The 29-year-old, born and raised in Frankfurt as a child of persian immigrants, grew up between persian music of the 70s and german street rap, between classical music and whatever his cousin was listening to, between his parents‘ wish for him to pursue an academic career and hanging out on the block with his boys. Experiencing and processing these fractures and ambivalence, the in dependent producer manages to merge the best of all worlds. Growing up, Q-Rush loved listening to New York rap like Nas and Biggie, but also more melodic rap and RnB, for example D’Angelo and Lauryn Hill, and tracks fit for the club, reaching from Missy Elliot to Jay-Z. All of these artistsshook hip hop at its core, embracing the traditions of the genre by taking the next step, further elevating the culture. With this kind of socialization, Q naturally became interested in shaping the culture himself.
How did you get into music and especially djing?
Music has been with me since I was little. I had the privilege of taking piano lessons as a child and this was definitely the foundation for my musical understanding. When I was 15, I wanted to make the music I was actually listening to, which at the time was mostly hip-hop and R&B. This was my starting point that led me to music production. But I needed time, my first beat didn't come until years later. The journey of my DJing career started off accidentally, its mostly because of a friend mine who was a DJ at the time (S/O to my bro Mode). As a Dj I played a few gigs and quickly realised that this could be the perfect live playing opportunity as a producer to showcase my musical abilities the way I knew it needed to be presented to the audience. To me that is why I regard DJing as an art and part of my musical craft.
How would you describe your creative process when creating new music?
The production of music is always different, depending on whether I produce for other artists, do edits & remixes or make beats for my instrumental projects. The most important thing is a creative impulse (be it a melody, a sample or simply an inspiration), from which a flow emerges, then I get to my unrefined concept of the goal, a blueprint so to speak, that both I and/or the artists can work and build from, often without thinking much. Same goes for live sets: Being spontaneous is very important to me. Preparation with playlists and routines is of course important, but if you don't have the track at the right time that gets the crowd going, you can miss out on special moments. Crowd control is key and so important, but at the same time it's the mix of that with my personal flavors/skills peppered with my eclectic taste that makes my sets and intimate reactions between the crowds, myself and the music so special. You can never get enough of that feeling and connection.
Fine Wine: The song was the first single of my last EP and is still one of my favorite tracks. The beat of Fine Wine had been lying around with me for quite a long time and was originally supposed to be released solely as an instrumental. When I met the Berlin singer Ninja Nai about 2 years ago, the idea immediately popped into my head, what if she performs a verse on it? And well, her verse was so good to my ears, that I thought ok, this thing has to be a musical masterpiece. I got my friend Chondi to play the saxophone on the song and after several sessions we were able to work out this wonderful saxophone solo. So what was once an instrumental loop turned into a very vibey song. S/O to everyone involved!
How do you define your sound?
Bouncy, vibey and without blinkers.
Which artists and sounds influence you the most when producing new tracks?
For me, the main inspiration isn't solely the artists, rather the producers who have shaped (a) sound/s, especially those who have influenced my personal musical foundation: from Timbaland, to the Neptunes, J Dilla, Madlib or Kanye West. These are still a great source of inspiration, even to this day, good music is good music. I allow my ears, my mind and creative spirit to remain open to receive new influences, which widens my taste and range, from different rhythms, sounds, samples from all over the world. In the last few years it has mainly come from artists such as Kaytranada, James Blake, Knxwledge, Onra, Sango or most recently Jae5 and Juls, all of whom I find very inspiring.
Luv Baby is personally my favorite song from my last EP, despite Fine Wine. It reflects relatively well my different influences and is probably my most produced track in my opinion (most likely because I like it a lot). I love the variety of different elements, from piano to the main sample to the synth pads, which overall do create a certain overall look. S/O to myself lol
Which artist would you like to collaborate with in the future?
Give me a Craig David feature and I am done with my bucket list hahaha. Hey, but dreams aside, I don't know, if there is an artist I'm dying to work with right now, there always has to be a spark and we need to click. It's very important to me to be inspired by the music as well as the human exchange along with the connection and vision. In the future, who knows where this will lead me, it would be an honor and a dream come true to work with my personal heroes, but at the same time, a session with a person so far unknown to me can be at least as inspiring. Currently I am working on my second instrumental EP as well as songs with some vocalists hopefully coming this summer and I am definitely excited what the future will hold for me. S/O my Noctarium Fam!