Photo by Matt Marcinkowski
When Corey Barnett (a.k.a. Rockwell Knuckles) and Aloha Mischeaux (a.k.a. Aloha Misho) perform, their chemistry suggests a hip-hop duo who’ve been sharing the stage for a decade. (The reality? It’s just been a couple of years.) Offstage, it’s the same dynamic: They talk at a mile-a-minute clip, finishing each other’s sentences, building complex layers of hilarious conversation, high-fiving after good one-liners. They pull sips off the same glass of wine. They’re simpatico on seemingly every level and, yes, they’re very aware of it.
Immediately they knew they had something in TheKnuckles. Misho describes their relationship as “peanut butter and jelly, yin and yang, doughnuts and more doughnuts, chicken and doughnuts.”
“It’s like bird meat and pastry,” Knuckles agrees, finishing Misho’s riff.
Misho recalls their first collaboration: “We’d been doing things separately. I’d always respected what he’d done. He’d respected what I’d done” (which included a short stint as a contestant on American Idol). By the time the pair was cast in a projected comedic reality show, they’d decided to collaborate. They clicked immediately.
Knuckles is co-owner and manager of the Cherokee Street performance venue Blank Space. The daughter of Alderman Freeman Bosley Sr., Misho is the founder of a nonprofit called GRLNTN (Girl Nation), which is all about “female empowerment, love, and understanding,” explains Knuckles, adding that Misho will be throwing parties called Supergirl at Blank Space. Knuckles and Misho also collaborate on TheKnuckles Network, a “multimedia entity” and reality show inspired by their lives.
Photo by Matt Marcinkowski
No stranger to collaboration as a guest emcee, Knuckles was immediately pushed and inspired by Misho. “I found myself having to keep up with what she was putting together,” he says. “As far as writing, vocal production, her whole approach… It’s very intimidating if you’re not equipped for the moment.”
The first few days in the studio yielded the beginnings of an EP as their tracklist kept growing. “We had a million gazillion songs,” recalls Knuckles.
Now, with a new album on the horizon, Knuckles says, “it all goes back to us being the best us. It’s about stockpiling a bunch of music that doesn’t have an expiration date—coming up with music at any given moment, in any given situation. It’s about building our own sound, having our own niche.”
Misho figures that releasing a lot of music is also necessary. At the moment, they’re “putting it out bit by bit—feeding the internet, because the internet likes to be fed.” They’ll also continue to mix and match at live shows, playing with rock bands as well. “I enjoy performing with any other entertainers on the scene—a cornucopia of bands,” says Knuckles.
Misho agrees, adding that they’ll be doing that “as long as we’re TheKnuckles”—a comment that produces another high-five.
Find song tracks, videos, and live show info at theknuckles.net.
