Though Qui has been a band for seven years, chances are, to some, they’ll be perceived as a brand new project. Since its inception, guitarist/vocalist Matt Cronk and drummer/vocalist Paul Christensen have been slugging it out as a two-piece, releasing their previous full-length, Baby Kisses, in 2003.
But all that’s beginning to change with the recent inclusion of former Jesus Lizard/Scratch Acid vocalist David Yow. Adding Yow to the ensemble has not only heightened the act’s profile, stirred up its live show, and brought an entirely new set of fans to the mix, but it’s also found Qui producing an incredibly dynamic new album, titled Love’s Miracle dropping this fall via Ipecac Recordings. ALARM caught up with Cronk and Yow (who also just finished an instrumental solo album, that he says is “almost orchestral and soundtrack-y and jazzy”) to find out just how well the explosive veteran rock frontman plays with others.
How did Qui come together in the first place as a two-piece?
Matt Cronk: We met in high school about fifteen years ago. We went to a performing arts school in Minneapolis and didn’t really play together for the first few years before we moved out here. We ended up moving out to L.A. in 2000 with the intent of starting a band. And the reason we started as a two-piece was because we couldn’t find anyone to play with, or at least anyone worth a shit. No one was interested in playing the music we wanted to play. We played our first show in 2001 and just kept going at it that way.
How did you meet Qui?
David Yow: We met in the bathroom of the bus station. No, that’s not true. It was at some party or something that a mutual friend of ours was having, and we just became friends and they asked me if I’d do a song with them-a Frank Zappa cover. So I said I’ll do that, and we practiced more and more, and it sort of organically came about that I was in the band. It’s weird for me because if you’d asked me the month before if I would ever be in a band, I would tell you, “Hell no, Waleed!” I never wanted to do this again. I didn’t expect to. But these guys are so good at what they do, and I love their guts, so it worked out real nice.
Why were you so opposed to being in another band?
DY: I’m not a real musician. People like the other guys in the Jesus Lizard- they need to play music; it’s part of them. I don’t think I’m like that. It’s not part of me the way it is them. I just had my fill, and I’m old. It’s tiring being on tour, and I didn’t want to repeat myself. I had no desire to do it again until this came about. Professionally, I do photo retouching. I used to be busy all the time, but it seems like recently I have no work, and so it all kind of fits together. It’s like, OK, well, I don’t have any work, so I’ll just do Qui all the time.
You said you initially didn’t want to do any touring. So is the band going to hit the road?
DY: Oh yeah, we’re going to hit it real hard. Initially, I told the guys I didn’t want to do any real long tours and they said that’s cool and stuff. But as time went by, we decided if we’re going to do this, let’s do it right.
So you’re in this for the long haul, then.
DY: Yeah, until one of us dies, I guess.
Coming into this established group, were you at all apprehensive about fucking things up, in a sense?
DY: Oh, yeah. Not only was I afraid of fucking it up, but I was very apprehensive about putting forth ideas. I just felt like my ideas are viable and everything, but I felt like it wasn’t my place. I was the new guy. But the three of us work so well together, it’s very “liquidy.” Most of that has worn off. I’m no longer afraid to tell them what I think about something, and they certainly aren’t afraid to tell me about my dumb input.
Though Qui’s been together for several years, some people have just discovered your band because they’re fans of David, and thus it’s like a new band for them. Does it feel like a new band to you?
MC: No, we were doing everything exactly the same way we always have. But it’s nice that people are paying attention.
Is the band a full-time venture?
MC: Absolutely.
And how long has it been a full-time project?
MC: For Paul and I, we’ve been attempting to make it a full-time thing for as long as we’ve been doing it. And then as soon as David officially joined the band, it was like if we’re going to do it, we’re doing it all the way. We all have day jobs, but we’re going on tour for three months this fall and, God willing, we’ll come home with enough money to live until we go out on the next one.
How do you go about your songwriting and how has it changed?
DY: Well, the terminology is always kind of vague, because they actually speak in musical terms, and I just sort of talk about, “You know that part that goes ‘da-da-da-da-da,’ let’s do that twice.” And when I say I’m not a musician, I mean to say that I can’t read music and I can’t play any instruments. But one of the particularly cool things that I enjoy in Qui is that they’re teaching me to sing, and actually hit pitches and do two- and three-part harmonies.
MC: Having another voice in there, there’s more to it that we can do. The biggest change for me is that we can have a voice singing over a part that Paul or I would be playing, that would be too hard to play and sing at the same time. We were able to take a lot of old riffs that we came up with over the years that we couldn’t make work, and we could play, he could sing, and it sounds really good.
You mentioned earlier that you’re feeling old. But we saw you putting on a show that’s very physical.
DY: I still jump around like an idiot and stuff. I had this sort of reputation for crowd surfi ng when I was singing, but that was then. I don’t really have any plan on doing that kind of crap again. But yeah, I’ve been pleasantly surprised.
So, how do you maintain your physical health?
DY: Alcohol and cigarettes. I guess I just don’t worry about it! (laughs)