One of most influential titles in drum & bass jungle culture will return later this year with a one-off publication… Knowledge Magazine will release a hardback book that documents and celebrates the scene’s rich history and exciting future.
Calling all collectors; the limited edition book will be loaded with detailed interviews and features from some of the scene’s most dedicated writers throughout the last 30 years and will include archived content from the Knowledge vaults. It will be edited by the title’s co-founder Colin Steven.
“The main reason I’m bringing Knowledge back is that I feel I have unfinished business,” Steven states. “Reaching 20 years was such an important milestone but it was a bittersweet moment and I didn’t celebrate it because I knew the end was coming. Earlier this year I realised that this year was our 25th anniversary so I wanted to mark the occasion somehow. What better way than with one last issue?”
Established in Bristol in 1994 as part of Ruffneck Ting’s many influential operations, Knowledge Magazine rapidly became one of the most consistent, vocal and internationally recognised champions of the genre throughout the 90s and 2000s. A vital platform long before the internet and social media took hold of our lives, Knowledge Magazine (or KMAG as many fondly refer to it) was one of the strongest sources of information and details on the underground sound of drum & bass, especially as mainstream dance press barely gave the genre a look-in during its most formative years.
The title ran between 1994 – 2014, during which they published 106 issues (85 of which with cover CDs), hosted two drum & bass award shows and 56 events. With strong distribution in both the US and Australia, for many who came through into the genre in the 90s Knowledge Magazine was the place to get clued up and connected with the burgeoning scene. In a recent interview on UKF, for example, US tech titan Gridlok laments the loss of Knowledge stating it “had credibility and considered content and you could pick it up in your fucking grocery store with your spinach!”
“At first I considered doing a magazine but I want to make it really special,” Steven adds. “One of the things former readers say to me when they find out that I used to edit Knowledge is that they still have all of their copies and can’t bring themselves to throw them away! So if people can’t part with their magazines then surely they will appreciate a one-off premium book?”
Amen. The book is expected to land this December and will retail for £25. Its launch will be celebrated at Fold, London, on October 18. It can be pre-ordered on the Kmag website where more details from Colin on the roots of the magazine can be found too.