“You guys have been loving on me for over 25 years”
There are dancefloor divas and then there’s Julie McKnight. Ahead of her return to Reminisce, the Finally singer tells clubs editor Emma Johnson why the UK is ‘home.
Thanks so much for your time, Julie. It’s an honour to speak with you. Where are you today?
I am at home in North Carolina. I am on summer vacation… I teach and am on break. It has been a busy season but that is always a good thing.
You said that you teach. So what does a typical week look like for you?
When I am teaching. I do Pre-K (pre-kindergarten) I have the little ones, four to six. If I am leaving [to sing] it’s on a Thursday then I am back on a Monday and back in school that Tuesday. It’s busy but that’s ok.
You must be one of the most-booked divas on the scene. Especially in the UK. Everyone loves you here…
It’s a blessing. You guys have been loving on me for over 25 years! The UK was the first place I ever came. The first place that invited me to come. My cousin Jay “Sinister” [Sealée], from Kings of Tomorrow, and I. It’s home for me.
Diamond Life, Home, Finally, How Soon is Now… you have so many huge tracks. They have provided a soundtrack for so many people. They don’t just belong to the people from when they came out. How does it feel to perform songs like that?
It feels good. I am 54 and these babies… I call them babies… their moms are bringing them. And [the moms] are like “we were partying to this!” and now their sons and daughters are partying to these same songs.
Finally is a blessing. This song has just continued to breathe and breathe. Young DJs are finding it and doing remixes, which I love. The old girl just keeps rolling and rolling and I love it.
Do you have a favourite?
You know I don’t. It really does depend on where I am. Right now Finally has circled her way back to me because of the lyric in that. But sometimes it’s Home. If it’s a girls’ night. Or, if it’s a time when I am just sitting out and feeling wonderful and it’s self care, then it’s Diamond Life. It really just depends.
You just touched upon Finally and we have to talk about you and the DJ Black Coffee and this whole new life that the track is having with The Rapture pt III. How did that come about?
Here’s the plot twist. A lot of people don’t realise this, but that was a mash-up that David Guetta did during Covid in one of his sessions from his home in Ibiza. It was cool back then and then Black Coffee started to do the mash up a couple of years ago with The Rapture and Finally. He just started to play it in his sets. It’s never been officially released it’s just been played and loved. Y’all make ‘em put it out!
And of course, we have to talk about the performance last year at Hï in Ibiza where you sang live while Black Coffee played. I get chills thinking about that video…
That was so good. I cried! At Hï you are in the middle of everybody, with them all around you, and the energy was just wow! It was as much fun as it looked.
You have transcended all these generations. What do you think is the secret?
I do believe it’s the music. These songs came out in an era when it was all about wanting a song you could sing along with. There were songs being written. That’s not a diss. Music evolves and it’s different now. But then there were singers and there were songwriters.
For Kings of Tomorrow – Sandy Rivera and Jason Sealée – their goal was to write proper music that just happens to be house music. These songs have been done and redone. I have heard them acoustic, I have heard them jazzed up, I’ve heard them rocked out, and that’s because it’s a good song. I was just lucky that Jason is my cousin and he needed somebody to sing!
Turning to Reminisce festival this month. You have played at a few of these now….
I love all of them [festivals] but that’s one of my favourites. Reminisce is like a big family reunion. Everybody is there. I love it.
What can people expect?
I’m sticking to what I know, baby! Bringing the music – Home and Diamond Life and Finally… maybe a surprise or two, snippets from some other things we’ve got that are new. I’ll just be enjoying being there and hoping that I get to see some of the new faces who it’s their first time at Reminisce.
Anything else we should be aware of? Any new music from you?
Well the last couple of years, Finally, she’s a jealous one… she takes over all the other tunes that come out. But there have been two: one with Kings of New York – Louie Vega and David Morales called Still Here. And one with Roger Sanchez called This Feeling.
Julie McKnight plays Reminisce Festival at Sherdley Park, St Helens on Saturday September 6.
