“I’ve been building tracks for my next EP. At this very moment, I’m making a moombahton track and I’m really feeling it! The scene here is great – almost any day of the week there is something happening. Growing up here has been great too, I was playing at a lot of venues around the place when I was young and would go out and get raving!” he proclaims proudly.
Indeed, his music is difficult to categorise and he admits that people are forever arguing about how best to describe it. “It is something I made that replicated Dutch house but at 140 beats per minute,” he says. “There had been plenty of 4×4 beats done before by people like Caspa, Skream and Benga – as well as artists like Buraka Som Sistema who do the soca beat stuff – so I wasn’t first. But I do like the energy in 4×4 kicks and off-beat percussion. The music has got a good vibe to it and I found I was getting bored of the same stuff being done over and over. That sort of first happened in the drum and bass genre and then in dubstep, so I wanted to make something a bit different.”
In fact, he admits that he never knew that what he was producing at the time was going to get him playing in the far flung reaches of Earth, especially given it was a melting pot of all the stuff he’d previously heard – music like drum and bass and dubstep as well as a number of other influences that he was listening to at the time. And it is that, that defines his direction in 2012 and likely beyond.
Studio wise, Knighton has been working on a number of remixes during the UK summer – one for Toddla T, one for Zinc & A Trak and then another for Caspa too. More recently he adds that he’s been working on new material for a forthcoming EP that will be out early next year. “I’ve also started working with vocalists as well and have been learning lots off Breakage, Shy FX and the Digital Soundboy team. I’ve also done some recent collaborations with Breakage and Caspa. After that, I’m planning on doing a Dismantle and Friends EP at some point.” And as if that wasn’t enough, he’s also been in the studio with Mensah and is looking to work with others. “A dream group to work with for me also, would be Prodigy. I love all their work and am a huge fan,” he professes.
As far as his sets go, Knighton is playing as many distinctive soundscapes as possible. “Sometimes you have to read the crowd and you may have to play a harder dubstep sound or go deeper and play more that 130 bpm stuff mixed with some house,” he adds. “But it’s great – I like lots of different types of electronic music so to be able to get booked at different types of parties and be able to play lots of different music is fantastic! I would hate to be stuck playing one genre. I play dubstep, newer and older house as well as a bit of jungle and some classics. I’ve even ended my set with Bill Withers before – it was sick! We had the whole crowd singing along. I think people are open these days to artists playing unique material, which I think is a really good thing.”
He also admits to not having had writer’s block for ages and is enjoying the more prolific output he has looked forward to over recent years – he then goes on to share an odd story or two. “I really enjoy playing an alternative set like the one I did at this social club in Paris. I also love playing at after parties with a small room full of people. I even once jumped into a swimming pool by accident in Prague! A promoter who couldn’t speak much English showed me to what I thought was a third room but was in fact was a bunker full of dirty water. I fell in, five minutes before I was meant to go on. I had to change into some old baggy jogging bottoms and a t-shirt with holes in. I will remember that story for the rest of my life!”
Finally, the lad is super pumped for his series of dates around the country, in what will be his first trip Down Under. “Yes, this is my first time to Australia and I have to say I’m pretty excited. You can expect a variety of music and a bunch of great parties. I’m setup with three-CDJs and a whole load of new music, so I look forward to seeing you all when I get there.”
Who can wait?
BY RK
