CHECKOUT INLAND KNIGHTS PODCAST HERE FOR MIXES AND INFO Knights_Podcast
Laurence and Andy met in 1993 through their involvement Dj'ing with the legendary UK free party crew - Smokescreen sound system.. The crew of eight in total threw free, large-scale events at various locations across the English countryside. Utilizing rotating, secret venues, Smokescreen attempted to keep their renegade parties as underground as possible to avoid detection by local police - a feat they managed to accomplish on a regular basis. They also organized more legitimate events, such as nights in local clubs, and eventually took Smokescreen on tour, traveling across the European continent. All Smokescreen events featured deep house, with occasional back room sets of down tempo jazz and funk. Working with Smokescreen piqued Laurence and Andy..s interest in producing music of their own.
By 1998, Ritchie moved to Nottingham with what little studio kit he'd had in Sheffield, joined the To ka Project studio and began to put together the drop label whilst producing closely with Riley, who was already involved with To ka Project, his collaboration with Steve Walker and Jason Cowley.
Inland knights Volume 1 marked the launch of Drop Music in 1998; an independent outlet devoted to the production of quality house. The flourishing label has released material under various mediums, including EPs, singles and continuous-mix CDs. The Drop Music catalogue now has 50 releases to its credit, and is renowned in the dance music community for the quality and consistency of its work. Adopting various guises to showcase different aspects of their sound, including Party Criminals, In House Alterations, Grand Theft Audio and Big Audio Spidermite, Inland Knights have been responsible for most of the Drop catalogue.
As enthusiastic about DJ'ing as studio production Ritchie and Riley have maintained a relentless international touring agenda since their collaboration began. Their schedule has included visits to Australia, New Zealand and South Africa, in addition to Singapore, Malaysia, Turkey, Chili,, the U.S.,and Russia as well as all over Europe.
Under the Inland Knights moniker the pair have been fruitful, releasing tracks on labels such as Ralph Lawson's famed 20:20 Vision imprint, Panhandle Records, Vista, Siesta, Sunflower, NRK, Low Pressings, the classic 'hot soup' on sosound,doubledown and many more.
"Creative Spaces," Inland Knights and Drop Music's highly anticipated first full-length album, was released in 2001 to widespread critical praise for its funky jams and deep, grooving melodies. For the CD version of the album, the pair opted to create a live mix rather than simply re-releasing the vinyl in another medium. Resisting the temptation to use a computer to digitally master their mix, they simply released a live mix with no editing.
Towards the end of 2004 and into 2005 , Inland knights were busy in the studio with notable remixes for the likes of Tango recordings, as well as remixes for up and coming label Blockhead records, and MobileTrax(a label run by smokescreen buddy Steve Lee of the Littlemen). Early 2005 saw the pair release a major compilation on N.R.K called ..Family Duals.. which showcased some of the Knights back-catalouge as well as licensing tracks from the cream of the house community. As well as this project Inland Knights were concentrating on new material for Drop with two new E.P..s scheduled for the end of the year, as well as regular dj slots at the weekends.To mark the 50th Dropmusic release, Inland Knights released a two part ep package to widespread acclaim, with 50 pt 1 becoming an instant rarity and much sought after, and part 2 looking set to do well into 2007.
Despite their success as producers,and over eight years of releases under their belts, they refuse to withdraw into the studio and will continue to DJ and tour extensively. Riley notes they are always looking to balance their performance and production schedules. "If you start to do too much of one," he says, "You start to miss the other."
