A Q&A with River Knight
Southampton indie-folk duo…
What’s the title of your latest release, and what does it mean to you?
Mark: Our latest release is our new single ‘Unsprung’ and it means new beginnings, accepting help and moving on with life in a positive way.
Darren: It means exactly that!
What was the hardest part about putting this release together, and why?
Darren: The hardest part of what we do now is the literal distance between us and our producer’s studio. It used to be simple, as we were all located in Southampton, I lived in the house where the studio was located and Mark was only 10 minutes round the corner.
Mark: But then due to life, circumstance and growth Darren moved to Bournemouth, the studio moved to Portsmouth and I stayed in Southampton. We’re still reasonably close, 27 miles between Portsmouth and Southampton and roughly the same in the opposite direction between Southampton and Bournemouth.
Who produced the release – what did they bring to it?
Darren: Our producer is our good friend Jez. He brought patience and sonic understanding to the previous project GROW, and he brought everything we learned from that project when creating the new single.
Mark: We obviously have a hand in it too, like the arrangements and instrument choices are ours. The harmonies are generally Darren’s.
What do you want the listener to take away from listening to your music?
Mark: Ideally it’d resonate in some way for them. It’s always nice when someone relates to a lyric.
Darren: Hopefully they take away the passion and drive that went into the creation of the recording.
How does a track normally come together? Can you tell us something about the process?
Darren: Well, the initial writing phase is us sat in a room together with a few beers on the go so we can get the base of the song done – the melodies, the harmonies, the rhythm and the dynamics.
Mark: Then we’ll record that, get a basic mix and start jamming other instruments over the top and underneath until we find something that suits the song.
What band/artists have influenced you the most since you started this project, and why?
Mark: That’s tough to say, we don’t hear something and think we’d like to replicate it.
Darren: It’s more about our state of mind {hic}, jamming and finding our groove.
Mark: But if we have to name someone we’d be remiss to leave out Noel Gallagher. He’s just a class songwriter.
What countries would you like to tour? Are there any standout venues you’d like to play in?
Mark: We’d like to play anywhere we can, you name it we want to play there.
Darren: From South America to Central America to North America.
Mark: Australia, Japan, Germany, France, Sweden, Norway, in fact all of Europe, Asia, Africa and every other continent!
Darren: Be nice to play Antarctica!
Mark: As far as stand out venues, Glastonbury Festival is number 1 on the bucket list.
If you could pick one track for our readers to listen to in order to get a taste of your music, what would you pick, and why?
Mark: Well for me it’d have to be ‘Unsprung’. It’s our current song, current direction.
Darren: I’d second that, but as there’s 2 of us I’m gonna name a different song too – ‘Srength in Numbers’ with a shout out to ‘She Came Round’ and ‘Heaven’s Door’.
What ambitions do you have for the band/your career?
Mark: We’re just gonna plod along, doing what we do and see where the road takes us.
Darren: Domination. World domination! Hahahaha
Finally, as you leave the stage, what are your parting words?
Darren: Thank you very much, stay safe and we’ll see you soon!
Mark: Thank you!
For more info visit: riverknight.co.uk
