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Interview: River Knight
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What got you into music, and if you had not gotten into music what would you be doing today?
Darren: My Dad had decided to learn the guitar but it just sat there. I ended up picking it up and started playing. I have no idea what else I’d be doing.
Stone: A love of rock and heavy metal got me into playing music, but I don’t really do what ifs. Who knows what I’d be doing today if I had never gotten into music, could be anything really
What do you like to do when you're not playing music and how does that influence your creativity?
Darren: I like to spend time with my family, work on my van, avid follower of Southampton FC, and creatively I just love to jam…
Stone: Our songs are written about our lives and the lives of those around us so everything we do will somehow influence the song writing process.
How long has your band been around?
Stone: River Knight has been around for 3 and a half years… roughly. We started sometime in the first half of 2018.
Darren: What he said.
Where are you based out of and how did that influence your music?
Stone: Southampton, UK and the only influence that has had on our music are some of the stories we’ve heard from the people that live there.
Darren: Yeah the people for sure. It’s not so much the place but the people there. I’m Southampton through and through.
Stone: One hundred percent.
How did you come up with the name of your band and what does it mean to you?
Stone: Sorry to be a bit boring but it’s our surnames. Simple as that. Stone River and Darren Knight.
Darren: And it is a cool name.
Tell me about the best and worst shows you have played.
Stone: We put on a charity gig at a liitle pub in Hamble near Southampton. The place was packed, the atmosphere was rocking. The worst show we have played? Um, do you mean the worst experience for us or for the punters? HAHAHA
Darren: Oh my god, yeah, that gig was cool. But really, I just love playing.
Tell me about your favorite venue to play at, and do you have any places you want to play that you haven't already?
Stone: I love playing every venue, they all have their own vibe. There are far too many places I haven’t played that I want to, but I’m really eager to do as many festivals as I can .
Darren: Oh yeah, Glastonbury. And Wembley, I’d love to play Wembley.
If you could play any show with any lineup who would be on the ticket?
Stone: Guns N’ Roses, Elbow, Wham!, Hot Chocolate, and Iron Maiden, but I think it may be a hard sell.
Darren: Oh, and Foo Fighters!
What is some advice that you would give to someone who is just getting into playing in a band?
Stone: Be passionate about your music and work hard at all the other side of the industry. It’s all well enough to have the best songs in the world, but if you don’t work hard getting it out there, no one will hear it.
If you could go back in time and give yourselves advice, what would it be?
Stone: I’m good.
Darren: I couldn’t go back in time and not effect everything I have right now so my advice would be carry on being you.
Of your songs which one means the most to you and why?
Darren: Heaven’s Door, as it’s the song that started it all and it’s my tribute to Steph.
Stone: They all have a personal connection in some way but for the purpose of this I’ll say Elope because it’s beautiful, but it’s quite cruel. But not in a bad way. If that makes sense?
Which songs are your favorite to play and which get requested the most?
Stone: She Came Round and Th(f)ree are getting a lot of requests, and I love playing them. I don’t have a favorite to play, I enjoy them all but, we’re gonna do a gig soon with the guests we had on the album and that will be a lot of fun. River Knight and Big Daddy Rap Beast on the same stage will be killer.
Darren: I love playing them all.
What is the creative process for the band, and what inspires you to write your music?
Stone: It varies. Generally, I’ll have some lyrics written down, Dazza will get a progression going and we’ll find the melody and jam it out. But likewise I may have the chords progression, words and melody or Darren will have the music and melody with a couple of lines, and I will add the rest of the lyrics.
What kinds of messages do you like to get across in your music?
Stone: Positivity. On first glance some of our songs can seem a little on the negative side, but delve a bit deeper.
Do you ever have disagreements in your band, and how do you get past them?
Stone: We’re pretty much on the same page all the time, and on the rare occasion we are moving in different directions, we sit down and have a chat. Easy. We’re both very chill.
Darren: Yep, never actually argued. It’s quite bizarre.
What are your plans for the future, and do you have anything that you want to spotlight that's coming up?
Darren: Keep playing gigs, keep writing songs. Keep plugging our debut album GROW, that we released a couple of weeks ago.
Stone: We will have a new video in the near future, and we’ll be playing shows promoting the album with slot at Victorious Festival in August.
Been a pleasure
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Stone: Thanks for having us.
Darren: Great site.