RQM interview

RQM was born in Poland, raised in NYC, transplanted to Berlin, then to Barcelona and now back in Berlin. He is an MC, writer, and producer.

His track record includes collaborations with the likes of Stereotyp, Al Haca, Jahcoozi, Mochipet, Tolcha, Filewile, The Tape, I-Wolf (of the Sofa Surfers), Chris de Luca and Phon.o, Megablast, Eva Be, and members of Micatone. The Stereo MCs personally invited The Tape vs RQM for the European leg of their tour, which was a great success for both projects. On top of that RQM has shared stages with M.I.A., Peter Kruder, Modeselector, The Rapture, Kool Keith, Lyrics Born, Roni Size, Nicolette, and many others.

His tracks are regularly on BBC 1 and Maryanne Hobbs even called him “one of the most important voices in music today.” Rolling Stone magazine gave his project with The Tape, “Autoreverse” the LP, a full four stars calling it “one of the most interesting hip hop records of the year and the best record Kitty Yo had released in years.” And recently BPM magazine’s Berlin issue gave close to 5 pages to RQM and his offshoot projects.

He has recently released his first solo EP ‘Colors Fade‘ which we wrote about not so long ago here. We caught up with him to see where he’s going to be going from here.

Residence
I’m back in Berlin right now after a 2 year stay in Barcelona. I haven’t really recorded much out there. It could’ve been the weather – maybe it was too sunny. Or perhaps it was the laid back rhythm of the city – the manana mentality, which actually translated into weekly delays on sessions. Berlin on the other hand is a dark city with brutal winters or at least this one right now was like the coming of a new ice age. It’s hard to escape introspection when you live here, you stay inside a lot and it’s also really easy to deep dive into stark music. I think Berlin has definitely infused my music with a touch of that introspective haze.

Musical Background
My very first experience with music – i’ll give it up to my grandma singing songs for me when i was still hella small. My first introduction to proper music was the early 80s NYC radio. I used to make my little mixtapes back then. I was a big Michael Jackson fan and then shortly after that Whodini blew my mind – I mean blew it to bits and pieces. The feeling that I got when I first heard 5 Minutes of Funk – that’s that once in a lifetime!

Current EP
The current EP in terms of the sound I think it’s the closest thing to my bones – it’s my very own take on soul music, even though it might not come off that way being that it’s all grizzly sounding. Atomic Fusion, the tune produced by Siriusmo, is by far one of my deepest tracks to date and one of my favorites. The whole thing is warped sound wise – all tribal, but then again a bit poppy and steppy. I still haven’t heard anything like it out there. On the concept tip it’s a song about love as a nuclear holocaust. Colors Fade, which was produced by the Glue Kids is more of a direct take on the topic – love so intense that it numbs the lovers.

Future
This year I’ll be re-releasing Colors Fade in Japan (April). That’s the first thing on the plate and then I need to start recording again. The ideas don’t stop flowing, but I just haven’t had the time to hit the studio being that I’m running the label all by lonesome.

Tips
I love what I do and it has allowed me to see a good chunk of the world, but on the whole it’s always a battle and it’s a shit load of work. I’d say that it’s like with everything in life – you have to have the love for it otherwise you won’t be able to endure the struggle. A clear vision of what you want will allow you to get there eventually.

Who
Ever since myspace became all spammed out I kind of lost touch with what’s bubbling beneath the surface. I would say watch out for Son Of Kick, he dropped a serious remix on Colors Fade and I heard his new beats – they’re type unique. JF, who’s also on the EP got some serious arsenal coming.

Blogging
I love the immediacy of blogs. I love the interactivity of it all – the fact that what used to be a one sided diatribe on music became a proper dialogue. But I’m not feeling how music is often treated by them and how it becomes content filler. Just from doing my own promo I noticed that a lot of people don’t really listen to the tunes that I send them and that they don’t have a clear opinion about music in general. They just post music to stay ahead of the curve and to push their traffic numbers up. This is the downside of the culture. And it’s also sad to see that artists give into it and struggle to keep up with the posting quota cause this can only lead to making half baked productions. But all in all – I support blog culture. Steal music, but come to a show!

Other Music
I don’t discriminate – I love good music. I started the day off with Alice Coltrane, bumped a bit of Dead Prez and some De La. I’ve been bumpin a lot of Electric Wire Hustle recently, Mount Kimbie, Arthur Russell, Dead Weather, the new Massive Attack, the new Gil Scott Heron and a lot of Mulatu Astatke.. And the Fugazi itch started again.

Spare Time
I’m a simple dude into simple living: good company, good food, good wine, a good book, a boom flick, I love getting lost in the city or just straight cutting out and vibing out with nature.

Add
I would like to big up REMED, who painted the covers of the Colors Fade 7″s. We pressed 84 of them and he painted over them creating a jigsaw puzzle about a relationship – there’s heavy duty soul in that paint. As a gift to our fans we chose to cut the price of the packages. So for 25 euros you’ll get a 7″ with a part of the painting and a Carhartt limited edition Colors Fade tshirt. There’s still a few left here

RQM – COLORS FADE LIMITED EDITION 7″ AND EXTENDED EP
DIGITAL EP TRACK LISTING:

1. RQM – ATOMIC FUSION (PRODUCED BY SIRIUSMO) VINLY
2. RQM – ATOMIC FUSION (SON OF KICK REMIX)
3. RQM – COLORS FADE (CHRIS DE LUCA REMIX) VINYL
4. RQM – COLORS FADE (PRODUCED BY THE GLUE KIDS)
5. RQM – COLORS FADE (JF REMIX)

RECORD LABEL: BABY SUMO

RELEASE DIGITAL
http://www.junodownload.com/ppps/products/1536996-02.htm?highlight=RQM%20COLORS

PHYSICAL
http://www.hhv..de/index.php?action=advSearch&bandname=RQM%20X%20Remed%20X%20Carhartt%20X%20HHV.DE