A Knight (for a Knight)
Comments from album director DaMonz
Album freely available at https://knight.ocremix.org

This whole project initially started as just a single short lo-fi-ish remix just to mess around, about two years ago I think. And just as it so often does, it spiraled almost out of control in the classic loop of "just a little more", until it became the 4-track EP that it is now!

Hollow Knight holds a very special place in my heart, because playing that game was a very crucial moment in my recovery from pretty severe depression. Working in a big game company had been siphoning out my passion for a while, and Hollow Knight was the game that reminded me why I was doing what I was doing. I will forever be grateful to Team Cherry for essentially saving my life!

Now, enough with the heavy stuff.

- DaMonz

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1. DaMonz feat. Christine Giguère - "A Dream"
Source: "Dirtmouth"

DaMonz: Although this is the intro track for my Hollow Knight EP, it was the last one to get made. I knew from the start that I wanted to open the album with this source, but I wondered for a very long time about how I should approach it. I played around with a bunch of different ideas for a while, which pretty much all didn't feel right. This included a very strange take on gypsy jazz, which probably could have worked, but the stars just weren't aligned for it.

The big determining factor which completely nailed down the track's vision was the idea of inviting my mom Christine to participate once again in my remixing shenanigans with her cello, which I'm very glad she accepted! With that settled, the arrangement basically wrote itself and the track was finished in a flash. I wanted to stay fairly close to the original in the sense that I wanted to preserve the sweet blend of coziness and mystery that I get from it, and I feel like the cello performance completely nailed it.

Also, Sébastien (Trainbeat) told me he didn't want credit on this track, but he handled all of the recording studio engineering and setting up the charts for Christine, which the world needs to know!! Huge, huge thanks to both of them for their invaluable help once again!

2. DaMonz - "A Choice"
Source: "Crossroads"; Cameo: "Dirtmouth"

DaMonz: This one was quite challenging to make, as the original material is quite short and simple. My first thought when tackling this track was that I should make something with a lot of energy out of it, to make it easier to distance myself from the original while still easily keeping it recognizable. This remix is intended to be a sort of surprise for the listeners, as the second track on the album. This track basically says "You thought you'd just sleep through this album, right? Think again!" (although please feel free to remove this track from your playlist if you do want to sleep through the album, I won't take it personally).

The end of the track references Dirtmouth's theme for a short time, and you might think it was because I was looking for more material to add to the track, but I thought it was just a really great fit with "Crossroad's" chord progression.

Who am I kidding, I absolutely was looking for more material. I think it turned out quite well though! ^^

3. DaMonz - "A Path"
Source: "Greenpath"

DaMonz: This will be the third track on the album, but was the first track that I worked on and which sparked the whole thing.

For this track, I wanted to make something that would be easy to listen while still retaining the same sense of mystery from the original, and that would be a good lead-up to the album's final track, which is "City of Tears". So basically, a strange blend of "comfortable" and "uncomfortable".

Also, there's one very specific thing about the track that I'm expecting to be divisive on the judges, and that's how I produced the bass drums. I made the very deliberate decision of having them more subdued than is usual for a track of this style, because I thought having it be too present or too punchy would have been detrimental to the track's creative vision. I hope you won't mind too much! :)

4. DaMonz feat. Christine Giguère - "A Memory"
Source: "City of Tears"

DaMonz: City of Tears, the "destination" of my Hollow Knight EP, and the reference for its cover art! In a way, for this entire project, I wanted to make it so that the whole point of it is to "reach" this moment. It was such a powerful moment in the game for me, where I felt that this is truly where everything "opens up". I felt like everything before the City of Tears was some kind of prologue, an introduction to the game. The mood is all dark and gloomy both through the visuals and the music, as you're trying to figure out what you're even doing there in the first place, traversing tight and damp caves and tunnels. Then you reach the City. It feels so vast and grand and refreshing, and its music reflects that incredibly well.

So, I tried my best to have my remix capture that feeling of grandeur, and of taking a deep breath of fresh air after a long trek through mud and dirt. For this one, a big part of the sound design was made super easy thanks to Reason's Objekt synth, which I purchased specifically for making this album. I definitely recommend it for anyone using Reason, it's amazing!

The cherry (hoho) on top though, is once again my mom Christine's astounding cello playing. It makes such a gigantic difference, to be able to have such a heartfelt and powerful performance. There's no way I can ever fully express my gratitude!

And again, huge thanks to Sébastien (Trainbeat) for providing session-ready charts and for the studio engineering expertise!