MAY 10th 2024
KNIGHTFALL EXCLUSIVE
We at MetalTitans had our very own, Metal Mom Rita take some time and chat with Keith Dombrowski (Founder/Composer) of KNIGHTFALL, a musical project formed of symphonic notes, influences of fantasy, and a dash of power metal. Keith has also brought in many guests appearances on Knightfall from around the globe. From Kentucky, USA, throughout the years Keith has formed a passion for creativity and commits to excellence in his musical projects. For more on Knightfall, please check out our interview below.
MT: How did you come up with the name Knightfall ?
KD: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.
MT: What was your inspiration to create Knightfall ?
KD: My decision to create Knightfall came about a half a year after my Father’s passing in 2021. There were some events that led up to this as well. I had lost quite a few people starting with my Mother in 2017. Then my Father-in-Law, my Brother-in-Law, My Uncle. There were more. My loving wife Racheal, she saw the effect all of this was having on me. That I was becoming lost. In 2019 she told me that I needed to get back into music that I needed to at least start playing again. So I bought a new Keyboard. A Yamaha Genos workstation. I hadn’t played in 10 years so I began practicing again. All throughout 2020 I began writing songs again originally just for myself. This continued through 2021. Then when my Father was home on hospice and we knew it was close to the end I wrote a song called “Not Ready To Let You Go”. I played the song for him and after an emotional moment, he told me he was sorry for not supporting and encouraging my music journey. He then told me that music was my calling, that it was my destiny to do something with music. The last thing he told me was to always follow my dreams.
I recorded a demo of the song and played it at his funeral for all in attendance. This is when I knew I needed to do something with music. I dealt with my grief and then began writing more songs. 2020 was just an awful year, in the United States the country was at each other's throats and I witnessed friends turning on each other over their political sides. Friends turned enemies, and families disowned each other.The increase in hatred and lack of kindness bothered me.
As I stated in the previous question I wanted to bring back the morals that the Knight represents honor, chivalry, justice, and, perhaps most importantly, kindness and the protection of others.
MT: You write your own lyrics, where does the inspiration come from ?
KD: Well I wrote most of the lyrics. I had help from Jessica Mercy on part of Starfall and Farewell. Jessica and Sergio Salvucci helped write lyrics for Raise Your Fist. Stefani Keogh helped with Warcries. That being said, inspiration comes from so many places. If you stop and pay attention to the world around you, inspiration can be found everywhere. Sometimes the lyrics just happen. You're playing a melody and boom they pop in your head. Other times it's trial and error until you figure out what works. I wrote the chorus to Warcries singing in the shower and stamping my feet. Much of the time it's because of the emotions I'm feeling at the time. Songs like The Musketeer, I will re-read a book or watch a movie since its based on a well known story to help craft the lyrics.
MT: You have a new release "The Hero Walks Alone" that came out in March this year, how long did it take to get it to the final form ?
KD: I wrote the demo of Hero back in 2020. Most of my music starts being written on the piano with a melody and some form of piano accompaniment. I sat on the demo with some basic drums and strings added until 2023 and then I redid everything and added additional orchestration and crafted the song to what it is today. I usually spend around 50 hours or more on each song getting them ready for vocals. Then when the instrumental is ready I send it to the vocalists performing it. When I get those back I send them over to my sound engineer Sergio Salvucci of Wildthorn Productions and we start the mixing and mastering process getting everything sounding right to get the song ready for release.
MT: Were there difficulties along the way ?
KD: Collaboration projects like this can take more time especially in the independent community. All of us have day jobs and things going on in our lives that play a factor. We have to record around everyone's schedule and we had people from multiple countries. At the end of September I suffered an injury that knocked me out of commission for a couple of months. While I waited for my surgery to correct the issue they got me back on my feet and I was able to complete my end of everything and get things off to the vocalists who were able to complete everything for the March release. The original release date was Winter 2023. So we had to push it back due to my injury. The fans were very kind, everyone who pre-ordered the album understood the delay and were SO supportive of everything.
MT: How do you choose the members to help you create this ?
KD: Not easily, when I started the project I had no vocalists so I had to find one. I used Fiverr and after listening to close to 200 vocalists I found Dee Wolf and loved her voice and invited her to sing a few songs with us. She ended up doing “Waiting For You”, “The Musketeer” and “Invincible. Jessica Mercy and I reconnected, and she offered to help me get the project started. What was meant to be 1 song turned into her singing on 5 tracks on the album. Her husband is a talented multi-instrumentalist, photographer, videographer, and Sound Engineer. Between the two of them they were an integral part of this album. I found Pete Rawcliffe by accident. He commented on the cover of Invincible we released when it was shared by a mutual friend. I then checked out his music and was amazed by his voice. We started talking and it led me to inviting him to perform. Pete and I formed a strong friendship and he ended up working on 4 songs. He recommended Stefani Keogh and when I listened to her stuff I was amazed at her versatility and she agreed to join. She ended up on 3 songs. Then she recommended Marcos Peñate for growls and I thought he was fantastic and invited him. Patrick Goble was with me from the beginning. When I started Knightfall he was teaching me production and how to use recording software and Virtual instruments. He was an amazing guitarist and was impressed with my demos I kept bringing to our classes. I asked him if he wanted to play guitar on the project and he agreed immediately. George Acker approached me for advice on his own project and after a 5 hour conversation I asked him to do a song. That went so well he ended up working on 4 songs. In January of 2024 I still needed a vocalist for Raise Your Fist and Remember My Name. I was specific on what I wanted for Raise Your Fist and was recommended initially by a friend Nitte Valo. I contacted her but scheduling issues prevented her from joining us on this go around. I was given Susy Eskarlett’s name and she had this awesome gritty voice. Susy combined with Jessica, and using Marcos for growls the song came out fantastic. I then held an audition for Remember My Name. I had a lot of people audition but the role of Achilles in that song went to Adrien Djouadou. His voice was stellar and very different from what you normally hear. That’s how I found everyone for this first album
MT: What can we expect to hear from the album "Destiny Calling" ?
KD: “Destiny Calling” is meant to be a break from tradition. The styles and genres represented on this album are intentionally meant to be eclectic. While the album is a cohesive collection of songs. There is a variety based on my influences. You can hear the Nightwish influences. But my love of the 80’s is present in many ways, there is a splash of musical theater, with the theatrical nature of some of the songs. There are even Pop influences in there. The idea was to design albums that had something for everyone. I don’t expect everyone to like every track on there. People that love metal will gravitate towards “Warcries” or the “The Hero Walks Alone”, people who like AOR and 80’s music with love “Waiting For You” and our cover of “Invincible” by Pat Benatar. If you like 80’s and power metal mixed together “The Musketeer” might be for you. My Symphonic Metal fans will love “Children of Time”, “Starfall” and “Farewell”. Pop and musical theater fans will love “Remember My Name”.
MT: Do you have a favourite among the tracks ?
KD: All of the songs are like parts of my soul so they are all special to me and I love them all very much. I love “Destiny Calling” .That song is just very special to me because the inspiration came from the words my Father said to me. “Farewell” is equally as special personally. My personal favorite track choice is so hard to pick. “The Musketeer” is my favorite to play through on guitar. “Starfall” and “Children of Time” are favorites from a compositional standpoint. “Remember My Name” is my favorite to play on piano.“The Hero Walks Alone” is my favorite song to sing. “Warcries” and “Raise Your Fist” are my favorites for getting myself motivated. When I want to dive into nostalgia “Waiting For You” and “Invincible” are my go to’s.
TRACKS
01. Children Of Time
02. Warcries
03. Remember My Name
04. The Hero Walks Alone
05. Waiting For You
06. Destiny Calling
07. The Musketeer
08. Raise Your Fist
09. Starfall
10. Farewell
11. Invincible
MT: How do you pick which singles to release before the album ?
KD: Honestly for this album it probably is different than it will be for all the other albums. This was our debut album so it was kind of trial and error. I decided to introduce us with the 80’s tribute “Waiting for You” . I figured 80’s music is very well loved by many people. This could introduce us to audiences of many genres. I chose “The Musketeer” as the second one to bring attention from the Power Metal world. Then “Invincible” was a cover by “Pat Benatar” I figured that would bring in other types of audiences before sharing some of the more full on Symphonic Metal songs I had planned. I did “Starfall" and “Farewell” next because those were the ones I really wanted to do professionally shot videos for. “The Hero Walks Alone” came next because it introduced Pete Rawcliffe who is a male sopranist and I wanted the fans to hear it because it was unique and it also introduced the growl element in a few of our songs as well. We did a lot of this by the edge of our seat, kind of making last minute decisions on many things. With future albums I think it won’t be that way.
MT: Was there a band you were in before Knightfall ?
KD: Yes I was a part of what is now Anaria when we called ourselves Evince Ethos. I was a member of the band from 2007 - 2010 and wrote the music for our EP with Jessica Mercy and Todd Miller. Anaria has gone on to do some amazing things and I am so proud to have been a big part of the beginning of their journey. I am also so proud of where they are right now. They have grown so much with millions of streams on Spotify getting ready to go back to doing live shows this summer. Jessica Mercy and Sergio Salvucci both worked on the Knightfall album in a big way.
MT: What is your favourite part of being in this band ?
KD: There are several things. Firstly I get to create and finally produce music on a professional level, something I have dreamed about for 25 years. Secondly I have gotten to work with some of the greatest independent musicians from around the world and they have been such a pleasure to collaborate with. Thirdly I got to reconnect with my old bandmate Jessica Mercy and this album is special because we finally got to complete a journey that we started back in 2008 that was never completed. Having this come full circle is very satisfying.
MT: Have you had regrets about doing this ?
KD: I have had no regrets doing this whatsoever. As stated earlier I had quit music for more than a decade. I was still what I considered a kid back then. I am older and wiser, my song writing is more mature and I am financially stable, so I was able to self produce everything on this project. I was able to connect with so many amazing people along the way. Some ended up collaborators on this album. Others are fans, or other musicians in the industry also trying to make it whom I have a great deal of respect for and become friends with.
MT: If you could not be in a band, what do you think you would be doing ?
KD: I have been working in the cell phone industry for 15 years selling phones to people. I have managed stores, and sales teams over the phone sales. Outside of music I have truly enjoyed my job working within the technology field.
I have been married 10 years and have 3 kids and they are my world. So being a husband and Father makes up a large chunk of my life and I am proud to be married to my wife Racheal and be a Dad to my three kids Wyatt, Scarlett, and Tristan.
MT: Who was the artist for the album cover ?
KD: The artist who did our cover art is Thomas Ewerhard, a renowned German artist. One of my big influences in how I structured Knightfall is Avantasia. When I had the chance to hire Thomas to work on the artwork, I jumped at the chance because he is the artist of the artwork of one of my favorite albums Avantasia’s “The Scarecrow”.
MT: What was the inspiration behind it ?
KD: This is the first time anyone has actually ever asked this. So this bit will be exclusive to this interview.
The Inspiration behind the art stems from a world I created back in my teen years. I wrote the plot to a series of what I wanted to be books. Called Warriors of Drakea. I ended up using it as a Dungeons and Dragons campaign for my friends and built the world out further during that years ago. I created a character named Vadin Muur who has been my alter ego in the virtual world in almost every game I have ever played. He is part of a race of Abyssal demons that have the ability to look like humans. They have magical abilities of both Necromancy and various elemental magics. Of all the other members of his race he is the only one that fights for good. He only uses his Necromancy powers to raise his horse from the underworld when he needs him. The background of the artwork is part of the castle Daemon Krull and the artwork shows Vadin raising his horse. I used this as the artwork because he is a pivotal character to the story and it’s his Destiny to save the realm of Drakea in my story. Since the album title “Destiny Calling” is a Metaphor for me coming back to music. I decided to use the character I created as this version of myself as the face of the album. It seemed fitting.
MT: Tell us something about the band that we might not know . .
KD: The story mentioned in the previous question is being worked on in much greater detail to be turned into a large open world video game with collaborator George Acker. We plan on using past Knightfall music within the game as well as Knightfall and its collaborators will be invited to create music for the game once we have it completed, This is a process that will be taking place over the next few years. I have not talked about this much at all.
MT: Wishing you a successful outcome.
KD: Thank you so much. I would also like to thank you for having me for this interview. I truly appreciate it! To all the fans reading this “Greetings Knights, I wish you all my very best!”
Thank you for taking the time to do this interview with us, it is greatly appreciated.
FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/Knightfallmusicproject/
TWITTER: https://twitter.com/Knightfallband
INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/knightfallband/
YOUTUBE: https://www.youtube.com/@knightfallband