Inland Knights

Ritchie and Riley met in ’93 and cut their teeth Dj’ing for Smokescreen, the renegade sound system from which they drew their early inspiration. Smokescreen consisted of dj’s, lighting people, sound people, a truck, a P.A, a generator and general helpers. Old warehouses, woodland, fields, quarries and houses were utilized with the sole intention of having a good time…. for free! By the mid 90’s smokescreen could guarantee a crowd of hundreds in attendance at their parties(which were most weekends), and their club nights became local institutions that ran for years with packed dancefloors. Into their 21st year, Smokescreen are still going strong and are still hosting quality club nights and parties in and around the Midlands.

By ’98 Laurence and Andy had made the inevitable step into production and the same year their fledgling label, Drop Music, was born. With the release of ‘Inland Knights vol 1’ , Riley and Ritchie undertook a busy schedule to write tracks for Drop (almost all of the early output was Inland knights, despite many monikers). Drop Music has gone on to become one of the most highly regarded House labels in recent years (with 80 plus releases to date), and Inland Knights have gone on to become one of the most respected and prolific production outfits in the House community, carving a unique and distinctive House sound, and regularly taking on remix and Ep duties for fellow labels and producers. Highlights include the acclaimed ‘Mohammed Ali’ remix for Faithless on Cheeky Records, CD compilations and remixes for NRK and Om Records, three Ep’s on 2020 Vision, Inland Knights first full length album entitled ‘Creative Spaces’, and more recently, Inland Knights album to mark 10 years of Drop Music entitled ‘Dust till Dawn’, not to mention countless Ep’s on other labels over the years. More recently, the pair released ‘Inland Bytes’, a retrospective look at Inland Knights career so far.

Currently, as well as remix, production and label commitments, the pair maintain a busy international Dj schedule which takes them further and further afield as their reputation grows. Bookings have included regular slots at UK clubbing institutions such as Fabric, The End, The Egg, The Cross, Turnmills, Shindig, Back 2 Basics, Sanky’s, Chibuku Shake Shake, Ministry Of Sound, Cargo, Déjà Vu, The Arches and The Sub Club in Scotland, as well as smaller more intimate venues nationwide. Countless international trips have seen them tour the Globe. Most weekends Inland Knights can be found DJ’ing up and down the UK or Europe with regular international tours a permanent fixture in their Diaries.