D-Knox

Raised in Kalamazoo, Michigan, located halfway between dance music's Midwestern capitals Chicago and Detroit, Donnell Knox has been releasing deep, driving techno since the mid-'90s. Issuing work through his own Sonic Mind as well as labels like Black Nation and Magic Trax, Knox produces highly spiritual music that radiates positive energy. Releasing most of his music as D-Knox, he's progressed from the rough, abstract sound of early releases such as 1996's Meditation to more refined efforts like 2016's Mind Your Reality. Additionally, he's reserved his full name for house releases, including 2020's House Trax. Growing up in the 1980s, Donnell Knox regularly visited family in Detroit and Chicago during summer vacations. He recorded mix broadcasts by the Wizard (Jeff Mills) and the Hot Mix 5 crew, and shared tapes of the radio sessions with his classmates in Kalamazoo. He began recording tracks with his cousin, Jay Denham, during the early 1990s, and while Knox came close to signing a contract with a Californian label as a hip-hop producer, he felt that techno was his true calling after he met Derrick May and other Detroit producers through Denham. Knox founded Sonic Mind in 1995, releasing music as Spirit Man and D-Knox, and additionally collaborating with Aaron Bennett and Fanon Flowers as Last Generation. He also issued EPs on Denham's Black Nation Records, Morbid Records, Magic Trax, and Elypsia, but mainly kept to Sonic Mind through the late 2000s. Eventually settling in Warsaw after spending several years frequently flying to Europe for gigs, he released digital EPs and 12"s for several labels during the 2010s, including Sect Records, EPM, and Tuskegee Music, while keeping Sonic Mind up and running into the 2020s. ~ Paul Simpson