Archive | The Philosophy Of Production

So 2017 is coming to a close, and 2018 is on its way. I thought I would do a little blog post to talk about what has been going on and also to thank the people that made this year so amazing for myself and for Kniteforce in general.

So look, those of you who bought the VIP version of my book “How To Squander Your Potential” (first thank you – Billy and Sonya!) will know that 2012-2014 were really tough years for me, disasterous in many ways. I am not going to go into it because I do so in the book. But those years serve to remind me of how amazingly amazing this year was. It took the entire years of 2015-2016 to get my shit together, which I did so with the unswerving support of my wife Cindy, and the chaotic arrival of my firstborn Wilder – an event that had huge repercussions for me. I gave up smoking all smokable things, I reconnected with my family, and I came out of the long depressed fog I had been in.

And then there was the label – with support from various people, it started not only to become a business again, but to become a love for me, rather than a thing I liked, a thing I could do, a thing that I did because I did not have anything else to do. As I sorted my head out, and got my life back together, I found the fire of creation and excitement that had dwindled to mere embers for many many years unexpectedly returned. Suddenly, I felt like I did when I first started Kniteforce records.

But actually, its wasn’t sudden. It was a slow build from a barely flickering flame to a roaring furnace, and it happened because various other people added fuel to the fire, and to switch analogys midway, knocked down the first domino to roll down the mountain making this giant snowball that led to where we are now lol.

So let me say thank you to a few people within the Kniteforce family that enabled the label to be what it is now and whos continued support will let it grow and expand in 2018!

First up, a massive thank you to Edd Grant / Dj Jedi. Without him first of all licensing the vinyls for the JKF Remaster series in 2016, I would never have tried to release new Kniteforce vinyl. And I would never have made new “old skool” without having released those first new Kniteforce records and seeing them sell. And then I wouldn’t have been brave enough to release more new vinyl and sign all the wonderful new artists to the label – Alex Jungle, Shadowplay, Paul Bradley, Gothika Shade, Mannik, Sanxion, Ant To Be, TNO Project, Shoreman, Sunny & Deck Hussy, Scartat, Wislov, and so many others. I always forget one or two, thats the rules. If I missed you out, sorry! And signing and working with all these new people is a blessing in itself. They have added inspiration and excitement to what we are doing with their music and ideas, quite apart from being new friends and offering selfless help to make the labels grow. Its been like finding new friends on an almost weekly basis, and its been wonderful. Without them, we would not have done any of it – Kniteforce vinyls, Knitebreed Records, the Vinyl Is Better CDs, the many other bonus CDs, and the recently relaunched Kniteforce Digital. On top of that, the rapid growth of the KF family and success of the vinyls has enabled me to work with hardcore heros from my youth, such as Hyper on Experience, Liquid and others. It truly has been an outstanding year.

So I am grateful to everyone mentioned there, but Edd especially, as he not only made me see this new (old) way was possible, but also helped with everything form the finances of the first releases to the setting up of the KF Bandcamp store in the beginning to advice to so on and so forth…basically, the dude is owed thanks, and this is me thanking him lol.

Next up, Lee Idealz. While Edd was hugely instrumental in getting things off the ground, Lee has since taken on the burden of running the entire UK side of the business. He packs all the orders and does all the hard work bit of the Kniteforce Bandcamp, and makes less mistakes in a year than I would in a week. He handles the relentlessly confusing instructions I send him daily with quiet grace, and gets everything done swiftly and efficiently. Not only does he pack and send all the bundles, he also sends the records to me to sell to you in the USA, and distributes the test presses and checks them before they go to press and handles distribution and and and…he still finds time to create and release wicked music on the label. Simply put though, without him, none of this would be happening. It would be impossible for me to do from the USA. So big thanks Lee, old friend. And yes, a pay rise in 2018 lol

A little side note here to thank Sara, a friend of Lee’s who does fantastic artwork for the label – Idealz’s recent sleeves, the Audio X sleeve for the relaunched KFA  label, not to mention Bunnila Ice, the new KFA logo / mascot. She brings a new and unique style to the label(s). Which compliments our other two major artists – Annika Anderson aka Jimni Cricket. No introduction is needed for our turntablist supreme, but without her, KFA and KF would be sorely lost. And then, completing the trifecta of talent, there is Lee Milner, who has been taking the photos that I have used on many of the new kniteforce vinyls – my last EP, the Death To Digital series, Liquids forthcoming sleeve as well as the Vinly is Better artwork and the Kniteforce Radio logos….Between the three of them, the label has a look as varied as the music we release, and I couldn’t be more grateful or lucky to be working with such talent.

Speaking of the radio – a big thank you to Glyn Lowercase Allaway, a man with no idea what he is doing who has somehow managed to manage the radio station with a degree of competence which maybe surprises even him lol. Believe me, when we decided to start up the radio, I was already wayyyy to busy to be dealing with it, so the terms were simply “You wanna do this Glyn? Ok, I will get the stuff ready, but its in your hands to keep it running” lol. And so far at least, I would say he has done a stunning job. There are many Djs on the station that he has to manage. Thats like herding cats…and the roster keeps increasing. We are almost always on air, the chat room is fantastic, and we have a steady and increasing listenership (?). I would call that a success. Matty La Penoir may have built the website (he did), and I may have paid for it (err) and organised it, but it is Glyn that does the actual daily work. So huge thank you to you sir, and to all the Djs on the station, already too many to name. Old and new, welcome to the family and thank you for your hardwork and dedication this year. You are all awesome!

And before we go any further, huge thanks to Bradders aka Braderly aka Captain Tricepts, aka Paul Bradley the fifth – he has been doing the intros and jingles for the station, and recently moved on to doing artwork for KFD, and is both a new friend and one of the funniest fuckers I have ever met. The business can be quite stressful sometimes, and so its always great to have someone who both helps out with the work and then makes you crack up laughing while doing so.

And lastly (ish) a huge thank you to Shane Saiyan. By the time I got Kniteforce rolling again, and turned my sights to getting KFA back on its feet, Wilder was already here and Phoenix was on his way. It was plainly obvious that if I couldn’t find time to run the radio station, finding even more new artists and giving KFA the attention it deserved was going to be impossible. Apart from anything else, I have a huge love for new, modern hardcore, but I am simply not the person to be running a new hardcore label. I have stopped Djing live except for the occasional old skool event, I don’t follow the scene, and I am much more suited to and interested in old skool and breakbeat styled music. Saiyan was not only the best choice, he was also the only choice lol. It was a pretty big thing for me to hand over my label, and quite hard to do. So I needed someone who fit 3 important criteria – 1. Can be trusted 2. Knows the label 3. Likes modern hardcore and because I cant count 4. Isnt doing their own label lol. Anyway, Saiyan took the job and ran with it, and so far, has excelled where I would have just meandered. We are just at the (new) beginning, but the fact there is a new beginning for KFA, and that the label has already signed a whole bunch of new amazing talent is fantastic. I am not going to list the latest people on the label, cos thats Shanes area and some are a surprise. But I know who you are – welcome aboard and  thank you in advance. Unless your new releases are awful lol. I joke, of course! But big up Mr Shane, lets make 2018 KFAs year the same way 2017 was Kniteforce’s, eh?

Last few thank yous: All the original KF and KFA crew – I love you all. Empy, FP, Sparky, Demcore, Doughy, Genks, Alked, Brisk, Dave Skywalker, Deluxe, Ham, Kingsize, Nevis, Mathis, Spennie, Manfs…all those I missed? Thank you dear friends and music makers. I couldn’t do it without you.

And very finally, but maybe should have been firsterly – every single one of you that bought any of the records or CDs or downloads. Every single person that tuned in to the radio. Every one of you that talked about, shared or in any way promoted the label. You might not realise it, but each little thing you did was a small piece of an avalanche. We have to sell 100 records to just about cover costs. Literally EVERY sale counts. Some of you bought every release – and I am amazed and grateful. Some of you are signed to the label and STILL bought every release. That is admirable and crazy and I am super grateful for that.

So heres to all of you (raises glass) and much thank yous and gratefuls. I will do my best to make 2018 spectacular for you all, because I know you are doing the same for me!

The future is bright. The future is Orange. Wait, does Orange still exist? Anyway, the future is Kniteforce, thats what I meant.

Nice one,

Chris / Luna-C

Hello,

Here is a post that Dj Vibes put up a few weeks back:

I made it clear that I was unhappy about it, and it was removed. But still, I know it was seen by a number of people because a number of people sent me screen captures and asked me what the fuck? Which, incidentally, was also my feelings on first reading it lol.

Shane Vibes apologised, and replaced it with this one:

Its all good, I understand how things can come out wrong, so no big deal. The dudes a legend, I have known him for years and I am not about to start a tedious and childish grudge with one of the few hardcore Djs who has stayed true to it all this time. So there are no hard feelings.

Nevertheless, the original post upset me. It upset me on two levels – the first was the implication that I had ripped Vibes off – which I have since been assured was an unintentional implication. And the second was the massive over estimate of how much money was made on that release. If someone like Vibes, who is a veteran of the industry, can get it so wrong, then many people must also have a false idea of  the profits the old skool made.

And because some people read it, I want to correct some of the things that were written. And also, its a good opportunity to tell people about the way the industry works because there is a great deal of misconception about it. I may well do a series – this one was triggered by an ill-worded post, but I have read plenty of arguments online about the music industry and found myself wanting to should at the screen “IT DOESNT WORK LIKE THAT” lol. So I am going to break the first post down, and tell you all the bits that are not accurate 🙂 I am even going to go into actual costs and sales figures, all be it roughly. Its a bit long…sorry!

So first up, the remix fee. It is mentioned in both posts, and I understand the frustration with this one. It is true that remix fees are a one off payment, and it is also true that this can be unfair. The problem is there is no other way to do it. Its a little complex, so bear with me:

The first option other than a stand alone remix fee is to give a royalty. The problem is, you cannot easily give a royalty for a remix because the remixer did not write the original track, nor did they do any of the promotion or work for that track, nor were they part of the deal when the track was signed to the label. The record label (me) did not sign Dj Force and the Evolution and Dj Vibes & Wishdokta.

Of course you could put that aside and give them royalties anyway, just because it would be nice, but it quickly becomes a practical (and maybe a legal) nightmare. Do they get a royalty of the entire track or just that remix? Because royalties are based on the track and all versions of it, not just a remix version, unless you are now going to make it a separate entity. But okay, suppose you do that –  what percentage is fair? 5%? 50%? And who decides this, and is it a standard thing? Are all remixers getting the same percentage – or put another way, are all remixers of equal value?

And do we do this with every remix that gets done of a track? Which would mean each time a remix was done, you would have to write a new contract, redo all the legal paperwork and forms, and change ownership and percentages of the recording.

This is obviously a terrible and impractical idea. One track might end up being remixed 20 times, which would mean the record label is, in effect, dealing with the original artist, 20 new artists, and all of their individual splits for each remix in each format.

Still, it could technically be done with the royalties from a record label, the money made from physical sales that is. It would be horrendous, but it could be done. Of course, you would then have to ensure the original recording artists and the record label were agreeable to that. But I cant think many artists or labels would want this arrangement. Even between the best of friends that is a nightmare of organisation, contracts, management and royalty accounting. I think in almost every case, if the remixer asked for a percentage or a royalty, the answer would be “you know what, I will get a different remixer” lol.

But even if all agreed to do that and were happy – there is publishing to consider, which is a whole other thing. Publishing is the ownership of the composition of the recorded work, and it remains in the hands of the person who wrote the music regardless of who remixes it. In this case, the publishing is owned by Dj Force & The Evolution – not me, not Vibes & Wishdokta or any remixer, not Kniteforce Records. It is usually collected by a separate entity (a publisher) on behalf of the writer. And the collection of publishing royalties simply does not allow for this situation. Someone wrote the track, someone else cant come in later and also have written the track, unless they actually wrote the track lol. It just doesn’t work like that, the end. Even if all parties wanted it to, it still doesn’t work like that. The worldwide systems for collecting publishing – the PRS and all the rest etc – are not set up to accommodate that arrangement. And again, if they were, what artist or record label would want that? Very few I think.

This is why remix fees are usually one off, single payments. To make it royalty based is extraordinarily difficult within the systems in place to collect money worldwide.

So okay, a remix fee is the best way, even though its not great. Its main problem is, a remix fee is paid for BEFORE the sales happen, before the remix is released. And no one knows how well a remix will sell. So judging how much you will ask for is very difficult to do. This is why the remixer usually sets the price, and the record label decides if it is worth paying or not. This is what happened in this case – I called Vibes, he set the price, I agreed to it, the remix got done, I paid the fee, the remix got cut, then the sales come in. Or not lol.

Its all guessing game based on the remixers pedigree and all the other factors that may help or hinder a release. In this case, I paid Vibes & Wishdokta a set fee and I got a brilliant remix for it. I cannot remember if the fee was £300 or £500. I do remember that Slipmatt was £500 back in those days, and he was the highest paid because he was the king lol, so it was most likely I paid VW £300, and I am certain it was not more than £500 for reasons that will become evident. It was a good deal for me, and actually a fair deal for Vibes & Wishdokta (although if you read this whole blog, you can come to your own conclusions about that).

However, lets use the other side of this particular release as an example of how it can all go wrong – I paid £600 – so more than Slipmatt –  for the Ramos and Supreme Remix because after agreeing to do a swap deal (where they remix for us and we remixed for them) they then delayed and delayed getting me the remix until after I had already printed the labels and sleeves, and then demanded £600 rather than do the agreed swap. For this princely sum, they made what is, in my opinion, a crap remix that no one plays and it is only on the record at all because it would have cost too much money and time to not use it.

I learned my lesson, and I have never let anyone put me in the position where I have to take whatever crap piece of music they farted ever again lol.

So in that case, I paid Ramos & Supreme a set fee and got a poo remix. It was a poo deal. I paid the money, and I lost out.

And that sums up the risk with the remix fee system. Some you win, some you lose. Welcome to the music industry, ain’t it grand? lol.

One last note on remix fees: They are very hard to judge no matter how reasonable you want to be. Because in the end, the reasons this particular record did well are many and hard to categorise or value. It sold because Dj Force & Evolution made a great track, Vibes & Wishdokta made a great remix, it was one of the first hardcore releases of that era to have a proper colour sleeve, it was part of a series which featured Slipmatt who was the biggest name at that time, it came out on a label that was doing well already, and one that had a good distributer. All of these things helped. The Ramos & Supreme Remix might even have helped a bit I suppose lol. But I suspect…not…much. And what would have changed it? What if Force & Evolution did the remix? What if Tango and Ratty did it? What if there was no sleeve? What if it was a 4 tracker instead of a 2 tracker? So many variables that would have effected the sales for better or worse. But still, the excellent remix from Vibes & Wishdokta is a major factor, and the original track being brilliant is also a major factor. That is undeniable.

All of that long winded explanation is to show why a remix fee is paid as a single one off fee, rather than any other way of doing it. I can think of numerous cases where I have remixed for a fee and I probably should have been paid more. I can think of numerous cases where people have fallen out over a remix fee as well. I can think of one particular case where the remixers absolutely deserved to be paid as recording artists because the remixes were the only reason the record sold at all, and it became a huge anthem – but nothing could be done. The artist made a fortune, the remixers much less, and it truly didn’t matter what either artist or remixer wanted because the laws and rules are all in place and simply don’t allow for these sorts of arrangements and situations.

That was a behind the scenes shit storm I can tell you.

Bottom line? Its shitty. A single one off payment for a remix is not a good option, but its the least shit way of doing things out of the options available. I had no idea Vibes was miffed about it, but you know, thats the way it goes. It was Vibes & Wishdokta that set their fee, not me, and I paid it. That was the deal. Thats always been the deal.

Lets move on…

Im going to skip past the bits about the remix outselling the original. Once you add up represses, album licensing and digital sales over the years, I am confident that the original outsold the remix. But this is a minor quibble – the Vibes & Wishdokta remix is a stunning bit of work, more remarkable because it is very difficult to remix a bona fide classic like “Perfect Dreams” and do a good job at all – and they did a fantastic job.

I am also going to skip quickly through the “thanks” bit, because I did thank Shane outside a club a few months after the release. I remember it because other things happened that were only slightly related, and to recall all of that is pointless. Instead, I will simply say I don’t drink and never have, so I have never asked anyone to go for a drink in thanks or otherwise lol. Some of the KF crew occasionally dragged me to a pub where I would stay for an hour then go home to the studio. I am legendary within my circle of friends for “going home” lol. Basically, I am hopeless at the whole “socialising with business people” thing which is pretty obvious when you look at my career ha ha. I am content with it but I recognise it can seem rude to others. So it is possible I did not thank Vibes & Wishdokta enough, or gave the impression I was not grateful. And If so, my bad.

What I did do though is ask Vibes & Wishdokta to remix that track in the first place, which in itself was a thank you for the excellent work they had already done for me remixing “We’re Flying” and “Swift Half” by Future Primitive. Vibes & Wishdokta are one of the very few artists who were asked to do multiple remixes for Kniteforce. The list is short – Vibes & Wishdokta, Slipmatt, and Sublove…hmm…I cant recall any others from that time. There were VERY few people who’s skill and talent I respected enough to come back for more.

Moving on…

Okay, lets talk about sales: This is really the bit that bummed me out from Vibes’s post because it was so far from the truth. I would love to have made £12000+ out of that record. I definitely did not, nowhere near. I am, like most record label owners, guilty of exaggeration with sales figures from time to time lol. But if I am honest, I cannot remember how many we sold altogether, but I am pretty sure it was under 5000 because I remember we originally pressed 3000 of Part 1, which featured Slipmatt – then got another 2000 pressed of that one. At a later date, we may have repressed again on that, 500 here, 500 there. I think that first Remix EP ended up selling close to 8000, but it also easily outsold the others in the series. That release, KF27, was our best seller for a long time, maybe ever.

So I guess it is possible we sold 6000 units of KF28, the Vibes & Wishdokta remixes? I have doubts, I would guess nearer to 4000 – 5000. But anyway, lets be generous and go with the figure of 6000 that Vibes used. My memory is lousy and I fucked up a lot of things back then, so fairs fair lol. Here are rough profit and expense figures:

Profit

I sold to Mo’s Music Machine (my distributor) at £1.80 per record.

6000 x £1.80 = £10800.00 profit. So even without paying for anything, I wouldn’t have made £12000.00

Expenses

Ramos & Supreme Remix Fee £600 (I am still annoyed lol)

Vibes & Wishdokta Remix fee – £300 (I will go with the lower figure of £300 – they did undervalue their work, thats for sure)

Record pressing £0.42 per unit x 6000 (I remember the unit price for sure, oddly enough): £2520.00

Cutting, processing metalwork, artwork design (had to be paid for back then, I couldn’t do it), films for artwork, full colour sleeve pressing x 6000, label pressing x 6000, promos, postage, shipping etc etc: Fuck knows. But at a guess another £1500 – £2000. Maybe less. Possibly more.

All those expenses add up big time, and we are looking at  roughly: £5420.00

Total profit from that record? Using these (admittedly rough) figures? £10800.00 minus £5420.00 =£5380.00

Of course, The Perfect Dreams Remix is only one side of the record, so it only earns half of that profit, so: £2690.00

And that gets split in half again, 50% KF, 50% Dj Force & The Evolution: £1345.00

Thats a good figure. But its pretty far away from the £12000+ claimed in Shanes post.

Oh, I forgot that i would have paid VAT tax on all the expenses – that was 17.5%. Sigh. I cant be assed to go back and do the math. So lets ignore it.

In the end, we got less than that £1345 figure, actually. If we sold 6000 units. Because lets not forget, this figure is the high end – it would be much less if we sold 4000 units. And sure, it would be a bit more if we did 10,000, and maybe I have some of the expenses wrong. But even then, it would still be a far cry from the £12000.00 mentioned. Also, I want to point out the label wasn’t paid in one lump sum. This is the sales over a period of months, and years actually if we are including sporadic repressed which we are to reach anywhere near that figure.

And I wouldn’t have seen any of that money until months after paying for the entire project to be pressed, including paying for the remix fees.

Now, finally, the big question: Should I have paid more for the Vibes & Wishdokta Remix? Maybe. I paid Slipmatt extra for his when it went on to sell so many by just giving him another couple of hundred pounds. And honestly, I feel like I probably should have given Vibes & Wishdokta a “bonus” for the remix as well. An extra couple of hundred maybe. To be clear, I was under no legal, or even moral obligation to do so. But still, it would have been a nice thing to do. If it was me now, thats what I would have done. I am older, wiser and maybe a little kinder than I used to be.

So why didn’t I back then? I don’t know. Maybe because I was very upset with Ramos & Supreme’s nonsense on that same release, and it soured me on that particular EP – that’s not Vibes & Wishdokta’s fault at all, but there it is. Maybe I was going to give them extra and just forgot. Its not like there was Paypal – you had to actually meet up with cash or send a cheque. Maybe I was skint – those 2 releases were a huge upfront expense, and I was also paying for the next releases after that – KF29 and KF30, and Remix Records releases, and the Slipmatt Remix of Take Me Away was selling faster than the VW remix, so my confidence in it was higher while my wallet was slimmer. But it took months to get paid after you spent the money to press back in those days and I was fucking terrible at accounts. All of those things may have played a part.

Or maybe I was just being greedy. I was greedier back then, and more selfish in a number of ways.

Simply put, I don’t know.

But what I do know is: Dj Vibes post upset me. And it had a lot of incorrect information in it. And after I got over being annoyed, I realised there are so many misconceptions about how things work in this industry, so perhaps it was a good way of explaining some of those things. And also, I thought I would clear it up because it made me feel bad. Finally, I hope it makes Shane feel better too – I would hate for him to feel like he was ripped off. I know that feeling well (hi Suburban Base! lol) and its not very nice.

Lastly, after getting over my annoyance, I want to make it very clear I have no ill feeling towards Shane Vibes. I am just sad he felt like this and could not say anything to me directly. This is yet another problem with the industry – it is complicated, and it is hard to know if you are in the right or wrong, and then it is hard to say anything. But there we are. With any luck, this should clear it up.

Thanks for reading,

Luna-C

Hello! I haven’t done an “about the scene” blog post in a while, and with the new vinyl thing going on, I felt it might be worth saying a few words as a sort of pre-emptive strike against possible future danger. I have been around a long time. Im old! I have spent 25 years of my 44 in the business now. I have seen how things go wrong. And I am loving the excitement and all the hype surrounding the current crop of music…so I don’t want it all to go pear shaped over some stupid shit that could have been avoided. This is my attempt to stop problems before they happen. It probably won’t work. But I wrote it anyway! Huzzah. Okay, first up:

1. Don’t Try To Force A Name On It

As you can tell from the title of the post, the lack of a name for this new scene is sort of a problem. I am talking about music such as the new Kniteforce vinyl releases, what Dj Jedi is doing, the new Liquid album, the recent Billy Bunter & Sanxion album, the recent Xenophobia album and the 2 Bad Mice album and so many others too numerous to mention. All of it is…ummm…old skool hardcore? New old hardcore? I don’t know what to call it. Nor does anyone else. And that is actually okay. I have been around long enough to see various attempts at naming scenes cause all sorts of trouble. It never works, it just divides, restricts, and then ruins what everyone is doing. Who remembers 4 Beat? Exactly. Despite the good intentions, it was a stupid effort and everyone complained about it. What about Nu Skool Breaks? No! It’s Nu-Rave? Any of you remember that nonsense? I watched all sorts of stupid unfold as various people argued about the sodding name of a scene before it even had a chance to go anywhere. I would honestly say that crap was part of why it all imploded. It was tiresome. Take it from me, naming things is best left to the scene to do on its own, not record label owners or Djs or anyone else, and it will happen organically if a scene develops. Thats how it always works. No one got up one day and said “This music is called Jungle” and then everyone agreed to call it that from then on. It just happened.

Right now, what we are doing is not even a scene really – its more like a lot of people all facing the same direction and saying “Lets do this” – it is a beginning, a possibility. It is a very exciting thing – we can see an amazing future…and it will probably all go wrong. But if you want to absolutely guarantee it will all go wrong, call it something restrictive and stupid and then argue about what is and what isn’t part of it.

Now, if it were me, I would say the ideal name for what this…thing…we are doing is “Classic Hardcore” (like how you have Classic Rock to distinguish between Jimi Hendrix and…I don’t know, whatever is modern rock nowadays lol) or “Original Rave”. Except both of those name are shit. Whatever though, as long as it is something bland and it is able to cover a huge variety of music under one banner. This is important, because the relentless division and carving up of music, especially our music, has done it no good whatsoever.

And if there is one thing we can all agree on about old skool rave, it is that it had a huge amount of variety. That was the very essence of the original rave scene. It was wonderful. It encompassed breakbeats, 4×4, piano and vocal, dark, techno, jungle, d’n’b, 145-170bpm, everything. It was great. Lets not fuck that up by calling it “New Breakbeat Rave Music from the UK” or something equally shit and restrictive. Any name that restricts in any way pretty much dooms the whole thing.

2. Welcome All The Styles

This is kind of a continuation of point one, but it is very important so I want to emphasise it. What Kniteforce is doing is not the only way of doing it. I want KF to be a part of a whole, not a leader or a follower, neither dictating how to do it, or copying someone else. And I am actively making sure I don’t make the mistakes I have made before. Let me give you the Remix Records example: Jimmy and I started that label off with no formula, but RR was already more…restricted…than KF because RR was deliberately dance floor friendly. So the tracks hit immediately, and did well. When they did, we fine tuned the formula. It wasn’t consciously done, but it is what we did. Then the tracks did really well. So we kept doing it until we had that formula down! And everyone got bored shitless and it all went wrong. The end.

Lets not do that again. I am not going to do it with my label, and we need to not do it with the “Classic Hardcore” scene (Sorry. I have to call it something for this article, otherwise its impossible to write it lol). But look, the point is this. For a scene to develop, it needs growth. Growth needs to be sustained by variety. It needs it, because it has to draw more people in, so it has to appeal to more people, so it has to be interesting and varied to grow. And then, it needs to remain that way to sustain itself. This is imperative. Its not just me saying “I would prefer it is the scene had a lot of different styles in it” although anyone who knows me knows that that is true. This is a core element that needs to be not just accepted, but loved and desired by the people in the scene. Without it, nothing will come of it, that is certain. That doesn’t mean you cant prefer one element more than another. It just means, at a minimum, you cant dismiss or shit all over tracks that are good but not your taste, and ideally, you open your mind to those very tracks and gain an appreciation for the wide spectrum of sound being produced.

3. No Rip Offs And Less Remixes Of Old Tunes

Let me be clear – I am being a hypocrite. I have done more than one rip off. And I restarted KF with remixes of old tunes. Shit, I have new remixes coming out this week as I write this.

So let me explain what I mean. Firstly, the Rip Offs:

There is a distinct line between a clever sample and a rip off. What I am talking about here is the difference between using an old 80’s commercial vocal to make a new and unique track, and sampling “I Just Died In Your Arms Tonight” because that worked back in the day for a big gabber artist. I am also talking about not sampling Sweet Harmony or any of those old, big rave tunes and making a new version. Its shitty. It takes minimum effort and it relies on other peoples success and its been done again and again and again. At this point, even with the best intentions, its not clever and its not cool. I mean, if you can come up with a truly unique way to do it, then thats awesome. But…I don’t think you can. I am not sure if anyone can at this point. This new, emerging scene is absolutely based on the classics of old – but it will die as soon as everyone starts doing that shit. Because then, what is there to distinguish it from old skool anyway? Why would anyone bother to buy it? Or even be into it? Its just tired, and tired leads to rest, and rest to stagnation, and stagnation to rot and to death. Death by boring.

Okay. Now for Remixes Of Old Tunes:

Don’t do this. Don’t do loads of remixes of old skool tunes even if you own the rights to them. I am telling myself off here, as I am guilty as hell lol. And the only excuse I have is that I needed something to restart the label in a strong way. Okay. I did that. But the current remixes are the last in the series. After this, I will not be doing remixes of my old catalogue, and for the same reasons as above. Its old, tired, and resting on past glories. A scene cannot rely or rest on its past, it has to forge a new future.

I am not saying no remixes of anything. Just not of old things. I will certainly do remixes of the new batch of KF hardcore. If the track deserves it. And thats the key point – endless remixes are not a good thing, even of the new stuff. We need new music and new sounds if we are going to have a new scene.

4. Don’t Do It For Free

I would politely ask that everyone involved in this new scene, whether playing a set or releasing music digitally or hosting an event, charges real money for it. You don’t have to charge much money. And its okay to do the odd free thing here and there – that’s good promotion. But please, charge money for the work you are doing. This is very, very important.

Look at modern hardcore – there is almost zero money in it. A few of the biggest name Djs do okay with Dj work, but event promoters are struggling, Many Dj’s play for gas money only, and almost no one makes anything more than pocket money from music sales. This is because the music is worthless. I don’t mean that as a criticism of the music quality – some of it is excellent – What I mean is that so many people make it for free, and so much is freely downloadable, that the music has no value. And this is a huge problem because the whole scene is based on the music. If you want really good music, you need people who can do it as a full time job. Therefore it has to pay. Right now, there are a handful of people in that position with modern hardcore, and a handful isn’t enough. The result is less music altogether, less innovative music within that, and a scene which eats itself, losing artists almost as soon as it has them.

Lets not do that with this new scene. What we are doing is valuable. It should not be free. I assume it goes without saying that we also shouldn’t be ripping people off? Because thats another problem. But let me give you a concrete example of why we need to charge for things: I have been able to offer retired old skool hardcore artists a financial advance to make new music. And some have accepted. I can do that because I have sold the new KF vinyls at a fair price – one that gives the public value for money, but also pays the artist and the label a decent wage. So I have, for the first time in ages, a little bit of extra cash. This enables me to approach artists and say “I have money for you if you want to make some music”. This is essential. Many old skool artist would LOVE to make new music. And many are. But they also have jobs, wives, children, responsibilities – and you cant just drop that to make music that doesn’t pay. This is why I applauded Dj Hams audacious album concept even though some thought it was asking too much. And I am not just talking about old artists. You want new artists to be able to hang around? They have to be paid. So do the Djs, the event promoters, all of them. And people will pay for music, events etc. They are happy to – because they want the scene to thrive as well.

Lastly, and on a more general philosophic note: When you charge for things, you give those things value by default. When you give it away for free, you are devaluing it. We have all been given things for free that we don’t use or treat badly. When we pay for any item, it resonates with us – whether its a new car or toilet paper. Those items were wanted or needed. We had to work to get the money for them. It cost us, so they matter.

5. And Lastly…As Always….Support

This is linked to all of the above. I have talked about it before, but I don’t think I made it clear enough. Yes, you have to click links, leave comments on Soundcloud and Mixcloud and blogs, and you have to pay for music and to go to parties. But even more, you have to promote it. You have to tell other people about it. You have to buy the new albums, and then you have to tell your friends to buy them. You have to share the article or the event post, and then you have to go to the event and drag people along with you. You have to be excited, involved, and you need to be getting others excited and involved. More, you should want to. I know I do – but of course, that is part of my existence, being who I am and doing what I do. For my part, I am going to start sharing all the new music of this kind and advertising it where I can in my mailouts etc. Some of you will be reading this after being given a link via my Kniteforce mailing list. And you will have seen a link to the new Liquid album. I don’t know Liquid any better than you – I bought their old releases, and that is it. But the album is wicked. I have paid real money to buy it myself when I could have got it for free probably by asking for a promo and being all “we are in the music business together, give me free stuff” lol. It happens. But thats the whole point – No, I don’t get it for free, I buy the album. Because I have to support as well. I have to spend my money – money that I don’t have really. My money goes back into the label and is spent on Wilders diapers and food and other boring essentials. But if I want this scene to work…and I really, really do…then I have to play my part. I have to spend my money. I have to use what resources I have to promote these things. This is me, doing that. This is me, asking you to do that. And if you are reading this as an artists making this stuff – hit me up, I will help where I can!

Nice one,

Chris / Luna-C

PS and please don’t call it “Classic Hardcore”