Cairo Knife Fight

Cairo Knife Fight

Cairo Knife Fight is a rock group from Christchurch, New Zealand, founded in 2007 by musician Nick Gaffaney. It develops from an earlier, unnamed side project that Gaffaney starts in 2004 with several other musicians.

Early line-up and development

The first line-up includes Aaron Tokona on guitar and vocals, Ritchie Pickard on bass, Roslen Langton on vocals, Katie Taylor on vocals, and Gaffaney on drums and vocals. By 2009, the group becomes a duo built around electric guitar and drums, with live looping used to layer vocals, rhythms and guitar parts in real time. In this set-up, Gaffaney plays drums, bass and loops, while Tokona plays guitar and sings.

Releases and recognition

The band releases its self-titled EP in 2010. Its first single, “This Is Love”, appears on the NZ Radio Hit Disk for mid-2010 and is rated as one of the songs of the year. The EP is nominated for Best Rock Album at the New Zealand Music Awards in 2011.

Later activity

Tokona leaves the band in 2014, and George Pajon joins in early 2015. After the release of debut album The Colossus, the group relocates to Los Angeles in 2015. The Colossus is later nominated for Best Rock Album at the New Zealand Music Awards and for the Taite Music Prize in 2016.