Knight Area Blog

Mark Vermeule records new tracks for the 4th Knight Area album

Published by Mark Vermeule at Tuesday March 01 2011

Sunday Feb 27th Mark, Gerben and Pieter gathered in the Knight Area studio to record 3 guitar tracks for the next KA album. Mark prepared himself for 2 songs and the third would be arranged in the studio (like we did with the drum tracks). After installing the equipment, putting some new strings on the acoustic guitar and tuning both the acoustic and electric guitar Mark could start with the first song.

Guitar recordings most of the time consist of three main parts: (power)chords, finger picking kind of playing and solo's. And of course a lot of nonsense and crap. After we worked ourselves through the nonsense Mark played the first song, doing the finger picking and the power chords. Because this was the song we arranged in the studio we tried different options until we reached the right result. This is an excellent example of teamwork (and of our new way of recording) everyone present in the studio can give input and poor Mark has to try to actually play the difficult or silly patterns we make up! But Mark did a real good job and we are very happy with the results. This song really comes into existence in the studio and it will be a great song, especially the end (very Knight Area!!).
After this (and some sis kebab and salad) Mark recorded the second song of this day, a very beautiful ballad. Nice chords but the solo he played really made it! Excellent job! In this song Mark also uses his Martin acoustic guitar (really nice!) and Gerben took care of a nice mix between the electric and the acoustic sound.

The last song was a up tempo swing driving little bit of freaking song, completely instrumental. We all get the chance to show a little bit of our capabilities and Mark plays two solo's during this song. I (Pieter) was completely overwhelmed by Mark's solo's, I know it is not appropriate to curse but hell yeah, this is rock 'n roll!! Great job!! (you have to buy this new CD later this year, just these solo's are worth the money).
We ended the evening in a great mood and with a lot of confidence that this album will bring Knight Area to the next level!

Cheers, Mark, Gerben, Pieter

Knight Area recordings – the drummer tapes

Published by Mark Vermeule at Thursday January 27 2011

Last Saturday, January 22nd, Gerben Klazinga, Gijs Koopman and Mark Vermeule gathered at The Pitt in Boskoop (NL) to watch drum animal Pieter van Hoorn smoothly lay down the drum tracks for 3 songs of Knight Area's forthcoming studio album. The guy had done a lot of practicing hours! So, on the second day, he could do an extra song.

The first song (working title Chaingang) is a uptempo instrumental rock song. That's really in Pieter's league, and he nailed it on the second take (and yes, we're very critical!!). Once Gijs records the bass, Gerben and I can do some really nice and groovy solo's. The second song (working title Ever Since This Happened) is a song like you're used from us: rock, nice melodies, cool harmonies, some proggy stuff and some sensitive slow parts to catch your breath. After we had some spicy Mexican food for dinner, Pieter was in good shape to accomplish the third song (working title Please Come Home). It's a ballad, with a long guitar solo at the end.

On the second day, we got a visit from Joost Festen (www.8weekly.nl) who did an interview with us. Visit us at our Twitter page and take a look at the photo's. Joost also recorded some stuff which he uploaded to Youtube, so check it out! After Joost left, we worked on the fourth song (working title Virtual View). The first part we had fun recording a simple drum beat and transforming it into a cool loop. Allthough we didn't expect to do this song (and Pieter didn't prepare for it), we managed to finish the song in time to join our families again at the end of the afternoon.

We had a lot of fun recording and making stupid jokes (what do you expect, four guys on average aged forty, we're just kids!). Unfortunately, those didn't make it on tape, but we hope you like this video of Pieter doing a perfect take (or not...)!

Realm Of Shadows Tour UK 2009

Published by Mark Smit at Wednesday October 28 2009

 October 24th 2009

The ferry and the arrival

Yesterday at 6pm we assembled at the Knight Area studio and headed for the ferry. We had some problems with the papers, but after we paid an extra fee we were allowed on board :-) The ferry left at 9pm and we had some drinks and some laughs on board. The ferry arrived early this morning, and we headed for Rotherham.

There was a drizzle, and we strolled along the town and went for a full english breakfast, while waiting for the arrival of the PA. We got into the venue at 1pm and started building up. There we met up with our friends from the Classic Rock Society, who told us they had sold 80 tickets in advance. After Breathing Space finished their soundcheck, we did ours around 4pm.

The show

The evening started with Mermaid's Kiss, with some folk-like sympho, and Tinyfish, who delivered a funny and energetic show. We were on next. We played Realm Of Shadows entirely, and 2 tracks from Under A New Sign, Mastermind and A Different Man II. Towards the end of the show, the audience was singing along and cheering, it was a great experience!

After the show, we enjoyed the show of Breathing Space (featuring three members of Mostly Autumn) who were on next, then quickly got to the hotel because we had to leave early the next day. We had a drink in the bar just before turning in, tired but satisfied about this great and rewarding day.

October 25th 2009

To the Robin

Sunday morning, we left at 7am for Wolverhampton. At the Robin, we were welcomed with an excellent breakfast to recover from our early start, and then got on with the soundcheck, which we finished around noon. The Dreaming Tree did an excellent support act to warm up the audience, which was numerous and eagerly awaiting the show in excitement.

The show

Again, we played Realm of Shadows entirely, and it was obvious that many of the visitors already knew the album, because it was received with thunderous cheers. It was a real pleasure to come back with some songs from our previous albums, slightly more than we were able to play the night before (Dreamweaver, Conspiracy, Mastermind, A Different Man II), and even did an unplanned additional encore (Mortal Brow).

After the show, we had a walk and an excellent meal in an Indian restaurant, then went to sleep for an early start the next day.

October 26th 2009

The trip home

We left at 4am (!) from The Robin hotel. Fortunately, we had one hour extra due to the end of the daylight saving time. After a long drive, we arrived around 7.30 in Harwich. On the ferry, we had some drinks and talked for a long time about our exciting weekend and shared our enthusiasm about our future plans. A fitting end to an eventful weekend.