Gravity Noir is a British synth-pop band that was established in the early 1990s.
Background
The founder of Gravity Noir, British-Belgian dual citizen Patrick John Angele Knight, performed as a Boy George tribute act and participated in several talent competitions between 1985 and 1996. In 1987 he was named among the top-12 best sound-mixers in Belgium by magazine, which released an album featuring Knight's cover of "Everything I Own". He won second and third place on Dutch television's Soundmixshow and also appeared on the British programme Stars in Their Eyes. While working on a side project called Greater Than One in 1991, the name Gravity Noir was first used. Gravity Noir first performed as Culture Club on Belgian television channel VT4 in July 1996, hosted by Jo De Poorter.
Early years
Gravity Noir was founded in Antwerp by Knight, the only permanent member of the group. Javier Rodriguez Iglesias, DJ Linetech, produced their first few songs before he was replaced by Peter Goos. The repertoire mainly consisted of 1980s covers. Dancers Alex da Luz and Jorg Van der Heyden completed the original band setup. The group briefly changed their name to Basics, with the additions of female singer Cindy De Voeght CJ and dancer Sofie. As B6, they recorded their first official music video for a remix that Goos made of the Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark hit "Enola Gay", which was broadcast on Belgian television channel FilmNet. The band continued to record demos in the late 1990s under their independent labels Jumping Man Records and A Gravity Production. On 23 April 2011, a first official single called I've Got the Power was released, under the name of "The Sisters of Divine Pleasure", featuring Knight as drag queen Titless Strangé. In 2016, Knight decided to return to using the name Gravity Noir.
Later years and up to present days
Gravity Noir sought to offer members the opportunity to showcase their individual talents and creativity. Andrew Williams joined the band in 2016 as a vocalist and wind instrumentalist, and to provide graphic designs. Williams is mainly known as an artistic painter from Wakefield in West Yorkshire. Female lead singer Ambrosia Dash, who had lent her voice for Knight's solo projects, has sung several songs since Gravity Noir's comeback. An official single and associated video clip called Mystery Knight was released by Gravity Noir on 7 April 2016. It was recorded at Ter Apel Monastery in the Netherlands during the annual Ter Apel mediaeval festival. Three albums have been released so far: The Early Years, Handmade and Liberation. The last of these generated two 1 hits in the UK N1M EDM charts: "Open Your Mind" and "Avalon L.A.".. Between 2016 and 2019 several remixes were produced by DJ Linetech untill he got banned permenant for his unproffesional behaviour. In 2019, the band began working on Future Days for an anticipated release in 2020 and was released on 18 March. The single "Flying High" was officially released on 22 March 2019. Two successors were released. One with the title "Planet Called Love" during the summer of 2019 and the second one "Universal Party " was released on Valentine's Day 2020. Due to Knight's life-threatening heart condition, Brugada syndrome, it is no longer possible for him to perform live, and the band is seeking a new lead singer. Knight continues to compose and produce all music for Gravity Noir. He has reworked the track "The Thrifty Wife & the Kite" by the folk and ceilidh dance band Banjax into a Gravity Noir remix. A special Christmas edition was released in November 2019. The original track was written by Knight's cousin Keith Leech MBE in 1992.
Charity
Gravity Noir recorded the single Another Dimension and accompanying video for the benefit of the Alzheimer League Flanders and Alzheimer's Society United Kingdom. The presentation was supported and attended by the published press and covered by Belgium newspapers. At the beginning of 2017, Gravity Noir released the single and video for "Much Too Soon to Say Goodbye" to raise discussion around the issues of suicide. In September 2018, they released the single and video for "Open Your Mind". For this track, they found the support and help from film director Lubomir Arsov, who provided images from his 2017 short filmIn-shadow: A Modern Odyssey. The theme of this project revolves around the many prejudices of psychological problems and bullying behaviour.
