Knowledge Magazine launch 25 Year Anniversary Book

Knowledge Magazine (or ‘K Mag’ for those in the know) has been a leading publication for all things Drum and Bass for 25 years now, loyally flying the flag for Britain’s leading bass genre since 1994. Back then you could pick up a copy of this commanding glossy along with your new national lottery ticket. Sadly the last hard copies went to print in 2009 (a final edition adorned with the legend that is Sub Focus). Fast forward to 2019, with a website and a legion of loyal D’n’B soldiers in tow, Knowledge Magazine have decided to commemorate their quarter-century with a special limited edition hardback book, music to the ears of those that miss the tangibility of flicking through pages of immersive D’n’B content. To let us know more about this stylish anniversary hardback edition, we caught up with Colin Steven, K Mag’s founder and editor.

‘Knowledge has always represented the full spectrum of contemporary drum & bass. When I decided to do the 25th anniversary book we’d been away for five years, and so the simplest and easiest thing to do would have been a compilation of our best bits with no new content. Knowledge has always been about what’s happening now though so that didn’t seem right. So I went about contacting loads of our old writers plus lots of new ones and got them to write about what’s happening now. So we ran panels on women in drum & bass, record shops, radio and club promotion and got lots of long-form features. There are no standalone interviews with artists or news, so it’s quite different to any magazines we published. I did raid the vaults for a few classic features though as the theme for the issue is the past, present and future drum & bass.

As I said, we stopped Knowledge altogether in 2014 and over the years loads of people have told me I should bring it back but I’ve always resisted the temptation as I don’t want to revisit the past. So why am I bringing it back this time? Well, I feel we have unfinished business. Reaching 20 years was such an important milestone, but it was a bittersweet moment and I didn’t celebrate it at all 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? At first, I considered doing a magazine but I want to make it really special. 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? Thankfully the response has been fantastic – we’ve sold 400 copies on pre-sale so far. The book is 10” square and has 160 pages printed on high-quality paper; it really will be the best issue ever.’

So with this in mind, if you would like to get your hands on a copy of Knowledge Magazine’s exclusive 25 collector’s item coffee table book please email your name and address by December 31st to Jake@kmag.co.uk.

The official book launch event is happening this Saturday the 14th at Café 100, Brick Lane, London, E1 6QL with special sets from Ray Keith, Uncle Dugs, and Tenth Letter. The event page can be found here