Twenty Knives an alias of electronic producer and composer Steven McDonald, having previously gone under the name Pale until a band from Texas sent him a cease and desist. He had picked the name Twenty Knives from an earlier song he had worked on, although the name is present before this as his website URL.

He started primarily playing Jungle & Breakcore in New Jersey and New York around 2002, playing shows with artists such as Enduser, Xanopticon, Duran Duran Duran, & Aaron Spectre a.k.a Drumcorps at a venue called the clinic in New Brunswick.

His first official release was a limited 12" EP released under TavCOM Records in February of 2004, titled “SHOPPING!”. It featured remixes from Doormouse, Enduser, and Wisp.

In 2005, he began shifting his sound away from Breakcore with his next album “Live Fast and Die With A Broken Heart”, leaning more into a rock-inspired IDM sound. He states Nine Inch Nails, Squarepusher, Aphex Twin, Misfits, & The Smashing Pumpkins as influences on his music.

His last official releases were a free EP in 2008 titled Royal Invitation, which was intended as a precursor to the album The Royal We, released in 2011 under Hymen Records.