is a Jamaican reggae musician. The second youngest child of Bob Marley, he is the recipient of four Grammy Awards. Early life, education and family Marley is the youngest son of leg ...

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J.Period Joel Astman (born February 12, 1975), known professionally as J.Period, is a Brooklyn-based Mixtape DJ, remixer and hip-hop producer. He is best known for producing official mixtape collaborations with Q-Tip (musician), Q-Tip, John Legend, Nas, Bi ...

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Jully Black Jully Black (born Jullyann Inderia Gordon Black, November 8, 1977) is a Canadian singer, songwriter and actress. She has released 4 studio albums, and 2 remix EPs. She has collaborated and written for many artists, including Nas, Saukrates, Ch ...

, Venus Brown, M. Pokora,

Klaus Badelt Klaus Badelt (born 12 June 1967) is a German composer, producer, and arranger of film scores. He is known for his collaborations with Hans Zimmer, helping to write scores for dozens of critically acclaimed films including '' The Thin Red Line'' ...

, Kidz Bop Kids,

Kim Dotcom Kim Dotcom (né Schmitz; born 21 January 1974), also known as Kimble and Kim Tim Jim Vestor, is a Finnish-German Internet entrepreneur and political activist who lives in Glenorchy, New Zealand. He rose to fame in Germany in the 1990s as a ha ...

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and various other artists. George has won several

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious ...

s for songwriting and music performance. George Pajon joined Cairo Knife Fight in early 2015,

Former

* Aaron Tokona – guitar, vocals (2007–2014) * Ritchie Pickard – bass guitar (2007–2009) * Roslen Langton – vocals (2007–2009) * Katie Tayor – vocals (2007–2009) Aaron Tokona is known for bands Weta,

The Superjesus The Superjesus are an Australian rock band formed in Adelaide in late 1994. Their debut album, ''Sumo'' (February 1998), peaked at No. 2 on the ARIA Albums Chart, their second album, ''Jet Age'' (October 2000) reached No. 5 and their ...

and

Fly My Pretties __NOTOC__ Fly My Pretties is a collaboration of musicians originally from Wellington, New Zealand who are known for coming together to record live albums, in various locations in New Zealand. The different musical backgrounds of the members make ...

among other music groups.

Discography

Iron

"Iron" – EP (20 July 2009), mastered by Greg Calbi, Mixed by Neil Baldock (tracks 1–6, 8–10) and Steve Fowler (track 7), recorded by Neil Baldock and Steve Fowler (4), written by Nick Gaffaney, Loretta Recordings, distributed, licensed and manufactured by Sony Music Entertainment New Zealand – 88697520542.

Cairo Knife Fight

"Cairo Knife Fight" – EP (15 August 2011), the self-titled debut, written and produced by Nick Gaffaney and Aaron Tokona, recorded and mixed over a period of two years at

Roundhead Roundheads were the supporters of the Parliament of England during the English Civil War (1642–1651). Also known as Parliamentarians, they fought against King Charles I of England and his supporters, known as the Cavaliers or Royalists, who ...

and Clevetown Studios in

Auckland Auckland ( ; ) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. It has an urban population of about It is located in the greater Auckland Region, the area governed by Auckland Council, which includes outlying rural areas and ...

and

Christchurch Christchurch (; ) is the largest city in the South Island and the List of cities in New Zealand, second-largest city by urban area population in New Zealand. Christchurch has an urban population of , and a metropolitan population of over hal ...

by Neil Baldock, recorded by Steve Fowler, released through

Liberation Music Liberation Records, formerly Liberation Music, was an Australian record company and label, started in 1999 by Michael Gudinski and Warren Costello, based in Melbourne. Its stated business aim is to "find, nurture and then to develop new tal ...

Cairo Knife Fight II

"Cairo Knife Fight II" – EP (3 October 2011), Liberation Music.

The Isolator

"The Isolator" – EP (30 January 2015), was written and recorded in three different countries with musicians Aaron Tokona, Joel Haines, Laughton Kora, William Knapp, Alexander Edward Winter and Samuel K, with session recordings in Melbourne, Auckland, recorded and mixed in New York City by producer Justyn Pilbrow (

) and Samuel K, produced through Loretta Recordings Limited under exclusive license to Warner Music New Zealand Limited.

The Colossus

"The Colossus" – LP (29 May 2015), includes collaborations with musicians Aaron Tokona, Joel Haines, Laughton Kora and William Knapp,

Mark Lanegan Mark William Lanegan (November 25, 1964 – February 22, 2022) was an American singer and songwriter. First becoming prominent as the lead singer for the early grunge band Screaming Trees, he was also known as a member of Queens of the Stone Age ...

(

Screaming Trees Screaming Trees were an American rock band formed in Ellensburg, Washington, in 1984 by vocalist Mark Lanegan, guitarist Gary Lee Conner, bassist Van Conner, and drummer Mark Pickerel. Pickerel was replaced by Barrett Martin in 1991. Screami ...

) and Tyler Fournames (

Marilyn Manson Brian Hugh Warner (born January 5, 1969), known professionally as Marilyn Manson, is an American rock musician. He is the lead singer and the only original member remaining of the Marilyn Manson (band), same-titled band he founded in 1989. Th ...

) and John Anderson (Banks), released through Loretta Recordings under exclusive license to Warner Music New Zealand Limited.

Seven

"Seven" – LP (20 October 2017)

Dream Season

"Dream Season" – EP (19 July 2024)

Singles

References

External links

* *
"Iron" (2009)

"Origin of Slaves" (2011)

"The Violence of Action" (2015)
{{Authority control Musical groups established in 2009 New Zealand alternative rock groups Industrial rock musical groups New Zealand progressive rock groups Musicians from Christchurch 2009 establishments in New Zealand Rock music duos Male musical duos