We had the pleasure of catching up with Karlost and Dee to chat about their camaraderie and the friendship that forms the foundation of the band, the influences behind their unique sound, and their approach to songwriting and recording. Let’s delve into our interview with Quenta
What time did you wake up today? Was it out of choice or necessity?
Karlost: If there is one thing I hate, it’s waking up for a damn necessity, bears everywhere!!! Including me, teddy bear of course! 10.3am (I’m the boss so I simply swan in, sit on my throne and …..praise be ….The team at work are amazing…I do the late shift 😉
Dee: 7.15 am, choice.
Who are you and what do you “do”?
Karlost: I am Karlost ‘the great’ of the band Quenta ‘the great’! We are a magical concoction of sounds/tale and emotion. We are well, emosh. I also started a healthcare organisation working with people who have a brain injury, healing them through rehabilitation, we are small and powerful.
Dee: In Quenta, I play Bass and do a bit of singing, and I co-write the songs with Karlost. I work in community services.
Can you tell us more about the camaraderie and friendship that formed the foundation of Quenta? How has this bond influenced the music you create together?
Karlost: It was sexy, simply sexy! Sexiness is the most important attribute to sexy music, if you feel sexy you can’t go wrong. Dee is the sexiest man I know, physically and musically. A special person you should all get to know, he loves a chat. We have grown together and I now consider him at least top 3.
Dee: When I first met Karlost I instantly knew he was different to other people, that’s something that always appeals to me in people. He’s a big personality, but is also a pussy cat – loving, great at sharing & dreams big… He has encouraged and helped to facilitate my writing music and lyrics – something I’d always dreamed of doing and dabbled in. This is something that I will forever be grateful to him for. Some big things have happened in our lives, especially to Karlost, and our rehearsal space is a place where everything can be let out. The pain, hurt & joy, the truth and the untruths.
Describe your music to someone who has yet to hear it…
Karlost: Always tricky, but if you imagine ‘Quentin Tarantino and Bruce Dickinson walking into a bar, drinking several Jager Bombs and writing an album …you’ve got Quenta!
Dee: It’s a blur of musical styles. Grooves and melodies aplenty – and with universal lyrics that people can relate to.
Out of your tracks, which is your current favourite and why?
Karlost: ‘Roughly Speaking’ – this is so close to the truth it hurts, a lot. The lyrics bring a tear every time. Dee wrote a beautiful landscape for me to share my hardest feelings. It’s a hard but beautiful listen. The pain is real!
Dee: ‘Watch Him’ – It’s a piece of high art that I’ll be proud of until the day I die.
Can you share a bit about your musical background? How did you first get into music, and when did you realise it was your passion?
Karlost: At around 13 my dad asked the local Posty to teach me guitar – as he had heard that he was in a band. I learnt ‘House of the Rising Sun’. From there I went on to be in 3 or 4 bands, Japanese Fighting Fish being my closest run at it. Quenta formed as a last roll of the dice for me, it came at a perfect time. I was a broken soul, but between us, we have pulled ourselves to our feet and now stand tall! Music making makes you really tall metaphorically speaking! Fancy!
Dee: My parents went out every Thursday evening, so my (much) older brother had to look after me. We ate crisps and watched Fame (The TV show) and then Top of the Pops each week. I also had access to all his records and tapes and he used to buy me the songs I liked! I realised it was my passion when I started spending all of my spare money on music and going round to friends’ houses and borrowing their music to tape it. I wrote some crappy songs as a teenager, but I didn’t start playing an instrument and making beats until a few years ago.
Can you share a sneak peek or hint about any upcoming projects or surprises that we can anticipate?
Karlost: One release every 60 days for 12 months. Video representation of each part of this biographical abyss. Rolla Rolla Coaster! Come and have a ride if you think you’re ‘ard enough!
Dee: We’re releasing a new single, ‘The Two of Us’ next week. You can pre-save here: https://linktr.ee/quentamusic – it’s about relationship claustrophobia and is a summer banger. The video is bonkers, in a good way.
Your music has been described as a blend of genres like trip hop, electronica, hip hop, and post-punk, with an alternative indie streak. How did this unique fusion of styles come about, and what drew you to explore such diverse musical influences?
Dee: The music we listen to is very eclectic – it’s so easy now to explore random niche genres especially if you are a curious person. So naturally the music you make is going to reflect that. A friend said to me recently that, ‘You’re basically recreating your own record collection’. And they would be right.
From a practical promotion perspective, we should probably make music that fits neatly into genre-focused playlist culture. But who wants to be pigeonholed in such a way? The artists I’ve always gravitated to have always crossed boundaries. And we are also older – so we have had plenty of time to digest and be influenced by all sorts of music. As the songs come out these different influences will show through.
You incorporate narratives of loss, love, failure, and beauty in your music. Can you share a specific personal experience or story that strongly influenced one of your songs? How did you translate that experience into music?
Karlost: We are on a journey! This EP is ours! Nobody said it would be easy but I feel like if we attack it with all our might we can progress, small steps. Move forward! Do. Not. Stand. Still. Each song takes you to the deep end.
Dee: Failure is so much more interesting than success. I have failed a lot.
Can you walk us through your typical songwriting process? Do you have a specific routine or approach?
Dee: It varies. However, ‘The Two of Us’ is a fairly typical example. I made a beat and I remember Karlost saying to me ‘Don’t do anything else’. He very quickly wrote a catchy guitar line and the verses. We jammed it and I put together a bass line after that. And then it kind of existed for a bit before we wrote the chorus. It evolved in the studio somewhat as our producer is great at pulling in and out different elements.
Karlost: Without you I am nothing! That’s you, Dee!
How do you find inspiration for your lyrics and melodies? Are there any specific sources or experiences that influence your songwriting?
Karlost: Life! This is by far the most fluid collection of lyrics I have ever written. They fell out of me like they sat just beneath my skin. I needed it out of me (think Alien), it was too hard to carry around alone, so here it is for you to feel with me.
Dee: For me, melody just comes, lyrics take thought. I’m very interested in writing about our collective relationships with each other and how that is influenced by the constantly changing landscape. I don’t like writing about my personal life, although I can see hints about myself wrapped up in talking about other people and the wider world.
Do you often make significant changes to songs during the recording process, or do you try to capture the essence of your original demos as much as possible?
Karlost: This is something I find harder than Dee. Sometimes I don’t turn up until 2 pm as I can not sit through the dismantling of the original idea, but I am always wrong for my kicking and screaming. You need an outside energy to guide you and this energy is Nathan Ridley! The man! The Myth!
Dee: It depends on the song. On ‘The Two of Us’ for example, Karlost had a great guitar line which has disappeared from the recorded version which is a shame. Karlost is great at coming up with lyrics and new melodies in the moment at the studio. Me less so. Letting go of things you really like or have written in the demo is very difficult. But we work with a good producer and there is an excellent amount of compromise between us. I think as time has gone on each session has produced music that is more ‘us’ – so it’s very much a two-way learning process.
How do you know when a studio session is completed?
Karlost: I only allow the session to end once I have finished exorcizing the inner gargoyle and I am in a meditative state, humming my way to the Top of the (Ether) Pops! I will usually let out a scream of ‘Noooooo Mooooore – I am Done!’
Dee: When all the parts are done.
What are some unique or unconventional recording techniques you’ve experimented with in the studio?
Karlost: That would be telling but Hermitage Works is full of magical buttons! We made sure we pushed every one, sometimes thrice!
Dee: Using two people and three hands to play a synth part.
How would you describe the energy and atmosphere of your live performances? What do you hope audiences take away from your shows?
Karlost: I get such little time on stage, I use every second to be what is ‘the storyteller’. All my multiple personalities surface and I let them flow, some angry, some hysterical, some not even of this earth! I have never walked off stage without releasing all the different feelings I carry. Playing live is a shared experience, I feed off the energy in the room and the characters fit around it! Nothing ever completely the same.
Dee: Some calm, some chaos. It’s quite Vaudeville meets CGBGs. Would love people to think, ‘That was different, I’d like to see them again and hear their music.’
Do you have any pre-show rituals or superstitions that you follow?
Karlost: No more than two pints! Trilling my tongue/throat, a little dance, and a knowing switch to the storyteller. No more me, the tale is all that exists!
How do you approach incorporating technology or digital tools into your live show?
Dee: As you can tell there are only two of us in this band and we have full sound to convey to the audience. We use a Boss RC 505 looper to host all the stuff we can’t do ourselves in the moment live. This involves uploading/recording full-length stems or loops depending on the song and triggering them.
How do you kill time when you are on the road? Any new hobbies you have picked up along the way?
Karlost: In every town, we find a record shop and a shirt shop. We set a budget and we are then responsible to appease each other’s tastes, I always fail at this task! Dee is the one with the eye and the ear (apparently).
Do you have a favourite venue or venues that you have loved performing at? What makes them special to you?
The Trades in Walthamstow, it’s like the ‘In Bloom’ video, we love that place. Always a great night! Every town has an amazing venue or two.
Is there any song you have grown sick of performing live?
Karlost: Yas! Things I’ve Seen! One of the first ever wrote, love and hate it in equal measure.
Dee: Weight is Killing Me. I’m so bored of the parts I laid down in it.
What was the first record/tape/CD you ever bought?
Karlost: ‘Informer’ by Snow, £1.99 from Woolworths, showing our age!
Dee: With my own money… The Farm – Spartacus
First concert you attended?
Karlost, Pulp with my Dad and Brothers!
Dee: Michael Jackson
What was the last song that got stuck in your head?
Karlost: “Change Your Heart” – the Beck version
Dee: You Gonna Make Me Love Somebody Else by The Jones Girls
What was the last show you paid and queued up for?
Karlost: Deftones at Ally Palace
Dee: Beck, we paid and queued, but still didn’t get it. Were the first people in line not to get in!
What’s the most memorable or bizarre fan encounter you’ve ever had?
Karlost: A fan once Hulk Hogan’ed my T-Shirt… literally ripped it from my back, I’d worn that same T-Shirt to every gig for 5 years, a fitting end….she then made a teddy out of it…whatever floats your boat aye?
Are there any other artists from your local scene we should really know about?
Karlost: The Untitled Band, a local punk band doing some reet stuff. Heavy bass!
Dee: He is getting pretty massive now, but Hak Baker. His new album is sick – he is local to us and filmed one of his early videos in our local working men’s club.
If you could record any cover in the world, what would it be?
Karlost: So Real by Jeff Buckley. Autotune anyone?!? Such a range in that song.
Dee: Stevie Wonder’s A Place in Sun. Karlost would sing it so well – and the opening line always makes me think of him: ‘Like a long lonely stream, I keep running towards a dream, moving on, moving on’
If you could have any fictional character as a band member, who would it be and what instrument would they play?
Karlost: Beatrix Kiddo– The Bride– Code Name Black Mamba (Uma Thurman) on geetars and Anton Chigurh On Bass.
If you could bring any artist back from the dead, but in exchange you would have to send a living artist down, which artists would you choose and why?
Karlost: Kurt Cobain for Ed Sheeran, Sorry Ed (fellow ginger, this town ain’t big enough for two gingers!!)
Dee: Prince, because he is the gold standard and would have given us so much more. Drake, because for me he influenced music in a negative way.
That concludes our interview with Quenta. We’re grateful to Karlost and Dee for sharing their experiences and insights with us. Be sure to check out their new single “The Two Of Us” and stay tuned for the upcoming music video release!
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