Nominated for the Mercury Music Prize Award 2026.

Knats are a hard-hitting trio from Newcastle upon Tyne, channelling rock grit, fusion fire and floor-filling grooves into a bold new sound they call “Geordie Jazz”.

The band was formed by two lifelong best friends from Newcastle’s West End – bassist Stan Woodward and drummer King David Ike-Elechi – and completed by trumpet phenom Ferg Kilsby.

Described by Jazzwise as “one of the most exciting new bands in the UK”, in the words of The Guardian they “gleefully rewire jazz with a hard-as-nails rhythm section, drum’n’bass energy and punk aggression.”

After moving to London in 2022 to hone their jazz chops at Trinity Laban conservatoire, Knats quickly built a reputation for their explosive live shows, selling out headline gigs at Jazz Refreshed and Rough Trade East, supporting Str4ta at a packed Jazz Cafe and Theon Cross at the BBC Proms.

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