Photo credit: Matt Seger
Brooklyn’s Richie Quake first popped up on my radar at the tail end of 2013 with his fantastic single, Visions. Featuring one of the tightest choruses of the year, and a killer video to go with it, it marked him out as a talent to keep an eye on.
With two releases last year – a one-off single and an extended EP, he’s returned with his first offering of 2016, in the form of the Silence of the Lambs inspired new single, Clarice. Drawing from a range of R&B and soul influences, alongside more straight up pop vibes, as well as calling in saxophonist Jaedon Alvira; it’s an engrossing and addictive listen. I doubt there’s been a more fitting ode to Jodie Foster; check it out below, alongside a short Q&A with Quake.
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Whilst your music covers a pretty broad range of genres, there seems to be a fairly strong pop core in the songwriting – influence wise, where do you think this stems from?
probably stems from my love of pop music haha. I try to keep it at a balance though between pop and other stuff that I like, while making sure it says raw and true to me.
How does the creative process tend to play out for you when writing music?
Im always producing stuff all the time so I have a lot of instrumentals lying around. but when it comes to writing lyrics it’s a tougher process for me. Music comes out honest no matter what because it’s ethereal. but words will trip you up. when I have to try and verbalize all my feelings and emotions into something cohesive, its more difficult.
Clarice features a saxophone solo from Jaedon Alvira; how did this come about?
one day I realized that I needed more saxophone in my music. the saxophone has a smooth and sexual energy that I like. Jaedon is a friend of mine that I met at music school so I hit him up to see if he was down to play on the track. The next week we chilled and he layed down the part in his living room.
There’s a strong visual element behind your releases; just how important is this to you, and how crucial is the online platform with regard to expressing this extra artistic element?
I like expressing myself in different mediums and collaborating with people so it’s chill. but sometimes it would be nice to not have to think about all that stuff. As a musician these days, you have a lot of social media to maintain. people expect you to be just as good in every different type of media as you are in music. that’s a lot to live up to but I just try to have fun with it and make shit that I would wana experience.
What does the future have in store for Richie Quake?
probably some interesting stuff that I can’t even predict. but mostly more music, more videos, an album when I’m ready. I’m just gonna keep doin my thing and whatever happens, happens.