WHO ARE GAWAIN AND THE GREEN KNIGHT?
Gawain and the Green Knight are a homemade valentine to that cute ghost in your attic. They’re a Brooklyn-based band, which is maybe why they want their songs to give you that same sweet, achy-chest feeling they get when walking past apartment windows that are lit up at night.
The duo, made up of married folks Alexia Antoniou and Mike O’Malley, was founded in Brooklyn in 2018. Up until then, O’Malley had been playing the Irish bouzouki at nightly gigs on NYC's Irish music circuit, while Antoniou stockpiled songs that (in the words of The All-Scene Eye) used various ghostly figures “to act out timeless joys, regrets, and longings." Since then, they’ve released two EPs (Ghosties and A Sleeping Place) and have played such venues as New York’s Folk Art Museum and The Irish Arts Center; they’ve lent their music to theatrical and literary events, such as those hosted by Witness Immersive and Greenhouse Ensemble, been featured performers at Big City Folk’s esteemed Song Club, and were presented by The Eclectic Train Wreck radio show during the 2021 Folk DJ Emerging Artist Showcase.
Mostly, though, they’re just here to sing about their affection for little human moments and their healthy fear of death. But, you know- in a cute way.
“Gawain and the Green Knight… might be called a folk duo, but that would just be a simplification. A more accurate description would be storytellers or maybe conjurers or musical alchemists. “ - AMERICAN PANCAKE
“Grim, sweet, elegant… Gawain and the Green Knight stand out from the indie folk crowd in the passion and panache they bring to their characters” - MERRY-GO-ROUND MAGAZINE
“Honest and exciting… these guys have their own distinctive sound and approach, creating songs with a wonderful literary quality.” - MICHAEL DOHERTY’S MUSIC LOG
Our Latest Single
“Lick” is our latest single, a love song icily arranged with layers of bowed bass and mellotron- from the perspective of the turn of the twentieth century ghost who’s haunting your apartment. You can read the debut on FLOOD Magazine, or listen below!
A Sleeping Place EP
A Sleeping Place is Gawain and the Green Knight’s second EP. The name draws from the literal translation of the word “cemetery.” A surprisingly cozy reframing of the whole mortality thing! With these six songs, the duo continues to explore the sweetnesses and aches that connect the living and the dead, in blooming arrangements of woodwinds, Irish bouzouki, and bowed bass. Have a listen!
REVIEWS FOR A SLEEPING PLACE:
“The scene is rendered, both musically and vocally, in such vivid, meaningful, real-life colors, that the listener is brought at once into the “Cedar, birch, and maple” of the song, and into their own, sharp self-doubts.” - Two Story Melody, on “In My Dreams, a Perfect Chair”
“A soundtrack for otherworldly summer adventures and escapism.” - TREMG
“"'Birds and Wine' evokes the materiality that tethers us to this world and the untethered freedom that allows us to soar above those elements that keep us grounded."" - Folk Alley, on “Birds and Wine”
“A stunningly beautiful declaration of eternal love” - Americana UK, on “Fingers”
“We just can’t get enough of this honest and endearing tune.” - Pancakes & Whiskey, on “Fingers”
“"If you’ve ever experienced love at any capacity, this song is for you. Short and sweet, it is a testament to simple acts of support leading to a lifetime of love." - Imperfect Fifth, on “Fingers”
Ghosties EP
Take a listen to Gawain and the Green Knight’s debut EP, Ghosties- a baroque folk EP full of magic-sounding string and oboe arrangments, featuring five “sighs” of the dead.
Or get cozy- sit and watch a music video with us.
Want to keep in touch?
Email: GawainandtheGreenKnightBand@gmail.com