Emerging from Lausanne, Switzerland, multi-instrumentalist KNOBIL speaks ahead of her forthcoming London performance, reflecting on her journey from physics to jazz and on carving out space as a young musician in today’s scene.
UK Jazz News: How did jazz first enter your life, and what drew you specifically to playing bass and singing?
KNOBIL (Louise Knobil): It’s not very romantic, but I went into jazz because it was the option that allowed me to get a diploma in music.
I was supposed to be a physicist. I began studying at École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), which is a very good school for engineering, and I wanted to be an astrophysicist. But I kept skipping class to play shows, so I thought maybe there was a decision to make. The only way to reassure myself and my parents was to at least get a diploma, and the only thing available at the time was jazz school. I was playing electric bass in an all-girl punk band and a Brazilian band, and we were already touring all over Switzerland.
So, I stopped my studies in physics and practiced electric bass all day in order to get into pre-music school that prepares you before getting into the main program. I was 19 at the time, practicing everything, and I got in.
The next year, I discovered jazz with my electric bass, playing with other musicians my age, and I fell in love with it almost randomly. At some point I was like, “Okay, I love this swinging music, I love this feeling, but I can’t seem to get it with my electric bass – how, why?” So I just picked up a double bass for fun, and I understood immediately.
UKJN: You’re embarking on another tour, specifically coming over to the UK. What do you hope people get out of your live shows, and do you have any goals in mind?
KNOBIL: My goal in my shows is to satisfy my own nerdiness about this music, but make it universal. The way I compose, write, talk to the audience, and the way we play together as a trio is really important.
Sometimes my music can be complicated, sometimes it’s very simple, but my goal is always to include the audience with us. The subjects of my songs are pretty universal; the way I talk to the audience, the way I introduce the songs, is always about making everyone feel included. That way, I can make random people listen to super nerdy jazz music.
What I don’t like sometimes, is when I see shows with musicians playing just for themselves and not including the audience.
UKJN: When was the last time you played the UK?
KNOBIL: Well, I played last in April 2025, I think at the Vortex Jazz Club for one of the queer jazz sessions. It was really cool. We had a warm, very responsive audience, so I’m really looking forward to coming back.
UKJN: How has your experience in the jazz scene been shaped by being both a young musician and part of the queer community?
KNOBIL: I think I’m very lucky to be my age and doing this right now, in 2026, because a lot of people before me really fought — and are still fighting — for visibility and rights on a global scale. I guess their fight makes it possible for me to talk about queer topics in a jazz club, and for that to be okay, also as a woman.
But it’s still a long way ahead. We’re still a minority of a minority, but I feel like it’s changing quickly. When I started my studies seven years ago, I was the only girl in the whole class playing an instrument.
When I finished school in 2024, people who were five years younger than me had two, three, maybe four female musicians in their classes playing instruments. So it’s already shifting.
I think we’re heading in a good direction, but it’s not over.
UKJN: What advice would you give to young musicians trying to find their place in jazz?
KNOBIL: Reach out, ask questions, ask for advice — we’re here to share.
UKJN: Staying on the topic of the modern music scene, and as a writer yourself, how do you see AI affecting jazz?
KNOBIL: I think humans are going to get sick of AI music. They’re already getting sick. I see young people getting so sick of TikTok scrolling and AI music; the university radios are getting popular again because of that. So for me, I’m not really scared about this because it’s jazz – it’s kind of hard to duplicate.
As a jazz fan, it’s not what we’re looking for. We mostly want to listen to live music, and in that sense, we’re protected because our music is best played live.
What really scares me about AI is not really AI replacing musicians and artists, it’s the ecological impact of it. That’s what scares me, honestly.
UKJN: What are your upcoming plans and hopes for your career at the moment?
KNOBIL: I’m touring a lot, we’re going to a lot of countries — Germany, Spain, France, Switzerland, the UK and Italy. Aside from that, I’m writing a new album.
The idea is to explore my family name, Knobil, — in Yiddish it means “the person that smells like garlic.” Long story short, if you meet someone called Knobil with an “I,” it’s from my family. So the album is about exploring that story in three arcs: past, present, and future.
The idea of a three-hour album is to use the possibilities of the 21st century in ways we couldn’t in the 20th. We’re not restrained by 40-minute vinyls or CDs anymore.
It’s about telling a story, taking time to explore the whole spectrum — Algerian roots, Eastern European roots, and Swiss roots — and creating a long but interesting narrative over three hours.
UKJN: Well, we look forward to welcoming you back to the UK in April. Do you have any final words?
KNOBIL: I’m just really looking forward to going to the UK again. The relationship to music that you have is amazing, and I think you really feel it in such a special and intense way. I really like that, and I’m excited to come back.
Frankie Statham is a British music journalist, content creator and songwriter, bringing a new-wave approach to music storytelling – website
KNOBIL is set to play The Cockpit in London on Friday 3 April 2026 as part of Jazz in the Round’s Easter Uprising Festival.
Since this interview took place, KNOBIL has been named a finalist for the 2025 Prix Evidence of the Académie du Jazz. Winners will be announced on 6 March.