Josie Quick
BIOGRAPHY
My partner in my band, Perpetual Motion, panicked when faced with the idea of doing this in one month, so this is my project although he plays on several tracks.
I am an all-purpose violinist. I play professionally as a soloist, with my classical string quartet, and with my jazz ensemble, Perpetual Motion. I teach blues, jazz, classical, and bluegrass violin/fiddle. I have a Bachelor's of Music degree from the University of Denver Lamont School of Music. I love playing all styles of music, and my writing reflects that by being all over the place stylistically.
BAND MEMBERS
Josie Quick, acoustic violin, vocals
Tom Carleno, guitar, vocals
YEARS COMPLETED
2007,2008,2010
GENRES
Instrumental
Completed Albums
the inner buddha project(2007)
The goal of the inner buddha project was to see what happened if I got out of my own way. I adopted a “no fear” attitude, letting go of any fear of not measuring up, accidentally plagiarizing someone, not finishing on time, running out of inspiration, all of it. What resulted was an amazing sense of peace and inspiration. I found the music coming at me almost faster than I could play it, and there are still ideas unrealized.
This is my first attempt at writing music without a collaborator. All songs are written using a loop generator, which is a device that records a small bit of music and then repeats it, allowing you to record more parts over it. All songs except “Springbok” were recorded with a single track using the loop generator to record a rhythm part. All the sounds are made using an acoustic or electric violin. My goal was to record it the way it would be performed live.
All songs performed by Josie Quick except “Springbok”, performed by Josie Quick and Tom Carleno. The songs are listed in the order that I wrote them.
From The Fog(2008)
I wrote all these songs during the month of February. When I went to check on the rules for when the deadline is, on February 27, and that’s when I discovered that I’m just supposed to record original material this month, not write it as well. That’s okay, because what I really got out of it was the unhindered flow of creativity. I wrote whatever came into my mind, no self-editing. I’ve concluded that if I give myself the time, I can be a very prolific writer. I’m not saying it will all be good, but I have to purge the bad music in order to get to the good stuff. If those bad songs keep rattling around in my brain that’s what keeps trying to get out. So this disc has some purging, but I think there’s some really good stuff, too. I even wrote lyrics, which I’m strictly an instrumentalist. Until now. I even sing on one track, and I think it’s good evidence to remain an instrumentalist. I think my composing is stronger this year, but in my haste the performances could have been more polished. I had less personal time to devote to it this year, so there was a down to the wire rush to finish.
I like to challenge myself by assigning myself a genre to write in, and see if I can do it. Sometimes I just see what the universe gives me. The songs appear in the order that I wrote them.
Possibilities(2010)
I call this album "Possibilities" to honor the endless possibilities that we get to choose from every day. The world is full of options and opportunities!
These are songs written and recorded with a loop generator. All the sounds are made with an electric violin, tapping on it, scraping things across the strings, plucking, and playing normally. I used an octave pedal and a blues distortion pedal as well.
The way the loop generator works is that I record a part, and the loop generator plays it over and over. I then record another part over it, and I keep going until I have a groove that I like. Since this could easily just become a jam, a rule I have for myself is that it has to have a melody and form before I call it a song. The exception to this is my last track. Recording with a loop is particularly challenging because there's no possibility of overdubbing or punching in. It's all live, one shot. If I don't like a lick or a note I have to decide if I can do it better, or if it's not too objectionable to leave. It really hones my playing skills because I have to be rhythmically precise and right in tune. Otherwise you’ll hear something bad repeated, over and over.
I was particularly inspired by African drum ensembles, particularly marimba bands. I tried to emulate the sound of African drums on most of the tracks. I love the way percussion ensembles juxtapose rhythms and timbres to create a melody. I’m getting in touch with my African roots!
I look forward to the RPM project every year because it's a chance to step out and do something completely different. I love the creative rush of immersing myself in a project for 28 days. I play with a jazz band, Perpetual Motion, that consists of me, and acoustic guitar, bass and drums. We do an eclectic mix of acoustic world jazz. I had to skip last year because I was really sick, it turns out I have Lupus. If you like my music and download any tunes, I ask that you please donate what you think it's worth to the Lupus Society. You can also donate through my Facebook page, just search for Josie Quick.
This album was a solo album in the true sense of the word: All songs written, recorded, engineered, and mixed by me. Artwork by my niece, Claire Hayes.