Artist of the Day: The Q4

The Q4 (The Quadraphoni Quartet) is a collaboration of 3 young Dutch producers: Arts the Beatdoctor, Sense & STW. Who, though they all work in rather similar ways, all have a unique sound of their own. The - at the time 4 men - crew was formed in a sleazy, dark bar in Amsterdam during the fall of 2005 and have since then created an impressive amount of material together, coloured by a wide range of musical influences and collaborations. www.TheQ4.com

Although Hip-Hop is the foundation for all their music, material ranges from Jazz & Dub to Hardcore Hip-Hop beats and Drum&Bass. As opposed to continually repeating a loop, theQ4 composed their tracks practically note-by-note by making a collage of hundreds of dusty sampled notes and percussion hits taken from vinyl. Sometimes skilled instrumentalists are also recorded, only to chop up their work as well and layer it in the composition again. Due to this way of working, and the amount of sounds used, their work has a very moving/musical feel to it, to the point that every track becomes somewhat of a soundtrack on itself.

Arts The Beatdoctor (1983) started producing for emcees some years ago, only to decide he liked most of the tracks better without vocals. So he continued to develop his mostly instrumental style, and his warm sound and diverse yet ever dreamy style have since then gained in reputation. After doing several little projects and taking the battle honours that STW didn’t claim, he released his half-instrumental EP “Fragments” this spring on Unexpected Records, and is currently working on his first solo-album.

The Sense (1985) spent 5 years of day-in-day-out practicing and developing his instrumental style without ever releasing anything, until he found himself listening to his own stuff most of the day and realised it was about that time. Unlike his brothers in arms he doesn’t know the first thing about musical theory, and balances everything on his sense of harmony. His very defined ‘moody’ style, and unusual sample treatment and rhythmic patterns, saturate the sound of theQ4’s material through out the EP. Apart from theQ4, he’s also working on a solo EP at the moment, this time with vocalists as well and earns a little buck on the side with his clothing line ‘ouesT-shirts’ and graphic/multimedia-design.

STW (1981) born and raised in the middle of nowhere, had only two options to get his kicks: doing drugs or creating his own unlimited universe through music. The combination of both turned out to be most fertile. He’s played guitar in several alternative rock bands, but is best known for his soulful swinging hip-hop beats, which have earned him quite some recognition winning practically all beat and remix contests this little country provides. Like Sense, he has never released anything before either, but he just might release a mix tape of his (in)famous remixes, if Sense and Arts don’t ease up on bugging him about it (Last.fm, 2010). 

You can listen to The Q4's music at:
http://www.last.fm/music/The+Q4



Released Albums:
The Q4 - Sound Surroundings
The Q4 - Darker Days

Reference:
(2010). The Q4. Last.fm. Retrieved from http://www.last.fm/music/The+Q4

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