LABEL NOTES:
UK BASED HOUSE LABEL The Drop Music catalogue now has more than 60 releases to its credit, and is renowned in the dance music community for the quality and consistency of its work. Adopting various guises to showcase different aspects of their sound, including Party Criminals, In House Alterations, Grand Theft Audio and Big Audio Spidermite, Toka project, Larry fives, Inland Knights have been responsible for most of the Drop catalogue.
As enthusiastic about DJ'ing as studio production Ritchie and Riley have maintained a relentless international touring agenda since their collaboration began.
Under the Inland Knights moniker the pair have been fruitful, releasing tracks on labels such as Ralph Lawson's famed 20:20 Vision imprint, Panhandle Records, Vista, Siesta, Sunflower, NRK, Low Pressings, the classic 'hot soup' on so-sound, cheeky, doubledown and many more. "Creative Spaces," Inland Knights and Drop Music's highly anticipated first full-length album, was released in 2001 to widespread critical praise for its funky jams and deep, grooving melodies. For the CD version of the album, the pair opted to create a live mix rather than simply re-releasing the vinyl in another medium.
In 2007,to mark the 50th Dropmusic release, Inland Knights released a two part ep package to widespread acclaim, with 50 pt 1 becoming an instant rarity and much sought after, and part 2 Becoming another a drop classic. 2007 also saw the launch of Raise, Drops sister label.
Into 2008,and Inland knights are busy in the studio with remixes,ep's and compilations,as well as regular dj slots at the weekend. Dropmusic will be 10 years old this year and to celebrate this there will be a double cd compilation with all the artists off the label putting forward new tracks. Despite their success as producers, and over nine years of releases under their belts, they refuse to withdraw into the studio and will continue to DJ and tour extensively. Riley notes they are always looking to balance their performance and production schedules. "If you start to do too much of one," he says, "You start to miss the other."