HK: My life, not different from many others who create art, has not been a joyous one. My first memory after coming to consciousness at the age of 3-4 was a drunken babysitter beating me with a wooden train track. From that point forward, living in poverty and in and out of homes due to your typical American dream collapsing from divorces or loss of jobs in my family, music was one of the only places I could escape to. At age 15 I was fortunate enough to finally have my father give me a cheap Fender strat, to which I still have to this day, broken as it may be now, but still cherished. I began teaching myself guitar, followed by piano and various early DAW programs in the summer of 2001. I believe I started learning how to use Fruity Loops 2.0 around that time? Doesn’t really matter, just another little etch in time that shows my real age. I began playing in various little bands in high school, your typical shit post hardcore / probably nu-metal at this point. After high school I moved onto various metal & punk bands, which continued until my early 30s. I did start in 2003 making my own solo music, which I think sonically would be considered cyber grind, but happy none of that music still exists due to it being so amateur and roughly recorded. For a time I lived in Canada, I performed keyboards in a throwback classic rock vibe band, which I cut my teeth on while touring. After moving to NY, I joined a punk band for a few years playing bass. It was fun but overtime we all got too old to keep going out and playing shows. Finally the last band I was in, was a black metal project in which I played bass for. We had enough material to record a small EP and booked our first show, sadly a month prior, our lead singer had a relapse and died of an OD. At this moment I gave up music completely, I couldn’t imagine creating anymore for joy. Yet, something had happened in the early months of 2020, I was running as the DM for a DND group and I stumbled upon dungeon synth as I was searching for music to play during the games. Well, since then the rest is history. I picked up a keyboard and never looked back. DS, for me, was special for the fact that every project has its own vision. Not forced into a particular soundset or vision for what the performance or song should be. You could go to a DS show (now that its a thing) and watch 4 acts, each of which could not sound anything like each other. On the opposing side, you could go to any HC show and potentially hear the same thing play 4 times even though its 4 separate bands. Erang put it best and I’m going to butcher the words he said to me in person, but each performer is a window into that person(s) fantasy realm. I use Hermit Knight as a way to speak about my emotional journeys, where words fail me. While my vocabulary is limited and often I find it difficult to explain the feelings inside, the music serves as a placeholder for how it all feels. An audio representation of the struggles of my bipolar and the lack of being able to tell you how it feels, Hermit Knight is my vessel for these things that have always been locked away from those close to me.
I can remember spending many hours at the first Great Lakes Dungeon Synth talking to people in the parking lot. The venue was set up in such a way you could be inside and listen to music or wander outside 20 feet to a very spacious parking lot where cones marked off a space for loading in which no one used. Instead this is where everyone congregated to smoke cigarettes, vape, or eat many of the mid tier fast food places which dotted the complex. It was a scene of fans, musicians, and organizers along with other people who were filtering in for karaoke at the bar next store occasionally giving glaces to the people who looked like they were attending a renaissance fair or a punk show. This is where I talked with Nick the Gnome for many hours over the weekend not just because there was a substantial amount of time to pass but also because he continued to be a wellspring of fascinating stories.
I am naturally curious about things so when people tell me stories I ask questions to give context and development since I love hearing about things I never experienced. This is where Nick told me about past bands, the death of his friend and bandmate and a whole host of other crazy stories which seems to run counter intuitive to the stereotype of a DS musician. This was not an introverted fantasy dork who spent their time online arguing about Tolkien rather an extroverted fantasy dork who attends The Gathering of the Juggalos and is probably the first one to make fun of himself before anyone else can. This wasn’t a first time musician who was braving the new world of live music through the safety of a niche microscene rather a traveler who arrived at DS after a long bout of adventures. These stories helped me not only understand his project, Hermit Knight, who was playing that weekend but also provided one of many examples of someone who found dungeon synth as a random outlet for art. In the case of Nick, this art came in the form of a can of silly string that would be sprayed while one person laughed loudly.
Dungeon synth, despite having a fantasy escapist aesthetic often attracts different people who come to make art under the promise of a receptive audience regardless of what it is. Hermit Knight’s music is emotional as its foundation and in that same parking lot after his performance he left with tears streaming down his cheeks to be embraced by friends and acquaintances in that same parking lot in the same way an athlete would after accomplishing a career defining feat. For all of the self depreciation expressed through a stoic facade, Hermit Knight is never shy about expressing emotion and even encourages it as a form of camaraderie. Hermit Knight’s performance began with the artist walking into the crowd to embrace friends with hugs and physical displays of affection and friendship. This display felt ceremonial and more a part of a ritual as to decorate the space in the right atmosphere for the performance. This sort of moment runs counter to the idea of the dungeon synth or even black metal adjacent dark ambient performance being icy and impersonal. This was your favorite person coming over with a beer they bought you and you all are about to drink them while loudly talking shit.
The same day I release this album, I am releasing the fourth & final part in my seasons quartet, Pseudanthium. I have done double releases at one time or another here and there & love to just drop multiple albums at once. What makes this album standout, is I consider this to be one of the knights “side quests” which is outside of the normal themed albums. Basically, a one off adventure that utilizes sounds and recording processes not used on previous works. I wanted to treat this as two long form progressive songs. Rather than break up the smaller parts into separate tracks, I wanted the listener to take the time to sit down and listen to them in their entirety and use only silence (what silence there is with the nature sounds beneath the whole album) as part of the overall album instead of breaks in between tracks. I’ve often experimented with long form songs. From my first two EP’s, each consisting of 2 12ish minute tracks, to my winter album “of frost and woe” that features a couple longer songs. I think it really depends on the momentum of inspiration at the moment. I do plan however to keep working towards more fluid albums that take more ideas from progressive music and utilize the space or silence between moments as a piece of the music over simply a point between songs. For the cover, I like to find some public domain artwork instead of having other folks design for me for the side quest albums. This one, with added effects, is a double exposure of some tower overtop a scenic photo. I just liked the strangeness to it, something outside of my normal art choices that fits nicely on top of an album that maybe slightly outside of my normal recordings. For live performances, I find a visual aspect very much important. I suffer alot from social anxiety and performance anxiety, so the addition of visuals to a performance helps ease that worry. Plus, it really helps having something beyond simply watching a person with a couple keyboards just stand there. While I know many of my peers can put on theatrical sets with merely just themselves, I am a bit too nervous and stiff for all of that. So, I love adding visuals to my live shows to help add a little flavor and understanding to the narrative I am building.
The Translucent Obelisk, one of the new releases from Hermit Knight, is two long form programs created by the artist as a story. The story doesn’t have worlds rather shifting tableau of mood which drift from the sorrowful to the triumphant. Hermit Knight is not without its emotional crescendos but an emotional hill coming in at 9 minutes during the first track “Journey Into The Western Woodlands” feels more immersive than before. When I saw Hermit Knight at GLDS, his performance was bare with emotion fueling a very minimal production setup. Here on tracks like “Path of Glass” the scope of this project meets the atmosphere with songs which sound like they are the ending tracks to some movie that just made you cry like a baby. The Translucent Obelisk is a whirlwind of emotion and not all of that is dark nor comfy nor anything. It is also a record which fits comfortably among long running tracks as some of the directions it takes feels like a journey across an entire span of time. Much like human emotion, Hermit Knight reflects a spectrum of colors and light into an atmosphere which feels music you hear when you reach closure.
Though Hermit Knight’s music along with the other various projects (Earthen Shield, Hex For A Hare, Synthvvitch, & STVFFED CRVST) all contribute to the whole of this artist. Music seems to break more rules than it follows, its success rests in its authenticity of making music that is cathartic and resonates with its audience. While this audience can be at home listeners or the ones in person at a show getting hugs from its creator, the goodness of this project is tangible with its creator urging everyone to be themselves and be honest no matter how hard it seems. This sort of freedom allows people to make records without castles on the front nor with any signposts of dungeon in its music. It is dungeon synth not in a traditional sense but a spirit which has propelled at home electronic explorations for small communities for decades. I have often joked that Hermit Knight and similar artists are forging a post-dungeon synth genre that yet has a better name and perhaps in the future this project along with others will be the genres vanguard when delving into new territory. I never thought it would be this bright and welcoming.
Make sure at the end you bring up i typed it completely on my iPhone and refused to spell check anything.
The Translucent Obelisk comes out digitally on 9/25 with a tape release to follow by Kadjum’s Tower and a few personally made for WereGnome to sell only at fests / shows until Kadjum’s stock sells out. Below you can preview the album. As of now, not much is announced for Hermit Knight live performances. Let’s just say November Chicago can be looking for details as well as 2026 EU/UK should keep their eyes open for a big announcement coming when the time has come. You can catch the other live act, Earthen Shield at Great Lakes Dungeon Siege in October and in Flemington, NJ on Halloween.
Most of my working relations with Nick are about 10% serious with the rest a minefield of jokes and absurd replies. Between texts, emails, and social media DMs, I often have to scroll through utter nonsense like AI coke bottle Jesus and me sending replies in PowerPoint to find Google Drive links or relevant images that were approved. It was here that we talked about Insane Clown Posse since Nick often discusses or posts about. We even have vague plans to meet at the next Gathering for a laugh. For these premieres I often like to showcase things that people enjoy since naturally I enjoy hearing about things people enjoy. I feel it is more genuine and reflective of the artist to hear about their favorite sword, fantasy book, or anything else that sort of makes sense to the genre. ICP doesn’t make sense to dungeon synth but it makes total sense to Hermit Knight even though it doesn’t. Despite being fascinated with the subculture I never vibed with ICP despite enjoying the general style. Because of this I asked Nick to give me three songs to start me on my ICP journey so we could come together and do a podcast at the next Gathering.
While ICP is definitely not everyone’s cuppa, especially in a scene that has its roots in black metal, it brings out nostalgia and a bond my little brother and myself hold together. Frequenting the Gathering is a brothers trip that we enjoy, even if folks consistently think we are cops since we don’t fit the aesthetic of what a juggalo is. What I’ve always stressed for WereGnome and my personal ethos around music, is like what you like and don’t apologize for that. Well, unless it’s like Five Finger Death Punch, you should feel really bad about that.
Song 1: Toy Box – This was one of the first songs I ever heard from ICP, right around the album’s release date. I must’ve been around 11 years old, a very formative time for such a young Gnome musically. I dunno, just brings me back to a few of the fond memories from childhood.
Song 2: Amy’s in the Attic – featured on one of the two EP’s that I believe dropped at or around the same time, I had purchased them both on CD back in the day. I remember just being blown away from the Terror Wheel so much. This song in particular has that core sound I associated with ICP, oldschool beats with dark lyrics and only the slightest bit of goofiness they are known for.
Song 3: Under the Moon – I’ve always had a soft spot for when these two bust out a song that’s more in a narrative sense, telling a little tale over just basic wicked clown antics. There is a point in the song, where the song climaxes and repeats itself over and over to its end, that I absolutely lov