Exclusive Interview: Grant Knoche Talks American Song Contest, “Mr. Independent”, and More

Rising triple threat Grant Knoche has been on our radar for quite some time. But last week, he wowed audiences around the country with his showstopping performance on American Song Contest. Representing his home state of Texas, Grant performed his original “Mr. Independent.” Pop Culturalist caught up with Grant about his involvement in the series, his single, and more!

PC: You kicked off the Live Qualifiers Week 3. What was your reaction when you learned that you’d be the first performer of the night?
Grant: It was really cool. I was in dress rehearsal. I went into the viewing room to watch back what they had recorded. They were like, “So, you’re going to kick off the show.” It was a really cool thing for me because it was mixed emotions. You’re super nervous to start the show and be at the top of it, but then also I was like, “That’s cool because I get to do it and then I can sit back, relax, and watch everyone else and enjoy the night.” There were definitely mixed feelings.

PC: You wrote “Mr. Independent” about a year and a half ago. Have you been saving this song for an opportunity like this? How soon did you realize that this would be the song that you would use for American Song Contest?
Grant: I’ve actually been wanting to release this song and get it out there. Then this opportunity came about. I sent about four or five songs. They ended up really liking “Mr. Independent.” I feel like out of all the songs I sent, I was most confident about choosing “Mr. Independent” for the show because it has a cool vibe to it. It has this mid to uptempo beat. It was more uptempo than the other songs I sent. It has a great message behind it that really represents Texas in a great way. That’s why I felt like it was the right one to use for the show.

PC: That’s the perfect segue to this next question. Tell us about the inspiration behind “Mr. Independent” and how the song represents your home state of Texas.
Grant: Even though I’ve worked hard, I’ve received tons of nos and rejections. It got to the point where I started thinking that I couldn’t rely on anybody else to help my dreams come true. I couldn’t keep waiting for things to happen or for a certain person to listen to my songs to make it big. You’ve got to do it all by yourself. You’ve got to make everything happen. Grind, work your hardest, and stay consistent with releasing music. Keep trying to get better and put yourself in a room with people who are better than you so you can continue to get better. That’s what it’s about. It’s about being independent, strong, and confident. I feel like that really represents Texas in a great way because Texans are strong and confident. They’re not afraid to stand up for what they want.

PC: We have to talk about that performance. You set the bar so high for yourself. What was the process like coming up with the creative and all the elements that you included?
Grant: Thank you. For American Song Contest, they had us all do live session auditions of ourselves performing our songs. I decided I wanted to make it really cool. I rented this room that was like a mirror box. I put a band in there and we filmed the live session.

So for the performance, I talked to the creative directors about it, and we pretty much took that same idea of mirrors in a room and adjusted it for a huge stage. It’s really, really cool how it turned out. There are so many elements that I talked to the creative directors about. They put everything together and it came out exactly how I wanted.

PC: You’ve done a couple of shows here and there in the past year. How helpful were those experiences as you prepared to perform in front of a live audience again?
Grant: It was very helpful. Even doing KIDZ BOP, there were multiple times where we performed on different television shows—morning shows and things like that. They are obviously different, but they prepare you in a really, really good way. Even over the last two years with us in lockdown and unable to perform as much, I’ve still been able to get out there and work on that. But I’ve been running every day and singing while I’m doing so. It’s been about working myself up to performing live and doing the most that I can do so that I can be my best self on stage.

PC: What are your pre-show rituals?
Grant: I definitely pray and warm up. That’s the first thing I do. I want to get better at stretching before I go on stage. Every time I go on stage, maybe two minutes before I’m about to go on, I’m like, “Dang it. I should have stretched.” I always forget about it. I definitely need to get better at that. But I don’t do anything too crazy.

PC: If you make it to the semi-finals, have you started thinking about the ways that you’re going to build on this first performance?
Grant: Definitely. I was just talking with my dad about that last night. It’s such a hard thing because like I was saying earlier, I’ve gone through so much rejection. You want to be realistic. But at the same time, you have to manifest it and you’ve got to be hopeful and put it out there into the universe. We were talking about what the next performance might look like and what we can do to keep showing new sides of me. We’ve been brainstorming, but I can’t say anything yet because I want people to be surprised if I do make it through.

PC: In addition to American Song Contest, you also just released a new single. Can you tell us about “Wish U Were Dead” and the inspiration behind that song?
Grant: I wrote “Wish U Were Dead” a couple of months ago. I have a ton of songs that were lined up to come out, but right after I wrote the song I was like, “I feel like this is really special. I feel like it’s different than all my other music.” I was like, “I need to put this out right away.”

The song is about getting ghosted and being led on by someone and not knowing what’s going on. I wrote and produced it. I actually just released a music video for it a couple of weeks ago, which I am so, so proud of. It was really, really cool to make because I made it with four of my friends. It was a couple of teenagers and a camera trying to do whatever we could do. I’m so proud of how it turned out. I told them, “Oh my gosh. This reminds me of those movies where people are like, ‘I want to make a movie one day,’ and then they do it.” It gave me that vibe.

PC: Similar to your performance on American Song Contest, the music video for “Wish U Were Dead” finds you incorporating your love of dance. As you’re working on a new track, are you thinking about all of the visual and creative elements that you’re going to add in? What was that process like coming up with the choreography and concept for the music video?
Grant: Definitely. I grew up dancing. I started dancing at seven. I honestly think that’s what influenced me to get into production because there’s so much musicality and rhythm in dancing. When I’m producing, I start thinking about the visuals. I’m like, “What could this visual look like?”

For the second chorus of “Wish U Were Dead,” I’ve always imagined a heavy rainstorm or rain pouring down. That was so cool to make that vision come to life. My friend Ashlynn Malia choreographed it. She did an incredible job. She’s an incredible dancer. I was like, “Ashlynn, I trust you with this. I know you’re going to kill it.” I’m really, really happy with how it came out.

To keep up with Grant, follow him on Twitter, Instagram, Spotify, and Apple Music. Support Grant on American Song Contest.