MUMBAI: Grammy Award nominated British DJ and music producer Mark Knight performed in India as a part of Vh1 Supersonic recently. Last year, Knight performed at the Sunburn music festival and is very impressed by how many people in India are aware of dance music and its various genres.
Speaking to Radioandmusic.com about his experience at the festival he said, “It was brilliant, really lovely. The festival had a great vibe and great energy. In one year, I really like how much people’s understanding of dance music and its genres has grown. I loved every minute of it.”
Almost 11 years ago, in 2003, Knight, along with his brother Stuart, started a label called Toolroom Records. The label is known for its commendable house and tech house music and encouraging amateur DJs to hone their skills and learn from Knight. Her recently started the #RESET campaign to mark the creative re-launch of the label and had artistes from around the world perform including Amtrac from America and Argentinean tech talent Adrian Hour.
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“At Toolroom’s Artists Development, we put a big focus on the new kids we are touring with following our #Reset campaign like Adrian Hour, Weiss. For me, 2015 is about bringing those kids through this year. I am working on a lot of new club records by me on a regular basis and I am developing these new DJs who will definitely be the future of Tourroom Records,” said Knight. He recently finished an EP with Adrian Hour which will come out on 5th January. “Then, I am going to start writing a record with Weiss. I am not working on a big production this year, but instead just working with these kids and helping them. It is now about giving them an opportunity,” Knight further added.
When asked about whether he improvises every set-list while performing, Knight said, “Yeah, I do. It is like a book – it has a start, middle and an end. Being a DJ, you have to have that format, because that is what keeps people interested. If you read a book and it had all intro, it would not be all that interesting, or if it had only the ending. Musically, of course you have to improvise. The art to DJ-ing is to understand the vibe of a room or a festival and play records that suit that. So, I start at A and want to go to ‘B’ and see how far I can get with towards going ‘B’ without losing the audience. And then, play a memorable ending. You want people to remember the last record you played.”
Knight loves the musical era of the 80s. He loves the soul, punk and disco music from that era. “It was magical. I draw a lot of inspirations from there,” he said.
