Knightfall's journey began with a vision to revive medieval virtues through music. From inception to studio project, it's a collaborative effort weaving diverse influences into symphonic metal.
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1. Can
you share the origin story of Knightfall, from its inception to where it stands
today as a studio project?
Knightfall
was a project that I carefully planned, with a clear message in mind. I
aimed to revive the virtues of the medieval knights code: honor,
chivalry, justice, and, perhaps most importantly, kindness and the
protection of others. When deciding on a name, I wanted it to prominently
feature the word "Knight" to symbolize these values.
Additionally, I sought to pay homage to one of my greatest
influences,Nightwish. The word "Knightfall" resonated with me for its
evocative sound and its embodiment of the ideals I wished to convey. After
conducting a thorough search and finding no other band legally using the
name, I felt it was a fitting choice for the project. Yes, I was a
fan of the short lived television show of the same name and that too
was also an influence. Knightfall is more than the music;
it's an ideal and moral compass in musical form. I plan to use
the brand to help spread the message and morals that guide me personally
in the hopes that others take up the call to bring more light into the world.
Knightfall
is a studio project that brings together talent from around the globe. While I
write the majority of the music, it's truly a
collaborative effort. My vision for Knightfall dates back to my earlier
project, Evince Ethos, back in 2009. I dreamed of creating a symphonic metal
project that drew from various influences, including power metal, 80's music,
and elements of musical theater, with a hint of pop for good measure. I wanted
to create an album that offered something for everyone. It's been a remarkable
journey bringing together such diverse talents to create music that resonates
with a wide audience.
2. How
did your previous experiences, particularly with Anaria, influence the
direction and sound of Knightfall?
During my
tenure with Anaria, we operated under the moniker Evince Ethos, with the
ambition of establishing ourselves as a prominent Symphonic Metal presence in
the United States. At the time in the US, the landscape was dominated by
male-fronted acts like Kamelot, leaving us determined to carve a path as the
first female-fronted ensemble to achieve significant recognition in the genre
stateside. Our musical compositions bore early influences from the likes of
Nightwish, coupled with elements reminiscent of Evanescence which had some
elements of symphonic metal, but not fully immersed in the genre.
Despite our
aspirations, our output was limited to an EP, comprising five tracks due to the
absorption of an introductory piece into the song "Remnants of
Wings". These tracks can still be accessed on Anaria's 2014 release,
"Ancestors", which features material from our 2009 demos.
Following
my tenure with Evince Ethos, my collaboration with Jessica Mercy and guitarist
Todd Miller became pivotal in shaping my artistic direction. While our initial
compositions leaned towards a synth-driven Symphonic Metal sound akin to
Nightwish's "Wishmaster" or "Century Child" era, my musical
journey evolved with a newfound appreciation for movie soundtracks and
orchestration.
Reconnecting
with the piano after a decade hiatus in 2019 reignited my passion for music
composition. Drawing inspiration from my experiences with Ethos, particularly
Jessica's vocal prowess, played a significant role in shaping my evolving
style.
3."Waiting
for You" was the debut single for Knightfall released in June 2022. What
inspired the creation of this song, and what was the creative process like?
My passion
for music is multi-faceted. Yes I adore Symphonic Metal and that is
generally my main focus, I could not ignore the other influences in my life
like 80's hair metal and pop music, musical theater, and pop music. I
knew I wanted to create an album that had an eclectic offering of music so
there would be a little something for everyone. Which is a bold move
because generally people expect there to be a concept or a uniform sound
throughout the entire album.
For "Waiting For You" I wanted to pay specific tribute to my love of
80's hair bands. Many of the songs of the 80's deal with heartbreak, lost
love, what could have been. I also wanted to pay tribute to some of my
favorite artists from that era: Van Halen, Bon Jovi, Danger Danger, Winger,
Firehouse, and Dokken among others. Several of those bands have a lot of
songs with piano driven riffs, like Van Halen's "Right Now" and Bon
Jovi's "Runaway". My Father in law passed in 2018 of
cancer. He was a huge fan of Van Halen, so creating something remicient
of Right Now felt fitting. Many of my songs are created by just sitting at the
piano and playing whatever I am feeling until I stumble on something that I
build off of. This was true of "Waiting For You". I found a
really fun piano hook and dived into that and came up with a basic idea for the
guitar, kept some synthy string sounds to compliment and wrote a melody that
was very much like the glory days of the 80's. After I had the demo all
sketched out I tracked the Piano, String synths, including programming the
drums. Then Patrick Goble came over and we tracked his guitars.
Patrick is a phenomenal guitarist, and we had rhythm and bass down in no
time. Leads took a little longer but we just kept rolling take after take
until he had the solo work we both were proud of. After we did this I
needed to find a singer.
I was told about Fiverr by a few friends of mine and I started searching for
the right vocalist. I looked at both male and female vocalists at
first. Then I remembered Vixen, and thought about how a lot of the guys
of the 80's really gave them a hard time for being an all female band
performing in the hair band style. This cemented my need to find a female
vocalist that could knock this song out of the park. After listening to
close to 200 vocalists over the span of a week. I had almost given up
when I found Dee Wolf's page. When I heard her gritty, rock and blues
style voice and her voice sounds a little deeper than usual but with so much
soul. I knew she was the one to complete this song. She took on the
challenge of the vision and "Waiting For You" was released June 10th,
2022 as our first entry. I was hoping the idea to bring forth that 80's
nostalgic feel would make the song resonate with people. Most people
who hear this tune tell me that it does just that.
4. The
debut album, "Destiny Calling," is in progress. Could you give us
some insights into the themes and musical journey listeners can expect from
this album?
Actually,
the album is released. Digital was March 22nd and Physical was March
29th. Digitally it can be found on our bandcamp and the physical CD is
available in our store through our website. The remaining songs of
"Destiny Calling" that are not yet on streaming will be released to
streaming throughout the rest of this year on a schedule.
"Warcries" is the next one due to come out to streaming May 24th
Pre-save is underway. So right now the entire album is exclusive to
bandcamp and through our shop. We are shipping physical copies
internationally. We have already sold a lot of the first batch of
physical CD's so grab one while they are still in stock.
A lot of what I write is based in the realm of fantasy but serves as metaphors
for things that are going on in my actual life, literary works that I love, or
in some cases my views on the current state of the world. I write from a
place of emotion so if you allow yourself the time to listen you can feel the
music as well. On the bandcamp I have detailed descriptions about each
track and what they mean. Here are some of the short versions.
"Children of Time" is about the belief I often have of immortal beings
living among us secretly, depending on your belief they could be angels, God or
Gods etc. I like to think of them as Children that never age.
"Warcries" draws on my love of Viking culture. But serves as a
metaphor for the independent music scene and our constant fight to be heard in
a saturated market without label support. "Remember My Name" is
a musical retelling of the Iliad using a musical theater style with a Narrator
and Achilles himself as characters. "The Hero Walks Alone" is
the story of a Knight going into battle one last time to protect his people,
but is also a metaphor for a parent who must always battle to protect their
children and they do so even in death. "Waiting For You" My tribute
to the 80's. I channeled all my previous heartbreaks before meeting my wife
when creating the lyrics. "Destiny Calling" again is
told from a world of fantasy, but is a calling for people with a talent or
skill to not shy away from this. To embrace it and do what they were
destined to do. The title was inspired by a few of the last things my
Father said to me before he passed away. In which he told me music was my
calling, and that I was destined to do this. The last thing he said to me
was "Go follow your dreams son." "The Musketeer" is a
musical retelling of the Three Musketeers from the point of view of D'Artagnan.
The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas is one of my favorite stories.
"Raise Your Fist" is a wake up call to the citizens of the United
States to stand united against what I perceive to be a broken political
system pitting the people against each other to sow discord and divide us
to make us easier to control. "Starfall" was a dream I had
about the world ending because every weapon of mass destruction in the world
was launched at the same time causing a world ending event.
"Farewell" is a musical eulogy and my way of dealing with the grief I
held on to over the loss of my mother. "Invincible" is the
bonus track and is a cover of the classic Pat Benatar song and is one of my
favorite songs of all time.
5.
"Starfall" was accompanied by Knightfall's first music video,
released in July 2023. What was the vision behind the video, and how does it
complement the song's narrative?
"Starfall"
was conceived because of a dream and I wrote it in 2020 actually. So
I always had this clear picture of what it was. I was playing an older
game called Warcraft 3. I was playing as the Night Elves and I was playing
as the hero, the Priestess of the Moon. She is the character that rides a
giant white tiger. Her top ability was "Starfall" (I wonder
where the inspiration of the song title came from. haha) where she rains stars
down on the opponent in this giant circle and is very powerful. I then
looked out my window to an event similar in this game except what at first
looked like stars were missiles flying high and then coming back
crashing to the earth creating mushroom clouds. That dream was quite
horrifying as you can imagine. I wrote the lyrics thinking of a few
things. What would happen if this were to happen in real life because at
the time there was a lot of unrest in the world and with covid full blown
things were even scarier. I also believed now more than ever we needed to
advance our space program to become a space faring people. Due to the
state of the world, I thought WW3 could happen as well so that was in the back
of my mind as well.
When I thought about the music video I decided to add in an even more
futuristic gaming experience. The main character Jessica Mercy's
character was in the future playing a VRMMO similar to that of Sword Art
Online. It's a fantasy world similar to things like World of Warcraft, or
Dungeons and Dragons, Final Fantasy etc. I wanted to show how plugged
into our devices we have become and reliant on them and that this could prove
to be a downfall because we may not know what is actually going on in the world
around us. The idea was to lure the audience into a sense that what was
happening was just fun and a safe place. THe video shows something like a
meteor or a star getting closer to the world, but that still seems part of the
game. The shock comes towards the end of the video when she takes off the VR
headset, looks out the window and sees the mushroom cloud and the video ends
with that image signifying the world has ended and most of us plugged in were
oblivious to our own demise.
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6.
Collaboration seems to be a significant aspect of Knightfall, with guest
appearances promised on the upcoming album. Can you tease some of the
collaborators and share how these collaborations came about?
Sure with the album
being released I can share with you all of it. One of my big influences
is Avantasia. Tobias Sammett is a genius and one of the best songwriters
in my opinion. His project started very similar to Knightfall as a collaborative
studio project that as it grew took on this life of its own and became his main
focus and turned into a touring project. The main thing is he ALWAYS kept
guest musicians coming on to sing songs either with him or together on other
pieces. Some of his songs were big ensemble pieces. I also love
Magnus Karlsson and he does many studio albums with guest vocalists as
well. Their music almost feels like an opera or a musical and I loved
that aspect of it. So I wanted to create Knightfall in the same
vein. The artist of the main cover art is Thomas Ewerhard. He is
the same artist that did the cover of Avantasia's album "The
Scarecrow" which is one of my favorite albums of all time.
So you can see how much Toby has been an influence on me.
The project
boasts an impressive lineup, with 7 vocalists and 3 guitarists and myself of
course. It all began with guitarist Patrick Goble and vocalist Dee Wolf joining
forces on the first three singles. I met Patrick because our wives are
best friends. Patrick is a music teacher and knows production. I
needed help and I started taking lessons with him. As I started to share
my demos with him he was very intrigued and when I asked him if he wanted to do
guitars on the record he was on board right away. Then I found Dee Wolf
on Fiverr as I stated previously. Dee sang on the first three
singles "Waiting For You", "The Musketeer", and our cover
of "Invincible"
Then,
Jessica Mercy and her husband Sergio Salvucci, Jess is my former bandmate and
writing partner from Evince Ethos (now known as Anaria), joined the ranks. I
hadn't spoken to Jess for years, so I decided to reach out to let her know
what I was doing and she had wanted to talk with me anyway about
releasing our old music to streaming so we decided to do that and she said if I
needed any help with Knightfall she was down to help with whatever I
needed. I sent her my demo folder and told her to pick one. She picked
out "Starfall" as the song she wanted to do. But then told me
she really liked "Farewell" as well. Little did she
know those were the two I had written with her voice in mind anyway.
It was meant to be. Sergio got involved after Jess was on board and
wanted to mix and master the rest of the album and agreed to play guitar for me
on "Destiny Calling". Sergio is an amazing producer and
videographer as he did both the music videos for "Starfall" and
"Farewell" with his production company Wildthorn Productions. I
could not have done all of this without him. I recommend him to anyone in
the United States for production both on the music and on videos. He is a
multi-instrumentalist and is one of the greatest people to work with.
Vocalist
Pete Rawcliffe, whom I met through social media because of the
"Invincible" cover, was next to come on board. He loved the
cover so much and commented on it after it was posted by a mutual
friend. I started listening to his music and was enthralled with
his voice. I reached out and sent demos to him and he agreed to sing a
song or two. It ended up being 4 songs. I love working
with Pete. He then introduced me to Stefani Keogh. Stefani is
an incredibly diverse vocalist who truly peaked my interest. She
immediately wanted to sing "Warcries" and I hadn't even finished
lyrics to that yet and she helped finish writing them. Pete and Stefani had
never done a project where they got to sing together so I gave them
"Children of Time" to do as a pair and it came out amazing.
Stefani then connected me with Marcos Peñate who is an amazing growler
vocalist. Originally he was only supposed to appear on "The Hero Walks
Alone", but I loved his work so much I added a growl in
"Children of Time" and one in "Raise Your Fist". He also
sings in the choruses of "Warcries" and "Destiny
Calling".
George
Acker initially reached out to me for advice on his own project, but our
connection led to him becoming a guitarist for Knightfall. Originally he was
just supposed to do "Children of Time". However I
loved what he did. He ended up doing "Remember My
Name" and "Raise Your Fist" and doing the second solo on
"Farewell".
Susy
Eskarlett's name came through a mutual friend, and I invited her to lend her
vocals to "Raise Your Fist". She agreed and her voice is so cool
it sounds like Noora Louhimo or Nitte Valo. We ended up doing it as a duo
with Jessica Mercy and then adding in Marcos for some growls. "Raise
Your Fist" has such a high paced energy and the girls sound brilliant
together. Lastly, through an open audition, Adrien Djouadou answered the
call, I had quite a few auditioners for the song. So many of them were so talented
I wanted to use them all if I could. But Adrien, there was just something about
his voice he was incredible and with that completed our ensemble.
His vocal style was not what I originally intended for the part of
Achilles in "Remember My Name", however his audition both surprised
me and changed my mind on using a tenor for that part.
I plan on
creating something like a Patreon or something for people to subscribe to for
extra content. I am planning alternate versions of "Remember My Name"
to be part of that stay tuned.
7.
"The Hero Walks Alone" carries a profound message about heroism and
selflessness. Could you elaborate on the inspiration behind this track and its
significance within the Knightfall project?
When I
wrote this song, I actually wrote the music based on emotions I was
having. A lot had happened. I had lost my mother, father-in-law,
brother-in-law, my Uncle, one of my mentors, and a couple of friends all in the
course of a few years. It was a lot of grief to go through. The emotion
behind the song was born out of the need to protect EVERYONE that I had left in
my life. To be the Knight in shining armor, to be the shield that
protects them. To put myself in harm's way before I let anything happen
to anyone else. I had no lyrics, just a melody and I just Knew in my
heart it needed to be called "The Hero Walks Alone". People
spend so much time being afraid. They forget to follow their gut
instincts. For many of us they are the correct path. That's
following your heart, but sometimes our head gets in the way. I have
learned to follow my instincts more often in my older age. So with this
one I went with Instinct.
I wrote the
lyrics while waiting in the pick up line to get my kids at school because it
takes forever. So I just sat there thinking about what a true Knight
would do to protect his people, his King, his land, his family. I then realized
I was writing the metaphor of what a parent that truly loves their kids
unconditionally would do to protect them. So I wrote the song with that
fantasy theme while thinking about how I would fight to the death for my kids
no matter what the situation was. There would not be a moment where I
would give up. I also realized so many parents have to walk that path
alone. That a true hero doesn't ask for reward they do what is right and
that is reward enough.
During my
father's funeral after his passing so many extra people showed up. I had
no idea who most of them were. They all had the same story though.
"Your Dad was there for me when I had nothing". "Your Dad
gave me a job when no one else would hire me". "Your Dad taught
me the skills I needed and I am the man I am today because of him".
I heard these stories close to 100 times. I never knew this about my
Father. He did all these amazing things but he never boasted about it, he
was humble and never used all these wonderful things he did for people for any
other means than to be kind and selfless. He was a hero to so many
people. He walked that path alone, he did it all without the aid of
others. He was "The Hero Walks Alone".
I took a
lot of inspiration from the stories I heard to complete the lyrics.
That's why I refer to the Knight in the second verse "This Old
Knight". My Dad was given 3 days to live when he came home from the
hospital he told me he wanted to live until his birthday. He died at
5am the morning of his birthday 8 days later. He was the toughest,
most amazing man I ever knew. So this song was partly crafted lyrically
about my Dad. "So once more into the fold, this old knight will
never be forgotten. This I swear by Kings of old, for my country, for my
people, I die by my sword, until my last breath lord" I wrote this
verse after seeing my father fight until his last breath. He went out
like a warrior. I am proud to be his son.
8. How
do you balance the thematic depth of your lyrics with the musical arrangements
to convey a cohesive narrative in your songs?
I spend just as much time on the lyrics as I do the music. When I write a song I usually write the music first or I have an Idea for the chorus first. Usually it's just an emotion I am writing to. "Farewell" was obviously grief. "Warcries" was anger and frustration, "The Hero Walks Alone" was pride. But most importantly I do everything out of love, the most powerful emotion of them all. When I craft a song it's because I truly love creating music and I do it with such care. I want to write music that I would go out and buy because it stirs something in me. It evokes some form of emotion. Even songs like "Remember My Name" and "The Musketeer". I write those because I love those stories and they bring me joy and they inspire me greatly. My children listen to my music often so I also wanted to craft songs that would teach them something as well. I do not try and force things either when it comes to music. If something does not flow naturally I stop and revisit it later with a clear mind or when my emotions have been triggered by something, that's when the creative process flows. If it doesn't flow at all maybe I am not meant to write it. For example I was stuck on the second verse of "Starfall", and there was a line I hated in "Farewell" but I didn't know what I wanted. So I asked for help. Jessica Mercy helped me on both of those tracks figure it out. "Warcries" I had no clue what I wanted for the verses. Stefani said let me give it a go and she nailed it. "Raise Your Fist" I was stuck even getting it started. I knew I wanted the phrase "Raise Your Fist". But I couldn't see how to get there. Jessica and Sergio wrote the majority of the lyrics on that song. It's ok to ask for help. Sometimes you can't do everything. It also comes in pieces. I wrote the riff to "Warcries" when I was very angry about something that had happened at work. Then weeks later I came up with the chorus just singing in the shower stamping my feet rhythmically. I thought they were seperate songs, but then I could not figure out how to continue them individually. Then I realized they were both in the same key and I put them together and boom in fit. I see these amazing things in my mind and then I get them out musically and create stories. My main goal is to bring happiness and joy to people who hear my music. I also want to help people heal through the power of music. Music is a universal language no matter where you are from, everyone of every culture can be brought together through music. I try to be very deliberate. Musically when I write a piece of music all the instruments that go into it are very calculated and represent something I'm feeling to make it whole.
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9. As a studio project, how do you envision Knightfall's live performances, if any, in the future? Will there be opportunities for fans to experience the music in a live setting?
I have been
asked this question A LOT. There is nothing planned. BUT that does
not mean it will never happen. The trick here is the project needs to
make money plain and simple. If we can build a fan base and we can
raise funds through album and merch sales, or a kickstarter to be able to pay
the performers and then get a booking agent or even a major label to
support the project. Yes It is possible to create a touring version of
Knightfall. If we did take it live I would want the show to be theatrical
very much like a musical stage production not just playing a concert it would
need to be an experience. Which would require us to expand our following
by a great deal before it would come to that. I truly hope someday this
would be a possibility. This is why these types of things are so
important for us. People sharing what we do, inviting friends to follow
us on social media platforms, word of mouth, interviews with people like
yourself. The more people find out about us and our message the more we
will grow and get closer to this reality.
10.
Looking ahead, what are the aspirations and goals for Knightfall in the coming
years, both creatively and professionally?
Great
question, I actually have a lot of things I am working on at the
moment. Firstly I wrote a song while my father was on hospice called
"Not Ready To Let You Go" which is currently in production with
Sergio Salvucci performing acoustic guitars and he is recreating my piano
performance on a Grand Piano he has access to that he can record with.
Adrien Djouadou will be performing the vocals on this song for me. This
song is much more of a ballad and will be a bit of a break from the Metal
sounds of the first album. A little more folk, think Simon and Garfunkel
vibe. It will be very emotional like Farewell. I hope to release this
sometime this year as a single.
I have
written quite a few Orchestral pieces for a video game in development called
"Aspect Heroes" by Pere Games. This is their first game release
and I am personal friends with its creator Nick French. The game has an
old school tactical feel to it. It is a fantasy game with multiple heroes
fighting endless waves of mobs of increasing difficulty. I have played
the alpha myself and it is quite addicting. I will be releasing the
soundtrack via Pere Games on steam and we will release that OST to streaming.
It will feature a very special Orchestral version of Starfall on
it.
I have demos already written for a Concept EP called "The
Hospitaller". It's the story of a Knight during the crusades of The
Hospitaller order. Closest example is the character of Balian from the
film Kingdom of Heaven. It will be a 6 song EP as of now. Not sure
on a release date. I have started writing demos for the second Knightfall
album. I currently have 7 solid ideas started so far. We will be
releasing a cover of Like a Prayer by Madonna with Pete Rawcliffe singing and
George Acker on guitar. Hopefully sometime this year as long as
everyone's schedule aligns. I also would like to redo one or two of the
old Evince Ethos songs and update them so that may happen as well.
Lastly I have been building a very in depth fantasy story that I have had for a
long time that I used to run as a Dungeons and Dragons campaign. George
Acker and I plan on creating a high end video game surrounding this story using
Unreal Engine. This will be developed probably over the next 5 years or
so. But we are actively working on it and will be involving some of our
wonderful collaborators in the creation of the music. There are a couple
of other things that could be potentially in the works, but those are in the
discussion phase so I can't talk about them yet.
Knightfall - Orchestral Metal, Power Metal, Symphonic Metal (knightfallband.com)
Knightfall (@knightfallband) • Photos et vidéos Instagram
Destiny Calling | Knightfall (bandcamp.com)
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