Listening to the Los Angeles based duo known as Qui is kind of like getting all hopped up on Mountain Dew and Pixy Stix, then going to an amusement park blindfolded and letting people strap you into random roller coaster rides. Stylistically, Qui’s music is eclectic, playful, and just totally fun. I have to admit I am somewhat new to the band, but upon hearing their latest release Life, Water, Living… I have become a pretty big fan. The way that drummer Paul Christensen and guitarist Matt Cronk (both members share vocal duties) go about doing whatever they want musically is inspiring. I have always really admired bands that break molds and genre classifications. Since Qui have become my new heroes I decided to ask Cronk some questions about Life, Water, Living…, weird dreams, his thoughts on true happiness, and giving away burritos to strangers.
Can you give us a brief history on how Qui came to be?
Paul and I met when we were 16 at a school for the arts in Minneapolis where we were music students. That was 20 years ago. Despite my being a loud-mouthed punk rocker and Paul being a timid jazz enthusiast, we became fast friends based on our mutual teen angst and contempt for our fellow classmates. In 1999, I moved to CA, with Paul following about 6 months later. After about a year of a comings and goings, we settled in Los Angeles in 2000. We had wanted to start a band and set about trying to find other members, to no avail. Eventually we tired of the pursuit and decided to be a duo out of necessity. We released our first record, Baby Kisses, in 2003 and did our first proper tour. In 2006 we made the acquaintance of David Yow through mutual friends. We hit it off and eventually asked him to sing a Frank Zappa cover with us at a show. That turned into two covers, which turned into half a set and soon, he was singing with us full-time. We recorded a record called, Love’s Miracle, which was released in 2007, followed by extensive touring. In 2009, after playing All Tomorrow’s Parties in Minehead, UK, David embarked on a year’s worth of Jesus Lizard reunion shows and Qui went on an indefinite hiatus. In 2011, Paul and I decided to get together and play without any plans or agenda. We found that we still liked doing it and were in positions in our lives where we could commit time and energy to it. The three of us, Paul, David and me, had been in touch throughout our inactivity so we knew that David wasn’t really interested in being in a band anymore. So we all talked it over and decided to go on as a duo. We wrote a batch of songs, recorded a new record, released a single, released the record and are now back on the road.
That brings us up to right now.
Qui started off as a duo then you welcomed in third member David Yow. With Yow not being a part of the band anymore was there an adjustment period with the new material or was it just business as usual?
Certainly, it is different without David. He contributed a great deal to all the material we wrote with him. Also, he is such a wild performer and has such a distinctive voice. He is not someone who could be replaced. I think the material on our new record reflects that notion very well. At the same time, we had been playing as a duo for a long time before David joined so it was familiar territory for us.
Have you considered bringing any other new members into the band?
Sure!
I am fairly new to Qui and I have to say that I love the broad amount of influences and sound you guys include on your albums. Where do you draw your inspirations from?
All over the place, really. We both love lots of different music, too many to write a complete list. As for what inspires us, in a broad sense, we are both inspired by artists who are adventurous and ambitious. People who are effective in creating work that is unique. For myself, I still get a charge out of hearing music that is a little spiteful and snarky. I grew up on punk rock and have always had a bit of a bad attitude. Without wanting to come off like Bobby McFarrin or something, we both hear noises everywhere that give us song ideas. Things like garbage trucks and traffic noises. We have a song on the new album with lyrics adapted from weird things crazy homeless people have yelled at us. We have been doing this together for so long that we are able to distill a lot of inside jokes day-to day minutiae that we find amusing and into our music.
One aspect of how we write is that we try to take time to really indulge one another in whatever weird idea we have, no matter how ridiculous it might seem. If one of us wants to try some goofy thing we always give it a go. Often times our best songs have come about that way so we always try to stay open to each other’s weird ideas.
What was the writing process like for the new album Life, Water, Living…?
We got together and banged out a few song ideas and riffs that we had. It was fun because we hadn’t played in such a long time, we were both eager to try out things we had been messing with on our own. When we started we had no plans beyond the next practice. No one was waiting for us to do anything and we had no gigs, tours or deadlines. So we took about a year just enjoying our time in the practice room and getting off on playing together. Fairly quickly it started taking shape and we were really excited about the songs so we began talking about making a record and figuring out what that would entail.
How did Melvin’s drummer Dale Crover get involved as producer for the album?
Dale has a production team with Toshi Kasai, who has engineered the last 10 or so Melvins records among many other prestigious credits. We have known Dale and Toshi for a long time and really liked what they did on the Tweak Bird record they produced. I contacted them to see if they would be interested in working with us and they, after checking their schedules said yes. We recorded demo versions of the songs we’d written and they dug them. So we booked the studio time and went for it. The experience was so wonderful for us. We had never worked with anyone in the role of, “producer,” and weren’t exactly sure how it would work but Dale and Toshi were a blast to work with, had a bunch of great ideas, and brought a lot of heart to making the record. We are both Melvins fanatics so getting to have their input was a real treasure for us.
All three music videos associated with the new album are hilarious. You guys seem like you have a lot of fun shooting the videos. What’s your approach when making them? Any interesting or funny stories from any of the three shoots?
When we were tracking the record Dale suggested we make a video for each song. That sounded like quite an undertaking but then the release got put off for over a year while we haggled with our label. So for the sake of keeping busy we started the videos. So far we have made 6 or 7 with the rest in the works in one stage or another. It takes an incredible amount of time, energy and money to do one, let alone 11 but we have been really lucky so far. Several of our friends offered up their services. One of the nice things about living in LA is there are a lot of talented people who work in TV and film in close proximity. For each we have basically let whoever was directing do whatever they want. We’ve had ideas here and there but neither of knows the first thing about the mechanics of video so we have been comfortable differing to them. So far we have been thrilled with the results. Aside from a few gross mishaps and footage being lost, the shoots have been pretty mundane. There is a shitload of work that goes into it before you have something you can watch.
Life, Water, Living…is an amazing eclectic set of songs. My favorite transition on the album is the very melodic “Awkward Human Interest” immediately followed by the post-punk instrumental track “You’re a Girl”. Is it hard switching gears like that live?
Thank you! I like doing things like that. I find when I watch a band live I enjoy being pulled back and forth. It always surprises me when people say our dynamics our too extreme. We’ve had the word, “schizophrenic,” used to describe us. I enjoy dynamics. They compliment one another. Loud seems louder when it is juxtaposed against quiet and vice versa. The same is true of fast and slow. It’s not difficult at all.
I read in a recent interview you guys did with Grisl that one of your worst show / tour experiences was in Salt Lake City, the city in which I currently live in. Sorry SLC was so rough on you. Can you tell us about one of your best show experiences?
So many come to mind. In December 2012 we played at the Echo in LA. It was the first time we had played in LA in 4 years and the first we had done as a duo in 7. We played a set of new material then had David up for a few songs. It was a wonderful and emotional homecoming. Last week we played at Slim’s in San Francisco opening for the Moistboyz. Playing that legendary room to a packed house was thrilling. In 2007 we played the Mercury Lounge in NYC. It was our first time playing in NY and we had a blast. Both times we have played in Prague have been wonderful. Paris is always great, too.
You currently have a small regional tour booked, any chance of a full U.S. tour? Do you dare risk coming back to SLC? Hahaha.
We are working on it. As of now, we don’t have a US booking agent. Hopefully that will change soon. We are going to Europe for 6 weeks this fall and hope to get to as much of the US as we can before then. We’ll go anywhere we can get to if they’ll have us.
With Qui’s sound being so varied, I am curious to know what music you guys listened to growing up. What are your favorite albums or artists that really affected how you listened to and play music?
Again, there is a ton. I grew up listening to my dad’s Zappa and Beefheart records and got into punk rock when I was 10. Paul was a studied jazz player from a very early age, as well as a rabid Beatles fan. Paul and I both grew up in the 1990s in Minneapolis, which has always had a thriving music scene. We both enjoyed that when we were kids. When we were becoming friends in high school we bonded over the Pixies, Fugazi, Camper Van Beethoven, Zappa, Cows, the Melvins, Arcwelder, and on and on. We also liked driving around listening to NWA and Billy Joel because we thought it was funny.
Any current bands that you are really into?
Retox, Helms Alee, Big Business, Lozen. I really like the new Russian Circles record. Scott Walker’s latest record blew my mind. I love things like that; squeak and fart noises and the like.
What is the weirdest dream you’ve ever had?
I don’t remember most of them, nor do I typically give them much thought. Once I had a dream that I was filling in on bass with Shellac at a big festival and was worried because I didn’t really know most of their songs. Most of the dreams I have are stressful and I wake up feeling worried, then relieved to find they aren’t real.
If you could give a stranger the gift of true happiness or free burritos for a year, which would you choose?
Wow, you’re really asking the tough questions! I suppose free burritos would be a requisite for true happiness, ergot if true happiness was granted, the burritos would be included. I mean, I’m not a philosopher or anything, but that makes sense to me.