Q&A: Peeling Back The Layers: Grant KNoche on ‘STRIPPED’
INTERVIEW
INTERVIEW
☆ BY DANY MIRELES ☆
Photo by Devin Dygert
“IF I STRIPPED ALL OF THAT AWAY, WOULD YOU STILL PAY ATTENTION?”—For Grant Knoche, “STRIPPED” is more about what’s visible. The track explores the tension between being desired and being truly seen, questioning what remains when appearance, sexuality and other layers are taken away from you.
As both an artist and producer, Knoche builds that idea into every part of the record. The production leaves space for imperfect, exposed vocals, while the visuals push the song’s central metaphor to an extreme—literally peeling back layer after layer in search of what’s underneath.
Known for his work with artists such as ADÉLA, TWICE, Christina Aguilera, Victoria Justice and CHUU, Knoche has developed a creative process shaped by collaboration, experimentation and instinct for finding unexpected details within pop. Luna had a chance to chat with Knoche about the making of this track, embracing vulnerability and where he wants to take his sound next.
Photo by Maksym Varenyk
LUNA: “STRIPPED” explores the tension between being desired and being truly seen. How did that idea shape the songwriting and creative direction of the track?
KNOCHE: I think that tension is really the core of the entire song. Being an artist, especially in pop, there can be so much focus on your appearance, sexuality or how you present yourself that sometimes it feels like everything else gets overlooked. I wanted “STRIPPED” to come from that feeling of wanting someone to look past all of those surface-level things and actually see me—my music, my personality, my flaws, all of it. The song is basically asking, “If I stripped all of that away, would you still pay attention?”
LUNA: What came first for “STRIPPED”—the concept, the production, the lyrics or the visuals—and how did those elements influence each other throughout the creative process?
KNOCHE: The song idea definitely came first. I wrote and produced it before I really knew what the visual would become, but the concept was already built into the lyrics. Once it came time to make the video, I wanted to take the meaning of “STRIPPED” way further than just physically taking clothes off. That’s where the idea of literally peeling back every layer of myself came from. The visual almost became an extension of what the song was already saying emotionally.
LUNA: The music video takes the idea of stripping away layers quite literally. How did you translate the song’s themes into a visual language without simply recreating what the lyrics were saying?
KNOCHE: I wanted the video to start with what people normally associate with being “stripped,”—clothing, sexuality, physical appearance—and then push it into a place that becomes almost uncomfortable and emotional to watch. Eventually, there’s nothing left to take off except my actual skin. To me, that exaggeration is what makes the visual say something beyond the lyrics. It becomes this idea of, “How much of myself do I have to peel away before you actually see who I am?” There’s something beautiful about it, but also disturbing, which felt really true to the emotion of the song.
LUNA: How did you approach the production of “STRIPPED” to make the vulnerability of the lyrics come through sonically?
KNOCHE: I wanted the production to give the vocals and lyrics a lot of room to breathe. There are definitely bigger production moments, but I didn’t want anything to distract from what I was actually saying. A lot of the song feels intimate and close, and then the production grows with the emotion. I love when production can almost say what the lyrics are saying without words, so I tried to make everything feel like it was slowly opening up and exposing more as the song went on.
LUNA: As both an artist and producer, how does your approach change when you’re creating for yourself versus producing for another artist?
KNOCHE: When I’m producing for another artist, I’m really trying to figure out what makes them special. I don’t want every artist I work with to suddenly sound like a GRANT KNOCHE record. I want to understand their taste, their voice, what they want to say, and then help build the best version of that. With my own music, there are basically no rules. I can chase whatever weird idea is in my head for five hours if I want to (laughs). I’m able to be way more obsessive because I know exactly what I’m trying to communicate as the artist and producer/songwriter.
LUNA: You’ve worked with artists including ADÉLA, Christina Aguilera, TWICE, CHUU and Victoria Justice. What have you learned from producing for other artists that has influenced the way you create your own music?
KNOCHE: Every artist works so differently, and I think that’s probably been the biggest lesson. There isn’t one correct way to make a great song. Working with other artists has made me way more adaptable and has pushed me into sounds or approaches I probably wouldn’t have naturally gone toward on my own. I’m constantly taking little things I learn from those experiences and bringing them back into my own creative process, not necessarily the sound itself, but different ways of thinking about vocals, arrangement, songwriting or production. It’s nice to be able to step away from my GRANT KNOCHE project and be creative with a different thinking cap on. [There are] many times I end up finding a new tool or technique that I like and want to incorporate into my music.
Photo by Devin Dygert
LUNA: With “STRIPPED,” was there anything you intentionally wanted to leave imperfect or exposed in the production to preserve the song’s vulnerability?
KNOCHE: Definitely the vocals. I’m usually extremely detail-oriented with my vocals and production, but with a song like “STRIPPED,” making everything too perfect would almost work against the point of it. I wanted you to hear some of the breaths and the smaller, more human moments in the vocal. There’s an intimacy that disappears really quickly when you polish every little imperfection away, and this song needed to feel close and exposed.
LUNA: Your work often sits within pop but incorporates different sounds and influences. How do you think about pushing the boundaries of pop while still creating music that feels immediate and accessible?
KNOCHE: That’s honestly one of my favorite things about pop. Pop can pull from basically anywhere. I love finding sounds or production choices that feel unexpected and putting them next to something really easily consumable, like a strong melody or hook. I never want to make something so weird with no meaning just for the sake of being weird, but I also don’t want to make something because I think it’s what pop is “supposed” to sound like. Usually I’m trying to find that sweet spot where you understand the song immediately, but there’s still something in the production that makes you go, “Wait, what was that?”
LUNA: When you’re producing a song, what is usually the element you become most obsessed with—the vocals, melody, beat, lyrics or overall atmosphere?
KNOCHE: Probably the overall atmosphere. I can obsess over literally every part of a song (laughs), but I’m always thinking about how everything makes you feel together. You can have an amazing vocal, beat or melody, but if they don’t all feel like they belong in the same world, something feels off to me. I love all the tiny production details that you might not consciously notice but completely change the emotion or energy of a record. I can definitely obsess over vocal comping since that shares how the vocals push and pull with the track/chords/beat. And [I] also looooove throwing my headphones on and immersing myself into the mixing of a song.
LUNA: Looking at your work as both a solo artist and producer, what aspects of your creative identity are you most interested in exploring next?
KNOCHE: I think I’m interested in pushing everything further. I’ve become more confident in trusting my instincts as an artist and producer and not feeling like I have to fit into one specific version of pop. I want to explore sounds that are bigger, weirder, more emotional, more dance-driven and sometimes all within the same record. I’m also really excited about continuing to blur the line between the music, emotion and everything around [them]. Production, visuals, choreography, live performance…they’re all part of the same creative world to me, and I want whatever I do next to push that even further!
