05.08.2020
This week’s guest mix is by the one and only QURL (pronounced like “squirrel”). She has burst onto the music scene and has been quickly noticed for her unique mixing style and control of the dance floor. She has played gigs as direct support for Golf Clap recently at Tangent Gallery on their outdoor patio, with Heddy Frenz at The Grasshopper Underground, and opening up for Noizu at Magic Stick. She was also part of the debut mix series for Korner Kombo Records in July.
I sat down to interview her at a dinner hosted by Paul Roy, part of Heddy Frenz and the culinary genius behind delicious infused meals. Check out his new Instagram for it here. (Shameless plug for a good friend of mine).
We talked about things like how she got into music, how life has changed for her during quarantine, women in the music industry, and where she sees her career going from here. I definitely recommend keeping an eye on QURL from now on.
I hope you enjoy her mix, now on SoundCloud!
detroit.dance : What drew you into music?
QURL: So I got into techno at a reallllly young age, the first techno song I heard was Satisfaction by Benny Benassi. And from there it sorta just exploded into me learning about the scene. I’ve always been so fascinated with music and DJs and their ability to blend music but also control the crowd. So I pretty much have always wanted to DJ… I think what really sparked my interest was the way the DJ really controls the vibe. I’m sort of a “sound snob”, so I’ve always liked being in control of the music that’s playing and sharing that with other people. Sharing the feeling… that vibe. That sense of confidence and truly just dancing like no one’s watching.
detroit.dance: How long have you been DJing?
QURL: Coming up on a year and a half! It’s been less than a full year of me actually doing live shows.
detroit.dance: So, what do you do outside of DJing?
QURL: My day job is an electrical engineer, it pays the bills for what I want to pursue, which is music. It helps pay for all the equipment, buying songs, producing all that fun stuff.
detroit.dance: How long have you been producing?
QURL: I just started producing once quarantine started! Sonya Alvarez has actually been mentoring me this whole time, so it’s been really dope, we’ve been working on some shit together, and its been really nice to spin ideas off of each other. Learning together with her is dope.
detroit.dance: How is it going so far? You’ve been working with Sonya… do you see yourself coming up with a specific routine, are you going for a certain sound… how is it all going for you?
QURL: Yeah, so I’m not really limiting myself right now. I’m kind of just going with the flow of things. Like, I lay down a bassline, I kind of just try to match it with, I don’t know… I kind of get inspired by certain songs. If I’m really digging a certain song at the time, I’ll try to almost mimic it but not. I’ll throw my QURL spin on it. I’m still trying to find my own sound right now, so it’s definitely difficult, but it’s so exciting and fun, learning all of these things. I’m so grateful to be a part of all of this. I love it.
detroit.dance: What program are you using?
QURL: I’m using Ableton. I was on the three month trial and they just bumped it up to six months, so I’ve been working on the Ableton trial for, shit, four months now, and just putting off buying it for like 800 dollars.
detroit.dance: Have you finished a song yet or are you still just playing around with it?
QURL: I am working on finishing my first song right now, I’m about halfway done. I’ve finished little dittys, like 30-second clips and shit like that. This song I’m working on right now I want to put out on Sonya’s record label, Korner Kombo Records. So be on the lookout for that, we’re going to be dropping shit on there.
detroit.dance: You said you’re going with the flow for producing, but as for your style during your sets, is there a typical sound you play? What would you tell people to expect or think of when they are coming to see you?
QURL: So, for sure Tech-House, G-House, I fucking love those hard basslines… Deep House, and Techno. But, I’ve been experimenting with a lot of different stuff. I’ve been experimenting with, like, Drum and Bass, Hip-Hop, R&B… throwing a fucking curve ball out there and seeing if anyone likes it. Kind of testing their limits as well as my limits. It’s a learning experience, for real. Experimenting with all of that shit and being able to read the crowd.
detroit.dance: With this whole COVID-19 situation, has it affected your personal life or DJ life, and how?
QURL: Well, I guess personally it hasn’t affected me too much. I’ve been working from home, which is actually really nice. I’m able to focus on other shit that I want to do. I’m able to wake up in the morning, make myself breakfast, and I’m able to do whatever I want. Being at work, I feel so constricted, it’s such a big building, a 30-minute lunch break…fuck that. It’s been nice being home, shit, I got engaged… so it hasn’t been too bad for me personally. For my DJ career though… right when COVID-19 happened, I was starting to get booked for some pretty fucking good shows. I was really starting to expand my house DJ name, and starting to do rap and hip-hop shows. I have two different logos, one for house music and the other for rap music. So, I like to switch it up. I was just starting to dip my toes into doing rap shows, and then shit got shut down, so that was really fucking hard, and I was really discouraged. I didn’t really do shit for about a month after that. Then, I saw people doing live streams and shit, and I was like, “I can do this!” so I did a few of my own live streams, and then smaller shows started opening back up, so I was booked for some of those. Those have been dope. But, with COVID-19 and our governor, we kind of have to find loopholes for these shows and shit… like for Golf Clap [at Tangent Gallery], we had to be outside, under 100 people, and everyone social distance. Now at shows, you aren’t allowed to dance, you have to sit at a table and chill… no one is actually doing that. So, it has been interesting to say the least. But, for my DJing, I feel like this break has been helpful in allowing me to hone my craft. I’ve been DJing every day, learning how to produce, and learning other new things, so it has helped me immensely. So, I feel like I’m going to come back better than ever when shit really starts opening back up again. I’m really going to get it poppin.
detroit.dance: I didn’t even know that you did rap shows, so that’s interesting for me to learn!
QURL: Yeah, it’s dope. I would do a lot of house parties and shit. I was actually going to do my first venue, Marble Bar, with the promoters that throw the House Party events. These two guys started it a few years ago as an actual house party, and then expanded all over Detroit, so they got it poppin, and they heard one of my mixes and wanted me on… I had such a good time slot too! It sucks it didn’t end up happening, but like I said, I’m going to come back better than ever.
(Qurl’s two logos are seen here, the top one being for House music and the bottom one being for Rap music.)
detroit.dance: What are your thoughts on women in the music industry?
QURL: I was just telling my girlfriend about this! I feel like right now, Megan Thee Stallion has also said this in an interview… I feel like right now, women kind of have a leg up in the industry. Because a lot of promoters, maybe for selfish reasons, they’re like “We need some diversity, throw in a girl DJ!” and it works in our favor because we’re fucking dope too, and we are showing up half of these dudes. So, right now, I think girl DJs, especially in Detroit that I have seen, we are all fucking crushing it. We are crushing all of these opportunities that are SO well deserved. So fucking stoked about where this is going.
detroit.dance: I feel like I agree with that, I’ve definitely seen a lot more female DJs come out of the woodwork recently around here.
QURL: Yeah, it’s a big shift, I love it.
detroit.dance: I love it too, it’s a very male-dominated industry, and it’s hard to break into that… especially when people feel like women are just getting gigs based on how they look.
QURL: Exactly, shit’s whack. I mean, it’s true for some, but you can always tell who’s being booked for their skill versus who is being booked for their looks. You can tell who is passionate about this shit and who is doing it as a hobby. For me, I’m trying to pursue this as a career. I want to travel the world and fucking DJ! I want to play my shit for the world.
detroit.dance: That’s what I was about to ask you… if you had any goals for yourself in your music career?
QURL: Short-term, right now, I actually wrote this down so I can start manifesting this shit, I want to start doing music festivals. Next summer, if that’s even possible. I think it will. I want to do music festivals, I want to start getting some more direct support slots, and ultimately just put out my own music. By this Fall, I want to have a three song EP out. Something to show that I’ve been working my ass off, and a representation of me. So I can toss it in a mix or a show. I just want to put out GOOD music.
detroit.dance: Back to you personally, we talked about your job, but what about your hobbies, what do you do for fun and in your free time?
QURL: I LOVE to cook and bake. I’ve been doing SO much of that during quarantine. I do that to help calm me down. And honestly, what I do in my free time IS music. It’s either I chill and watch Netflix, or I’m doing something with music.
Be sure to check out QURL’s Destination Detroit, and her Recipe by Request for some delicious Mac and Cheese that will be posted Friday. Her mix is now on SoundCloud.
Be sure to follow QURL on her socials!
Keep up with anything going on with Korner Kombo Records and find their socials on their website, here.
Follow House Party if you are interested in Rap/Hip-Hop events on their Instagram, here.
And follow Heddy Frenz and their events on their Instagram, here.