Wild Knight
Forward Looking Person

10.08.2010

Even if you’ve never heard of Wild Knight, the names of Frank Knight and Majk Moti need to introduction. Each of them contributed to development of German speed metal. Majk Moti played guitar in what many consider to be Running Wild’s best line-up, recording such albums as “Under Jolly Roger”, “Port Royal” и “Death Or Glory” with the band, and Frank Knight was the frontman in X-Wild, the band put together by other ex-members of Running Wild. The news that these two joined forces in a new band became a true sensation for all old school fans. Therefore our portal contacted Majk to find out what we shall expect from this alliance.

Please, tell us about how it all began with Wild Knight. How did you get to know Frank Knight and decide to cooperate with him?

That's a rather short story. Our transient manager was in contact with Frank Knight, and while there was the initial idea to regroup X-Wild, it turned out that this option did not work out. So the idea came up to form a new band. Frank has a band in England, called Jackhammer, and our manager proposed me as additional guitarist and to call it Wild Knight. At the same time I was thinking about returning to music business, I talked with Frank, met the guys in England, fell in love with them (laughs) and here we go. I will move to England next week (31.07.2010).

Both Frank and you are acclaimed and respected musicians, but what you can say about the other members of the band? Please, introduce them.

There are three of them: bassist, guitarist and drummer.

Simon Strangeway looks like a Viking, plays a very playful bass guitar and has a very strong stage presence. And it's just a lot of fun to be around him; I like Vikings. If you believe you understand English, speak to Simon and try to understand him (laughs).

Robin Hazlehurst is the quiet boy in the gang. He's a very experienced and skilled drummer with a broad range of musical interests.

Then there is Rob Ronson. He is the most skilled guitarist I have ever been allowed to play with, and it is just fun to be with him, professionally and privately. We became good friends in a very short period of time, and I can hardly wait to see him and play with him again.

You have already had some very successful gigs. How did you feel in front of many fans once again? What you can say about responses from fans? What songs from the X-Wild and Running Wild legacy did you play?

It was like coming home. I hadn’t played live for quite some time and was very eager to be on stage again. I wasn't too enthusiastic about playing old material, but the call of stage was convincing enough to do it anyway. We play “Theatre of Blood”, “Born For War”, “Heads Held High”, “D.Y.T.W.A.C.”, “Mystica Dempnica”, “Thousand Guns”, “Wild Frontier”, “Dragonslair”, “Dealing With The Devil”, “Under Jolly Roger”, “Freeway Devil”, “Wild Knight”, “Riding The Storm” and “Tsar”. As far as I could see the fans from stage, not much had changed since I left. It is always a very nice feeling to share energies with the crowd; it's the essence of being a musician.

You said that the band is ready to record a new CD. Can you reveal any details? How can you describe material of the band?

There is not much to be revealed right now. I have a couple of songs ready, Rob has a couple of songs, and Frank, Robin and Simon will contribute as well, but we decided to wait until I have moved to England before we go into those details. There is a general idea about names and motives. We have a very skilled cover artist and lots of ideas. It will be our way of playing power metal. There is a high probability that we will work with Seeb from Orden Ogan when recording and mixing the CD.

You recorded the song “Tsar” for the Running Wild tribute album “ReUnation”. Why did you choose this particular song? Did you feel the chemistry within the band when recording this song?

A good question, you have to ask Frank, since I did not decide anything on that matter. I didn't even know the song, to be honest. But I'm fine with the choice. The chemistry between me and the band developed at the first meeting on a camping site on the occasion of Rob's stag and has nothing to do with the song “Tsar”.

Many young fans and teenagers prefer to listen to such modern sounded bands like Slipknot and Korn. What can you say to them? Why should they pay attention to Wild Knight?

I think those fans don't need my opinion at all. If they like the sound of the bands, it's fine with me. I've listened to both bands myself and found a lot of interesting stuff, although my preferences are different. I don't see that we as Wild Knight have to draw attention away from those or any other bands, I believe in the benefit of variety. I'm sure we will find our audience without taking away from anybody else. Just listen what we have to offer. If you like it, buy it or attend to the concerts, if not, look or go someplace else; in any case you will find something you like, and either choice is fine with me.

Now it’s normally to compose songs by sending mp3 files via e-mail. Do you like this way or do you prefer to compose songs during rehearsals? Don’t you think that composing songs through Internet kills the spirit of a band and music?

Both Rob and I have a Cubase based home studio, and of course we share ideas via MP3 or even complete Cubase projects. I have even programmed a special website for this purpose. This works out to some extent, as to present the idea and give the others opportunity to work on it and add their ideas. But frankly, we cannot work like this for a longer period of time; we all prefer to meet and work on stuff together. Rob and I have tried rehearsals via Skype with webcam and headphones, it was quite funny, but on the long run I prefer seeing him personally. I think that the personal intentions and the very being of every musician is a huge contribution to the whole; not to forget that it's just fun to be with friends. I don't think this way of sharing ideas is killing the spirit of music, but a band is a band and not an Internet project; at least this is my approach to this issue.

You had a very catchy image with Running Wild (pirate clothes, pyrotechnics and stuff). Don’t you want to use something alike with Wild Knight? I think now there are too many bands, who just walk on stage, turn on guitars and play.

This is an issue still to be discussed amongst us. For the first few shows I didn't exactly care what clothes I wore, but for the future we will work on a band image of sorts. An aunt of mine is a well known fashion designer, and she loves leather and chains stuff, and so I'm sure we will agree on something extraordinary in time, although I'm sure no one has the intention to copy Running Wild. I still love fire and bangs, so pyros might be an option.

It seems that in the past you were into party and getting fun after the shows. Do you still like these things?

How do you know about that? (laughs). Anyway, you're right, I had lots of fun after shows, and there have been specific reasons for that. Those reasons are no more, which doesn't necessarily mean, that we would not party after show. It's a lot of fun to be with the members of the band, and if possible, we bring our wives, so there will be fun, of course. Not in such a desperate manner as I used to party, though.

In interview with Jens Pohl (webmaster of Running Wild’s official website – ed.) you mentioned that you like medieval re-enactment. Are you interested in the entire Middle Ages, or do you have some specialization within this era? Do you make armors and swords by yourself or do you simply collect this stuff? Do you take part in some medieval festivals and other events?

I specialized on 10th century. I didn't work with a sword; I had a so called "Sax", a much smaller machete-like weapon, and no, I didn't forge it myself. My chosen role was a mediaeval archer, so I practiced shooting arrows from a horse back and had a lot of fun with that. I stopped doing mediaeval events due to obvious reasons: I married and will move to England to pursue my musical interests and be close to my friends. The most pleasing thing on those markets, however, was the fact that I did it with my beloved daughter, who is also my best friend.

You are mostly known as guitar player for Running Wild, so tell us, please, about that period. What are you brightest memories about the band?

I am not inclined to delve too deeply into the past, since it is all gone. I am looking forward to so many delicious things, that looking back feels somewhat stale. The brightest memory about that time is in fact the contact with the fans, feeling the energy of the audience being poured over us.

You contributed some music and lyrics to Running Wild’s albums. What are your favorites and why? Would you like to write some lyrics for Wild Knight?

My all time favorite of Running Wild songs is "Riding the Storm". I just like the melody, the timing, and the power of that song. Another song would be "Under Jolly Roger", since the fans are so eager to participate that it is just pure fun to play it live.

Sure, I would like to write some lyrics, I have many ideas for stories. The only "problem" is that Frank is such a brilliant song writer that I wouldn't stand a snowball's chance in hell compared to his ideas for words and phrases. My mother tongue is German, his is English, so he has a sort of home field advantage. I will try anyway; maybe in the form that I have the idea and the basic words and Frank brings them to perfection.

Why did you leave Running Wild in 1990? Was it because some personal reasons?

Since I am a very forward looking person, I have difficulties to look back. To be quite frankly: I don't care what happened in the past, I just care about things ahead of me. More or less like: Don't care where you come from, don't even care, where you are, put your undivided attention to where you want to go. And yes, there were personal reasons galore. No hard feelings here, though. And no, I won't tell anybody about the reasons.

You wrote that you dislike bands like Slayer, Sodom and Destruction in you profile in the magazine “Adrian”. Why? Do you dislike these particular bands or thrash metal in general?

Well, that was a long time ago, and I have no idea why I said that. Probably because I am a great fan of classical musicians like Bach or Mozart, seeing Slayer on stage was quite a shock at that time. Today I don't dislike anything, so bands like Slayer, Sodom and what have you are just fine. They attract the kind of audience that does appreciate their music and attitude, so what could possibly be wrong with that? I just prefer to speak in terms of: I prefer this style or that attitude, but I would never push against anything or anybody. Still thrash metal is generally not my style and preference, but there are a couple of elements I would like to include into my music.

By the way, tell, please, about this magazine. I know that your wife Connie was the editor of “Adrian” magazine. How did she get this idea?

Connie was not my wife. Actually I had the idea to do something like a fan magazine, and at that time Connie was still interested in the band and wanted to do it, that's all.

You also have a band called D’Orca. Please, tell about its history in detail. What you can say about the status of this band now?

Pretty much dead that project is. It was my idea, but all the other "members to be" didn't exactly work on the project as I expected, and so I quit the idea after a year. But there are still some ideas and whole songs I can use for Wild Knight, so not much is lost actually.

You played in the band called Random before you joined Running Wild. Did you record something with this band?

I have no idea why this band is still following me after all those years; in the grand scheme of things its meaning is miniscule and not significant for my musical development at all. We had a recording, but right before the recording session our bassist said something wrong to me and I just went home (laughs). I have always been quite picky about my company, and if I don't like something, I turn the other cheek, meaning I go someplace else. Quite annoying for some people, which makes it even more fun (laughs).

Once you said that Ghandi and Siddharta Gautama inspire you. Do you like their ideas about non-resistance to evil with force and spiritual education?

Yes, I do like the idea of non-resistance (some well known spiritual teacher once said: "turn the other cheek", and he meant it more in the sense of: Look someplace else, if you don't like what you see), and I could explain this to quite some extent. Might be a bit boring for the readers; it has a lot to do with vibrations, and there are others who can explain those ideas much more eloquently than I can. And I don't believe that there is a source of evil; it's more like not allowing good, which feels like evil. And before anyone is asking: I am not at all religious in the common sense.

What can you say about Russia? Would you like to play with Wild Knight here?

There's not too much I can say about Russia from my own experience, since I have never been there; but what I can say from documentaries and from books it must be a wonderful country, as soon as you get out of mind the political distortions (same with the USA, by the way). I have met a couple of Russian people and noticed a warm hearted and somewhat wistful attitude which I like a lot. And I like to hear the spoken language, although I don't understand a word. Of course we would like to play in Russia, there's definitely no question about it.

Thanks in advance for your answers! Do you have something to share with Russian fans and readers?

It was my pleasure, mate. Other than the typical clichés I would say: Be who you are and don't care what other people think about you, it will drive you nuts.

Wild Knight on MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/wildknightofficial

Special thanks to Bart Gabriel (Hard Rocker Management) for arranging this interview

Konstantin “Hirax” Chilikin
July 28, 2010
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