Kniteforce Revolution

The History of Kniteforce - Chapter 3

Nov 22, 05:47 PM

Chapter 3


I always knew that after “Sesame’s Treat”, Smart’es would have a hard time. There were very few sustained dance acts in the charts – even now, most are one-hit wonders – and I wanted to stay in the music scene, but I wanted to run things my way. I felt that the only way to put out the records I wanted, the way I wanted to, was to do it myself. I also felt that a lot of money had mysteriously gone missing on the long journey from the punter, to the distributor, to the label, to us. For example, to this day, we have only been paid for sales in America, Australia and UK. I know it was released in many European countries, and I have a copy of the German released version, but that’s it. I know it was released in Japan (The worlds 3rd biggest music territory, after America and Europe) but I only found that out when I became good friends with Japanese dj, Dj Evil, in 1997. I wanted to be in total control of what goes where, and to be sure that everyone got paid what they were due.


Lesson Four – Trust NO-ONE except the people who love you, or those that have proven trustworthy in the past. You WILL get ripped off – but bear in mind that the music business is a complex one, and therefore its easy to make mistakes. Give people a chance. But only one. And also, remember that your idea of what you should be paid may be waaaayyyy different to what is actually due. I have overestimated (and underestimated too) what I should be paid more than once, and argued with people who think they should have got more than they did.
A good way to tell if a label is trustworthy is, have a look at the catalogue or artists. Are their old artists still with the label? Its by no means a guarantee of safety or honesty, but can work as a guideline. Would I trust XL? Look, Prodigy are still with them. Thats a good sign.

The first thing I bought when I (eventually) got paid, was a studio. It cost me around ¬£15000-20000, and was very basic, compared to today’s standards. The first record I released on Kniteforce records was “Luna C project 1” , but it was engineered by Austin at Sub Base Studios, because despite having bought a studio, I had no idea how to use it. I asked Sublove to remix one of the tracks. Most people don’t know who Sublove was, but if you are into old skool, and you see a Sublove record for sale, BUY IT. He was one of those people who made amazing records, but inexplicably never really got the credit he deserved. I also got the entire KF crew to come and remix “Mind of a Lunatic” (see picture). The crew at that time was Poosie, Dooe J, Alk-e-d, Bull-e, Spenna, Cloud -e, Bex, Air-o-nix, Fwoar, and me. The studio was small, and crowded, but it gave everyone a taste of what it was like. Dj Ham, Jimmy J, Dj Brisk, and Dj Force And The Evolution came later (although Force & Evo, Adrian H, The Criminal, and a few girlfriends are in the picture which was taken around the time of KF020).




It was natural to call it Knite Force records, but we needed a logo. Bex and Cloud-e were our artists, and they both went away and came back with various ideas for logos. We all realised that we couldn’t abbreviate Night Force to NF for our logo (NF in the UK stands for National Front – a racist political party) so we changed the spelling to Knite, and combined the various ideas that Bex & Cloud-e had come up with, to create the logo we used. It was a group decision, everyone was involved. This was very important to me, because I wanted to thank the friends who had stood by me, and also because if everyone in a group likes a thing, the thing is probably pretty good. Below are the stages in the development of the logo – scroll down past these for more writing!






















The end result was an excellent logo and an okay release – I was very much influenced by NRG’s “He never lost his hardcore” on Chill Records (which, incidentally, I want to be played at my funeral) and it sold around 1000 copies. In those days, a good release would sell around 5000, an anthem much more. Luna-C project one to date has sold over 8000 in small amounts, because everyone always wants the first release on a successful label.
Luna C project 2, however, was crap in all respects. It was the first release that I made in my own studio, and the third most embarrassing record I have released ever (coming after “Snow in Summer” – which Dj Ham liked to embarrass me by singing whenever I needed to be bought back down to earth, and REC018, because I tried to sing on it – oh dear…not that I learned my lesson – See Project 14, Mirrors And Wires CD for details).
I had so little knowledge of how the studio worked, that the end result was not really up to scratch. And it is the lowest selling record I have ever released. It did, however, have a free plastic spoon taped to the cover, and an amusing info sheet with it. Not many labels can claim to a “Plastic Spoon Bonanza” in their list of achievements. This was the first of many KF in-jokes. Alk-e-d and I had been having a competition to see who could get the biggest collection and widest variety of plastic spoons. There were rules:- It had to be free, and it had to be “throwaway”. I think the Muller Rice spoon was the best, but Alk-e-d won with a special edition, folding Ambrosia spoon. It was through the spoon joke that I first came into contact with Dominic Smasal, more commonly known as Nevis-T, who I still know today. He writes for a German rave magazine, as well as having released music on KFA. This is typical of my attitude to music – I like to work with friends, and many of the KF and KFA artists started as fans and friends. Idealz, Deluxe, Ham, Nevis, Unsubdued, Dj Evil…


Anyway, Germany was the first country to really support KF Records, and for the first 15-20 releases was where most of our sales went. Until the style of the music went more 4×4, we always sold well in Germany, and I continue to Dj there as regularly as I can.
At this time, we all used to go out as a posse, and our regular clubs were Labyrinth in Dalston, London, and the regular events at Clacton pier, where I met Dj Force & the Evolution. They blew me away with their musical skill, but their studio was not equipped to make a finished product, so I invited them to my Studio, and KF03 was made. As they lived in Clacton, it was hard to make them feel like part of the crew, and I guess the felt like outsiders – a shame, as in later times they didn’t have the loyalty I would have liked…but that was to be expected, and I was pleased when they went on to be successful in their own right. I always said to everyone on the label “with the money you earn here, save & set up your own labels and studios, because in the end its the only way to remain in control of your career.” Only a few artists did this. Dj Ham, Dj Brisk, and Dj Force and the Evolution. Need I say more?


Lesson 5 – Always save your money – this business is quick to give, and quicker to take away. Unfortunately, money controls it. Such is life…


Here ends chapter 3…..

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