Knite Club Aftermath, This Weeks Releases, Smart Es and Jimmy J and Innercore and more...
Hello Everyone,
Its time for a new blog, and I am sitting on a sofa absolutely wiped out from one of the best nights of my life - I am of course talking about Sunday nights sleep. But also, the night before, Knite Club 2 at Scala. That was alright as well lol.
Anyway, there is a whole lot to say, so I better get on with it! There are two parts to this blog, the first about Knite Club 2, and the second is about Thursdays new releases, which are tied into Knite Club as its the "Knite Club 2 Store Extravaganza".
Section 1: Knite Club 2 - the Second Coming.
If you have been online at all, you will have seen that Knite Club 2 WENT OFF! It was AMAZING. I am not going to bang on about the things you might have already seen online, because...you might have already seen them online. I will stick to a few things I want to share with you.
Firstly, I do these events for the fun of it, and while it is a lot of work (and man, it is a LOT of work) it is done with the incredible support of the Kniteforce Council, KF Radio Djs and friends of the label. So huge thank you to my gorgeous wife Cindy, Glyn, Paul, John, Nigel and Marianne TP and family, Hypersane, RobO, Mr Arthur, Becky, Malcolm Paine, Hypersane, Darren Buzz and everyone else who turned up early, and helped set up, and then stayed all night helping doing the guest list and door work, and then even stayed when the night closed to pack up. It literally couldnt be done without you.
Also, huge shout out to every artist who played...you all, without fail, totally gave your best, and it showed. Messiah, Acen, The House Crew, Blame, Jimni Cricket, Jimmy J, New Decade, Pete Cannon, Jay Cunning, Dope Ammo, SDJ Zak, Dj Solo, Ramos, Miss Monday, Al Storm, Innercore, Radiosam, Mr Arthur Bradders & Lowercase, MC Juice, Micro, Elmo, Break Doctor, Fernandez, Jow, Beeno, Fibzy, Robo and anyone else I might somehow of missed...I love you all. Whether hugely famous or just breaking through, you all share one thing in common - a humble and pure love for the music and the scene, and I am honoured to be working with you! Not only would the night not be possible without you, it wouldn't be worth doing at all, without all of you being so willing to give so much and share the good with everyone on the night. I love you all, you absolute stars.
I am not going to tell you the set of the night, because did The House Crew smash it? Absolutely. Did Jay Cunning manage to keep people dancing at 4:30 am in the worlds hottest club when everyone was literally worn to bits? He totally did. Did Messiah bring the heavyweight? Of course. Was Blames set both classic and sublime? It was. Did Ella Sopp show up and sing Window In The Sky over Acens epic set? Yes indeed! Did I miss all of Pete Cannons set? I did. Fucks sake. But I heard it was incredible. So yeah. Thats actually the least fun thing about doing these events - I dont get to hear Innercore or Radiosam or even very much of Acen or Messiah...but I hear enough and bounce from room to room the best i can :) So while I cannot personally review every set, I will just say "they were all the best" and then...let me tell you a few personal highlights, and then I can leave it there:
Lets start with Smart Es. Yes, that was the surprise PA, and me, Tom and Nick prepared pretty carefully for this PA. We are acutely aware of the history of the Sesames Treet track, but we feel it is time to reclaim it in every way possible, and enjoy it for the ridiculous slice of old skool rave that it was. I had everything planned out, but I was totally unprepared for the rush of emotion I had just seeing Nick and Tom again. It was...I dont have words. We shared so much history together, and it was the first time all three of us were in one place together in literally decades, and we got to do a PA together, and it was a really emotional thing for me....the hanging out with them bit. The dressing up in a wig and dress, well, that was for shits and giggles, and you will no doubt get to see our wonderful little stage show in due course.
Here is a pic of us three. Tom, Nick...I love you guys!
Next up, look...Its Tom, Nick, me and Jimmy J:
Again, it is hard to stress how important this is for me - these three guys are, in many ways, the reason for all of it. Without Smart Es, there would be no Kniteforce. And without Jimmy J, I would not have had the success I did with Kniteforce back in the day, nor would I have learned some of the most valuable lessons musically. And Knite Club would never have been a thing. So yeah, thats...something. And this is also something:
HAHA! Can you believe it? Thats me, with Messiah and Acen.
I mean...what else is there to say? Thats me with Messiah and Acen. I think if Alex Hyper-On Experience showed up, I could have died happy surrounded by hero's. Dont tell them that though, its important I maintain my hard earned cool man image lol. One of Messiah doesnt like to be on social media, hence the white box over his face, but I promise you, thats not his actual face lol.
A few more pics:
Me and Floyd House Crew - what a wonderful bloke this man is. Terry and Raymond, the other House Crewers, were busy being awesome on stage when this photo was taken, but all three of them are proper. Just...proper. Best in the biz.
Mr Jay Cunning:
Always a star, always a pleasure...
And look, Me and Blame! And me and Zak TCM! And Alex Jungle (he IS real!)
So yeah, if I look like the cheesiest person alive, well, I don't care. It was a night to remember with people I love, playing exceptional music. It was...everything. I dont have pics of anyone else cos time is not on your side when you are running a party, but wow. I mean, yeah, just wow.
A huge thank you to everyone who made the night - the artists, the KF crew, and especially the guests who made the whole night a pleasure to host, and the staff and people at Scala who were perfect, and Paul AV for the lighting, and the sound guys and just everyone. Thank you. And I will leave you with this information: We are working on a little video of the night, and will release what sets we can, and yes, KC3 is already being booked for September 2024...and finally, this image, which is me being an ass singing Loos Control in a wig and a dress. Brilliant...
Section 2! the Kniteforce Store Extravaganza!
We wanted to celebrate the artists playing on the night with a sort of store bonanza...so as well as a selection of things like goodie bags, foam fingers, soaps, limited T shirts and record bags and mugs, limited posters and so on, we also gathered any remaining stock from the night, and timed up as many new releases as we could from artists who were playing...the result is this Thursday is gonna be a big one...
Lets start with Smart Es! One of the things that happened a while back when we were discussing doing a PA, is that the Smart Es collectively decided it was time to rebuild, remaster and rerelease some of the Smart Es tracks, including Loo's Control, Magnificent, and Sesames Treet.
The reasons for doing this will be clear to anyone who knows my history and there is little to be explained other than that this seems the only way to actually be paid for our work. And it kinda spiralled a little out of control, with remixes from Pete Cannon, Wicked XXX, Dope Ammo and Kleu, and Braddercase.
And then what was already amazing got even amazinger...We hooked up with Professor Elemental of Fighting Trousers fame, via the marvellous Pete Cannon....If you havent seen Fighting Trousers, then I insist you stop everything and whatch this amazing slice of Chap Hop right now:
He was up for a collaboration, so we now had a ridiculous rap added to pour ridiculous record, and it is ridiculously good...
So we have a glorious double pack EP of the original main tunes and remixes, and then a limited clear vinyl EP with a re-build and remaster of Magnificent, and a stunning Sesames Treet remix by HSI (who also did the exceptional new artwork for the releases) - we basically have a set of collectors items right here....not to be missed! And the bundle comes with a free mask, while stocks last...Your support will be doubly welcome on this one because, like I say, we haven't seen a payment for these tracks in decades. I hope this way we can give you guys MUCH better versions of these slices of history, and also that we will finally see some revenue for our work :)
Next up, Jimmy J has a set of remarkable Dubplate EPs and they are gonna be gone in an instant if its anything like usual. All three are absolutely slamming, and will be available on Thursday, 7pm:
And then of course, we have the already legendary Innercore releasing this fantastic collection of Dubs - unmissable!
As well as all of that, and to celebrate Knite Club 2, we are dropping the House Crews second box set to half price for 24 hours, and making the very last of the Acen Messiah remix vinyl available, and the last of the Acen USBs, and posters and really any extra goodies we have - a free Smart Es mask with that bundle, a free CD with the first 200 orders......just generally gonna make it a VERY fun evening on the store. Lets hopethe site doesn't crash....hahahah sob.
And i think thats it for now. Thank you all so much for reading this essay. And thank you to everyone for all the support, kind words, and fan fiction since they saw me in a dress. Lets talk more next week when I have a brain that is working on more than 8% power.
Here is a picture of me that adequately expresses my current state:
Nice one,
Chris