Ahead of Gnoss’s first-ever Denver performance at Swallow Hill, KGNU’s Rodger Hara spoke with vocalist and guitarist Aidan Moodie about the band’s origins, musical influences, and distinctive blend of Scottish traditional music with contemporary folk and subtle electronic elements.
Moodie reflects on growing up in Orkney, meeting his bandmates while studying traditional music in Glasgow, and how the band’s commitment to writing original material took shape during the COVID lockdown. He also shares the story behind the name “Gnoss” and offers a preview of what audiences can expect from their debut Denver concert (Air Date 4/15/26).
Listen to the interview here:
Transcript:
Rodger Hara: Good morning. I’ve got Aidan Moodie on the line. Welcome to KGNU, Aidan. How are you today?
Gnoss: Hello, Roger. I’m very well. It’s a pleasure to be here. I’m calling in from Glasgow, looking out over the stereotypically gray, cloud-covered city that we love here in Scotland. It’s nice to be on the air with you.
Rodger Hara: It’s really nice to have you here for the first time. Tell me a bit about yourself, the band, and your bandmates.
Gnoss: I perform in a band called Gnoss, and we’re coming to Denver to play Swallow Hill this April, on the 26th. It’ll be our first-ever concert in Denver. Can you believe it?
There are four of us. We met at university studying Scottish traditional music about 10 years ago. Next year will be our 10th year making music as a band. Time flies. We thought it was about time we made it over to Denver.
Rodger Hara: I have to compliment you on your accent. For someone in Glasgow, I can understand you, and that’s not always been the case.
Gnoss: It’s a miracle, isn’t it? I’m putting on my Denver-friendly voice for you.
Rodger Hara: Thank you very much. Tell me about your other bandmates, who plays what instrument, and what you play.
Gnoss: We’re a four-piece, and we play mainly acoustic instruments. I play acoustic guitar and sing. Craig Baxter plays the Irish bodhrán, Graham Rorie plays fiddle, and Tiernan Courell plays flutes and whistles.
That’s the core of our sound, but we’ve also introduced a few electronic elements. Graham plays electric tenor guitar, Tiernan has a synthesizer, and we add a few extra layers that float in and out. We’ve cherry-picked ideas from other musical influences to keep ourselves entertained on stage.
Rodger Hara: Speaking of influences, what led to the music you play? I’ve looked at the credits, and it appears that most of your music is original.
Gnoss: We write all our own material. I’d say our sets are about a 70/30 split between instrumental tunes reminiscent of Scottish traditional music and folk songs that I write, which we arrange together as a band.
Graham and I grew up on the Orkney Islands, just off the north coast of Scotland. It’s an archipelago of about 70 islands. We grew up playing folk music and performing at the Orkney Folk Festival, where we were inspired by both the visiting artists and the local musicians who made the festival what it was.
When we moved to Glasgow to study traditional music, we met the other lads, who also had a passion for Scottish traditional music but brought their own regional influences from around Scotland. We blended that with the other genres we listen to, whether that’s indie rock, wider folk and acoustic music, or electronic music.
What you’ll hear on April 26 is where all those influences have come together.
Rodger Hara: I have to say the sound you’ve created is refreshing, unique, original, and entertaining. What has inspired you to write the songs you’ve written?
Gnoss: Thank you. That’s very kind of you. Your check’s in the post.
I think there was a turning point in 2020 during the COVID lockdown. The four of us suddenly had so much time that we decided we’d write an entire album of original material. That became The Light of the Moon, and it was surprisingly well received. We thought, “Why not do it again?”
Our following record, Stretching Skyward, is our most recent release. The response to those albums encouraged us to keep writing our own material, and we’ve stayed on that path ever since.
Rodger Hara: Well done. Where did the name of the band come from?
Gnoss: We’ve been asked that for 10 years, and I still don’t have an entertaining story. We’ll have to come up with one before we touch down in Alaska at the start of April.
Graham and I are from Orkney, and we actually started the band as a duo about 14 years ago. We wanted a name that hinted at Orkney’s Nordic heritage and its Norwegian and Viking influences.
We borrowed a classical music term, Gnossienne, from Erik Satie. We chopped off the end of the word and kept “Gnoss.” We thought it sounded like some ancient Viking word.
For a while we told people it was Gaelic for “mind your own business,” but that turned out to be a little too confrontational.
Rodger Hara: Just to help my listeners, can you spell it?
Gnoss: Absolutely. If you’re trying to Google us, you’ve got your job cut out for you. It’s G-N-O-S-S. There’s a silent G, just like the word “gnome.”
Rodger Hara: That actually fits well with radio station KGNU. Think about the animal, the gnu—a silent G. We’ve got that in common.
And Colorado is known for the Rocky Mountains and all the stone formations. There’s also the geological term “gneiss,” spelled G-N-E-I-S-S, which also begins with a silent G followed by an N.
Gnoss: There you go. We’re collecting them.
Rodger Hara: That’s right. For those of you who’d like to hear the sound that Gnoss creates, be sure to visit the Swallow Hill website. Get your tickets to see Aidan and the band on Sunday, April 26. I believe it’s a 7:00 p.m. show—Swallow Hill concerts are usually at 7:00 or 7:30.
In any event, visit the Swallow Hill website, get your tickets, and come hear this entertaining band with a sound that’s something completely different from the Irish bands that have been appearing throughout Colorado over the past month and a half.
It’s been my pleasure to chat with Aidan Moodie, leader and founder of Gnoss. Aidan, safe travels to you.
Gnoss: Thank you, Roger. We’ll see you soon. Looking forward to it.
Rodger Hara: I look forward to it as well.
