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querkus

Alternative / Psychedelic / Trip-hop

The Frozen North

About

The otherworldly sound of Querkus is difficult to put to words. Synth arpeggios and string arrangement spiral like nebulas. Piano and guitar play with light and dark to create an expansive horizon over a mysterious, unknown landscape. There a timelessness to it, but a living timelessness like that of an ancient tree that laughs at time and flows through its yearly cycles in its own unique way. The spirit of such trees is celebrated in this music. Lyrics often reverent to nature are borne on melodies that while raked with sadness maintain an adamant hope, like a single star in the night sky, that world is still a beautiful place regardless of how painful day to day life can seem as individuals. It breaks your heart and simultaneously makes you smile.

This music is for the mind as well as the spirit. Complex rhythms intertwine in dizzying syncopation. A clear influence from classical music can be heard in the layered string arrangements, the intricate piano that borrows from Mozart, and the progressive, even pretentious use of discordant harmony. This is music to focus on and replay until its layers unfold. The complexity is part of its integral nature and Querkus is not about to dumb it down for anyone. Those who are up for the challenges of this music are taken up in its swirling, polyphonic sound on a psycadellic trip. There is a detour to the early days of 60s/70s prog-rock experimentation, lead the way by the electric guitar that often screams out like a voice of doom to the paranoid. Querkus is an acquired taste, but once the habit is formed there is no going back.

Querkus is centered around the duo of lead vocalist and pianist Karen Asmundson and guitarist/producer Edgar Ozolins. The duo contrast and compliment each other just as elements in the music – a forestry technician and a truck driver, female and male, piano and guitar, electronic and acoustic, light and dark, beautiful and distorted. Fascination with these elements has kept Karen and Edgar exploring music together for the past 10 years. They are also deeply rooted in the work necessary to create the music that they want – both have been studying classical technique for years. The idea of roots can also be taken to another esoteric place that the duo reveres – they both love trees to the point that the band was named in latin for the Oak.

Querkus is at home in the world of visual art, often performing at grandiose arts events where cocktail gloves are essentials and a kaliedescope of martinis flow late into the night. This connection with art and film comes from a close involvement in music and audio production for local film productions. In 2006, Querkus took this film connection one step further by throwing a Winnipeg-based celebration of the 60th birthday of director David Lynch. Lynch himself endorsed the event. Shortly after, a Querkus track titled ”Rubbing My Eyes” was added to a compilation CD that was given to Lynch by his own Foundation as a birthday gift.

Querkus released their first recording, an EP titled “No Direction” in 2002 to a sold-out audience. The EP charted on college radio stations across Canada, which inspired Querkus to tour Ontario and Quebec later that year. A performance in Toronto was recorded and later released in 2003 as “The Fire Behind Us” – a limited-print live album that also featured 2 studio tracks and a remix of No Direction track “October 16” by DJ/Producer Joe Silva.

Since the last release, Querkus has undergone a metamorphosis. The duo’s music has evolved from being largely electronic to a true electro-acoustic hybrid. In fall of 2006 Querkus began recording a full length album. It has been a labour of love – they have taken their time to ensure it turns out as they envisioned it. Many of Winnipeg’s finest appear on this recording including the Animata String Quartet, Steve Martens (drumkit) and Joshua Stanton (tabla). The duo handle the rest of the instruments and vocals heard on the recording. After over 2 years of careful work, the release of this new album is in sight and an estimated release date has been set for September 2009.

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Members

• Karen Asmundson - vocals/piano/harp/organ

• Edgar Ozolins - guitar/bass/backing vocals

Electro Acoustic Art Pop Noir

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