Mark Knight

Huge new ‘A Year In The Life Album’ from the Toolroom main man

‘A Year In The Life’ is a retrospective album consisting of all of Mark Knight’s releases from 2015, 14 tracks from Toolroom’s label boss plus a brand new, exclusive collaboration with Cevin Fisher titled ‘Rocket Man’, all wrapped up with a full-length DJ mix from the head honcho himself…with all proceeds being donated to War Child. Dan Prince gets another world exclusive…

Mark a big welcome back to DMCWORLD. Let’s kick off with one of the most important nights of the year, where were you on NYE and what was the midnight tune?

Hey Dan, for New Year’s Eve I was in New Jersey first then an after party in NY for NYD. In my time I have thrown in a few curve balls at midnight…disco, Balearic U2, you name it I have given it all a bash. Some worked incredibly well and lets say some didn’t work quite so well. I played it safe this year and dropped ‘Man With The Red Face’ #bottleditbutwentoff

What has been one of the big tunes of the The BPM festival?

Admittedly, I wasn’t there for as long as I’d liked. But I did hear a lot of Ramon Tapia’s ‘Yellow Submarine’ which has just dropped on Toolroom. A perfect daytime BPM record.

Well you have hit the ground running in 2016 with a brand new album ‘A Year In The Life’ including an exclusive track plus a 20-minute fly on the wall documentary. Let’s kick off with the most straight away the most straight away important news about the release and that is that all the proceedings from the album are going to War Child. Why do you think this is the perfect time to be doing like this and what does the charity mean to you in relation to you being a parent now?

There’s never a wrong time to be doing something like this. It just felt right because we had the perfect product and content to be able to do something like this. With everything happening at the moment in the world, as a parent, I see it more. It opens my eyes and I feel more in touch with it. You can’t imagine what those kids are going through and as a parent, your perspective changes. When you see the news, it hits you that much harder and War Child felt like the perfect charity to help and support.

The album includes 1 exclusive track in the form of a brand new collaboration with Cevin Fisher titled ‘Rocket Man’. Tell us about the music and how the hook up happened…

I’ve worked with Cevin before and he’s a super nice, super talented guy. I feel he’s incredibly underrated. I had written an instrumental track and it was just screaming for him to do a vocal on it. I sent the track across to him and within one take he did it. He sent it back and it was incredible. Simple as that. When you work with people who are very talented, these things come together very easily. It has his name all over it and I’m so glad I got him to do it.

So, A Year In The Life…a retrospective album consisting of all of your own releases from 2015. When you listen to the tunes on there, what clubs/festivals/events do you associate with some of the tracks?

Good question…the one that stands out to me straight away is the first time Adrian and I played ‘Dance On My Heart’ in Serbia. We did the show together and it was the first time we’d ever played it. It was 7 o’clock in the morning, the sun was coming up, we were outdoor and we were playing to 5,000 people. It felt totally the right time to play it for the first time and BOOM! It just connected with the audience straightaway. Which was great because it’s not an obvious record. At this point it was only a demo… but it just felt like we’d really hit the nail on the head with it and the rest was history.

What tracks on the album are you most proud of?

I like all of them. I set out to do something with every single. The aim at the start of 2015 was to create 12 club records. So I think they all filled a certain purpose. The one I’m probably most proud of would be ‘Dance On My Heart’ as it’s the most musically accomplished and I feel will eventually have the most longevity. There was definitely magic with Adrian Hour and Indiana and I all working together, we came up with something very special and different. It’s not an obvious record but that’s another reason why I like it. It’s the sort of record that will creep up with you over time.

Do you think 2015 was a good year for dance music?

Yes! A great year for dance music. Globally, it’s becoming something even stronger. I’ve certainly seen new territories emerging. For example, I went to Sri Lanka and I was gobsmacked by how good the gig was. Definitely one of the top gigs of the whole year and it reinforces the idea that dance music is becoming global and has a great future.

An up and coming producer to keep tabs on this year…

Adrian Hour. 100%. He’s talented and has all the elements to be a true superstar. He is insanely talented and has a tremendous work ethic. If I was a betting man my money would be on him.

What can you tell us about Toolroom live plans in 2016…festivals/Ibiza a-go-go?

Again, lots of residencies in the U.S.A: Boston, New York, LA and Miami. Festival plans are brewing; we’re working on a lot of new projects! We’re also back in the UK on the 5^th of March at Egg. It’ll be our very first London party of the year with the Toolroom crew and myself!

And finally, what is coming out next from the Mark Knight studio?

First of all, the album, then a release mid February which will be a 3 track EP on 1605. We’re good friends with UMEK and the guys over there and he’s given us a lot of music over the years so it felt very right to repay the favor. And I am a big fab of the label. Then I have an EP coming out on Toolroom on March 25^th which is going to be an extension of 2015 with 1 track per month and strictly club material! By the end of 2016, you’ll be able to have a whole Mark Knight set.

A Year In The Life – Cat: TOOL452/01Z – Release Date: 22/01/2016 Pre order link : https://po.st/MKPre