Quatre Tete is a rock band from Chicago. They recently released a fantastic record called "Art of the State". When the record arrived it stood out immediately because of the cover art - done by one of my favorite poster artists - Jay Ryan. When I hit play the it stood out because it rocks from start to finish. A huge thanks to Becka and the band for taking the time to give us some insight into QT and the making of "Art of the State".
Your music has been described as “synapse-melting and memory challenging”. How do you describe your style and approach to making music?
-BECKA- We are from Chicago, and there has been a really active and vibrant indie music culture here for decades. We get a lot of our influence from the music that is here.
-MARK-I prefer to let other people describe our style. our approach to writing has always been pretty much the same, we write as a group, and usually just improvise until we come up with something we like and go from there. we never have a preconceived idea of what a song should sound like, whatever comes out is what you get, and vocals are always done after the music is written.
Did you come from a musical family?
-BECKA- My parents both had really good taste in music. They grew up in the 50's and were in college in the 60's when Rock n' Roll was blazing into the mainstream. They were also really appreciative of Blues and roots music. I grew up listening to John Lee Hooker, Queen, ELO, the Beatles, all the Folkways recordings, and Little Richard, to name a few.
-MARK- No one played an instrument, but both of my older brothers had huge record collections. That got me hooked at a really young age.
-CHRISTIAN- Not in the slightest.
-SIDE NOTE: Rick, the drummer on the album, had been a guitar player for most of his life, and played drums for only 3 years before joining Quatre Tete.
How do you define good work?
-MARK- If it makes me happy, It's good
-CHRISTIAN- work that is challenging enough to keep you interested, and after looking back on it, you think to yourself, "i put my all into this".
What might larger, more established artists learn from your approach?
-BECKA- In our eyes, a "large" artist could be regarded as Fugazi or Shellac. I think that we learn more from them than anything else. Do it Yourself.
-MARK-That math rock doesn't pay the bills.
You guys are from Chicago. Do you have a favorite local place to play shows?
-QT- Quenchers is one of our favorites. They are really kind to us and always take care of the bands.
The album is called “Art Of The State”. Why?
-BECKA- Each one of us will probably have a different opinion on this. Mark's explanation is probably the best. We like puns too.
-MARK- Because State of the Art sounded too pretentious.
-RICK- Because we're clever that way.
One of my favorite songs is "Gamelan 9". Do you have a favorite song on the record? Why?
-BECKA- I think that my favorite song is "Sacred Gene Pool". It is one of the most complicated songs we have written and it starts with bass.
-MARK- Mouth of the Rattlesnake, because is has a little bit of everything we do as a band, plus it's fun to play.
-RICK- That's probably mine too. It's the first Gamelan I wrote with the band from scratch, and it's the hardest song to play
What was the overall tone you were going for on this record?
-QT- We wanted to document the songs and have the record sound like we sound live.
Were you inspired by anything specific while you were making this record?
-MARK- the opportunity to work with with Bob Weston and record an electrical.
-RICK- Each other's styles. We're all quite different from one another.
What was the most challenging part of this project?
-QT- Recording Gamelan 9 and getting the whole album tracked in 3 days. We finally got Gamelan 9 on the first take, 3rd day, no overdubs. We were pretty happy about that. It was probably the 10th time we tried it.
Why did you record at Electrical Audio studios?
-QT-It's a fantastic studio and it is in town. A lot of great records have been recorded there. Our engineer, Bob Weston, helped put in all the wiring and was very familiar with the studio. No need to leave town when you have an excellent outlet for recording in town.
What is the studio space like – is it big?
-QT- We recorded in the B studio. The drum room is HUGE. There are 30 foot ceilings and you can get a lot of natural reverb in there. Mark and Becka recorded the guitar and Bass in the "dead room". It was a small room with a sliding glass door so we could see the drummer.
You guys worked wit h a lot of famously talented folks on this record including Bob Weston and John Golden. Jay Ryan did the cover art and is one of my favorite artists. How did you hook up with him?
-QT- Becka has been collecting his posters for years. He also plays in a band in Chicago called Dianogah, and we ended up playing some shows together. We asked him to do it, and he agreed. He is a really great guy. He made some hand screened and signed album covers for us too. You can only get those through us or Bec-Rec.
How have people been reacting to the record so far?
-QT- They really love it or really hate it. We just play music that we like and find challenging as musicians. We're happy. If others like it too, that's great!
Did the label have a vision of what they wanted this record to be?
-QT- There wasn't ever an official label in mind while we were writing it. Becka started a label called Bec-Rec, and put the LP out on that in November '08, officially. The CD version came out on Sickroom Records in January '09. We were collectively involved with every aspect of the album except for the actual manufacturing.
Was the label supportive while you were experimenting?
-QT- Sure, it's the bass players label that put it out first. Sickroom Records has always been supportive of us too. We were happy to give them the rites to put out the CD. Their catalog is excellent and includes a lot of really great talent.
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RELATED LINKS
indiePulse: New Music: Quatre Tete
http://www.indiepulse.net/2009/02/new-music-quatre-tete.html
Band Site:
http://www.quatretete.com
Buy from Insound:
http://www.insound.com/search/results4.jsp?from=23890&query=quatre+tete
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