Knight Rider

Brit DJ/producer Mark Knight is one of the most influential figures in house music. So why is he so restless as to be staging a dramatic post-EDM reinvention? Knight, who typically plays anything from deep to techy grooves, may provide a clue when he finally returns Down Under this month.

“I'm bringing a very specific sound to what I do – it's quite unique,” Knight starts. “I think [dance] music has become so polarised of late. You've either got people who are really EDM or really super underground. I fit completely in the middle of that and carve my own niche in terms of what I do musically.”

The Londoner has branded himself with his Toolroom Records, a Beatport bestseller – he's even issued music from big names like deadmau5. Toolroom celebrated its tenth anniversary in 2013. Then the DJ has his Toolroom Knights event company – and “upfront” radio show. Such strategic marketing might be antithetical to the original allure of underground house but, in a “corporate” dance culture, it's necessary, he says.

Knight shares his studio skills. He's co-produced Faithless and, together with D Ramirez, teamed with Underworld, first on the 'versus' Downpipe and later on the group's Barking LP. Knight is credited, too, on The Black Eyed Peas' single Rock That Body off their Australian number one The END. Still, he's better known for his own vast output, entailing collaborations and remixes. Last year Knight not only relished a club hit in Your Love, but also released Ten with Dutch progmeister Sander van Doorn and, again, Underworld.

Next Knight intends to yield a long-touted debut 'artist' album, possibly entitled Life At 33,000 Feet. “I've spent the last ten years really working on singles and I feel it's time to kind of expand that and give myself a new challenge – and that'll be the focus of 2014.” Knight has a clear vision for it, sparked by his exchanges with Underworld. “The idea of this album is to turn it into a live show.” Indeed, that would allow him to bring his “big stadium house records” to more festivals since, being neither an EDM nor “super underground” dance type, he currently exists “in no man's land”. Or, rather, Knight is a scene unto himself. It's curious that the Ibiza institution should discern a new division in dance as the EDM crowd is far from purist. And many old-timers who scoff at the 'EDM' tag are benefitting from it. “Richie Hawtin is as commercial as David Guetta in his own sense,” Knight asserts. “They just play different styles of music.”

Knight continues to diversify. “Probably a lot of people wouldn't know – [but] I do actually do quite a lot of pop music,” Knight divulges, citing co-writes like Calvin Harris' Drinking From The Bottle and Icona Pop's Girlfriend. “It's something I generally don't shout a lot about… It sort of goes against what I stand for on a kinda grassroots music level, but I find it very easy to do and I enjoy it. It's just another challenge musically.”