Sunniva frontman Danniel Knight talks about his music, the return of live shows

May 6—We caught up with Danniel Knight, guitarist, vocalist and primary songwriter and lyricist of the Frederick band Sunniva, ahead of the band's live performance on May 7 at Olde Mother Brewing Co. in downtown Frederick.

May 7 marks the release of Sunniva's latest album, "Essence and Illusion," and the first time the band will perform live in more than a year.

Tell me about the name of your band.

It's an old Norwegian name that means "gifts of the sun." I just wanted something that was kind of celestial and pointed toward the idea that we're just vessels for music. I don't come up with anything. I just hear something in my head that comes from somewhere else. That was the original thought behind it.

I'm also so curious about something. I found another band on Bandcamp called Sunniva.

I think I know what you're gonna say.

What am I gonna say?

That they have an album called "Holy Mountain" [Knight's former band was called Holy Mtn].

Yeah! Like, what?

I know! That was mind-blowing.

Is there some connection I'm missing between Sunniva and the Holy Mountain? I don't know enough about Norwegian folklore, although I think they are from Finland.

I don't know. I could've sworn that I did a decent search on the band name Sunniva, and then afterwards I came across that. One day, I gotta reach out to them.

Did you write this new album during the pandemic? Did you find you were able to be productive?

Yes. At least three of the songs, we were playing at the gigs before the pandemic hit and shut down the shows, but a large portion of the album were songs we put together during lockdown. I wrote and recorded demos and sent them out to the guys, because at that time, no one was even comfortable meeting up with family. I ordered a computer on Amazon, and I just started sending emails. It was fun to work like that, in a way. Shows were shut down, so we were like, let's get to writing. And that's what we did.

You said it was fun. What aspect?

Maybe fun isn't the right word. It was constructive. It was organized. You have to kind of make a decision and say, "Alright, here's this." Sometimes when we get together, we just jam forever, and it's hard to come to a set decision.

Sunniva is so different, sonically, from other projects you've worked on, like Holy Mtn and Kimberly. It's such a different direction. Was there something you wanted to explore or something specific you were striving for — sonically, visually, conceptually?

Well, Sunniva started because I wanted to do my own thing and start singing, because I wasn't singing before. I started recording on this digital, home recording studio thing I had, and my brother plays bass — he's the bassist — so I was like, "Why don't you come over and lay bass tracks down?" Conner and I actually went to a few open mics with a drum machine. It's crazy how far it's come. Then Pat joined in.

But my taste in music is varied. I like lots of things. I never want to imitate anybody. I guess we do, naturally, but I don't want to do a forced imitation, like, "I want it to sound like this." I want it to have certain flavors but be my own thing.

All music has healing qualities, and for me, music is something that helped me get through something. I don't really think about the lyrics. I kind of react and write them. I want it to be therapeutic for me, and maybe it will be therapeutic for someone else.

That makes so much sense. The lyrics are really less ballad and more intuitive wisdom coming out, almost like you're giving advice at times. In a recent interview, you'd mentioned being in drug recovery. Can you talk about how that played into the music and these lyrics?

That's a very real part of it, and it's what a lot of these songs are about. You said it's wisdom coming out, and I'm not this extremely spiritual person — and that goes to the title of the album: I'm aware and conscious of the essence of my being, but we're trapped in this illusion, in a way. I mean, this existence is real, but I struggle like anybody else. I say stuff that may seem like it's wisdom, and I guess it is in a way, but I do it because it's a reminder to myself, because I need these reminders. They're reminders to me to help me get through things.

I was addicted to opiates. I went to rehab in Florida and lived in a halfway house. That was very tough. I feel like my 20s are just a blur. I've clean-slated so many things. Music really helped pull me through. Music brought me joy when not many things did. It gave me hope and continues to do that and has become kind of like a coping mechanism. At times when I was stressed, I would just focus on music.

As far as this show coming up — the first time you're performing in over a year — are you nervous at all? Are you chomping at the bit? How are you feeling about it?

I try to stay pretty level. I try not to put big expectations on things. I just want us to have fun. It's also the longest set we've ever done. We'll do a set of new material for 45 to 50 minutes, then there will be an intermission, and then we'll do a 45- to 50-minute set of older material. I think we've matured, for sure, as musicians and as a band, so I think it will be better than it was before. I do wonder if this is gonna stimulate me to do more live shows, because I really do enjoy writing and creating content. There are variables that can go on in a live show that can stress me out, but I'm excited for it.

OK. I'm gonna ask you this cheesy question, because I just rewatched "Almost Famous," which is such a great movie, and this question is on my mind: What do you love about music?

The ability to express things that I cannot put into words, if you want a concise answer. There are lots of things I love about it. To be a channel to the energy that's greater than me and share it with people, to share the things that I feel but can't say — that's exciting to me. In my mind, it's important to remember we're souls in a body. We die, and I'm rambling now, but I think music is a good way to inspire people to realize there are things beyond this mundane, physical realm. There's beauty in this realm, too, but it's limiting, if that's all you think that there is.