Read the Quentin Interview below and share it on social media.
Please tell our readers who you are and what you do?
My name is Quentin. I make what I have dubbed as "Emotional Electronica". I like to mix ambient, atmospheric, and cinematic sounds with electronic and hip hop sounds. I wanted to make a sound that would consume the senses and make people want to party at the same time. I started playing music at small raves in my home town in New Jersey. My friend Sam started throwing these parties/raves at this old movie theater and that's really where my sound began to form. I started meeting DJs like Tygris, Sexy Black Female, and Jeps. I was originally making a trance, techno, and electro inspired music, but after meeting these DJs and hearing their sounds, I really started branching off. They were making this crazy bass music that was unique to the east coast. It blew my mind. Eventually, I changed my stage name to my real name (for various reasons) and embraced this new sound. Since then, I've been trying to evolve that sound and branch out even further.
How would you describe your influences and how have they changed over the years?
I grew up listening to everything. My dad showed me a lot of classic rock, blues, jazz, hip-hop, and experimental artists. My mom showed me country and pop music. My sister showed me Emo, Punk, Indie, Hardcore, and even musicals. I loved having a variety of sounds in my CD collection. When I was about 9 or 10, my sister showed how to use the internet (thanks Andie) and showed me YouTube. She pretty much explained it to me as a website for funny videos and taught me how to download music illegally (again, thank you Andie). But as I explored it, I found all kinds of music. I found out about Daft Punk, Aphex Twin, Deadmau5, Carl Cox, etc. And I found DJs like DJ Ravine and DJ Cotts from Australia. Ravine and Cotts were playing happy hardcore, hardstyle, and electro tracks and it totally opened up a whole new world to me. I did some research and realized the music was being made primarily with computers and synthesizers. That blew my mind. I got super deep into the music, but a few weeks later I was watching some late night talk show and the musical performance was this singer that was performing with just a M-Audio Trigger Finger, a laptop, and a microphone. I was shook. I ended up selling my guitars for gear and started making short snippets in a bunch of different DAWs. Looking back, that was kind of like selling your car to buy gas but it worked out. Now a days I don't listen to a lot of the "Main Stage EDM" stuff and focus more on the underground soundcloud and bandcamp pages. Nothing wrong with EDM, but I always find the most unique and interesting stuff there.
What´s new right now?
I'm working on a lot of stuff right now. I have a gig at BoonTunes March 10th in New Jersey with Kid City Combo and Leocore and a ton of other gigs in the works for the spring and summer. The primary focus right now is my third EP. It's going to be nothing like my first two EPs (Homecoming and Ego Death). I'm going to incorporate more of my own vocals, more live instruments, more of an analog sound, and a total change up from my normal songs while still revisiting older sounds. I'm taking my time with this EP, it won't be out for at least another year and a half. Until then, I'm going to be dropping a few singles and remixes. I'm also writing about 4 different EPs/albums for different projects. The two major releases coming up soon is the first album from my side project, Sofa, called "Las Vegas", and the first EP from my collaboration with my friend Griffin (aka Kid City Combo) on our side project "Most Some". I'm also relaunching my Collective/Label, Ocean Motel. We'll be focusing on a lot of videos, livestreams, and shows. 2018 is going to be a big year for music.
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Are you a superfan of anyone? How did you become a superfan? Do you remember how you become a fan and what turned you into super fan? Have you ever thought about why you´re such a fan?
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What was the biggest mistake you made when you started making music and what would be the number one tip you could give to a newcomer musician?
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How do you get gigs? Can you share any tips?
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Do you have good promotion tips for other musicians?
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Do you have insights on how to grow your audience on soundcloud that you want to share with our audience?
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What has been your biggest challenge right now? Have you been able to overcome that challenge? If so, how?
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How do you personally discover new music?
I go down a rabbit hole of music. I'll spend hours going from song to song on youtube or soundcloud. On soundcloud, I look at what tracks my favorite artists have liked, then go see what those people have liked. On youtube, Something cool always comes up on my suggested videos and I end up finding some random artist with a really dope sound. I also always look through my friends' playlists for good stuff to listen to.
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Once you discovered new music, do you tell others about the new music/artist you discovered? If yes, how exactly?
“Whenever I'm in the car with friends/other artists, I'll always throw on tracks that I found recently. I also play a lot of that stuff at gigs.
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What is your number one tip to improve your music production or songwriting skills?
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What is your best tip for those who struggle with finishing their tracks?
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We meet again in one year. What has changed?
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http://www.soundcloud.com/quentin
http://www.facebook.com/kindaquentin
http://www.twitter.com/kindaquentin
http://www.kindaquentin.bandcamp.com
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