New York-based artist Proper Villians has reinvented himself throughout his career while always staying ahead of the curve. His latest remix for fellow New Yorker QRTR is another example of how his intelligent sound design and impeccable grooves can elevate an already stellar piece of music.

"Nossa" appears as an interlude on QRTR's 2021 album infina ad nausea. The haunting choral arrangement is accented by clips of dropped calls and an equally haunting backdrop of chimes, swells, and hits. 

Proper Villians take is a warped late-night ride to a dark warehouse lit only by a strobe light. The drums are crisp, and as the vocal sample washes out, a devastatingly dirty descending synth plunges you deeper into the rave. The icing on the cake. The voice asking, "Are you fucking serious?" before the last drop. It's a simple touch that's beautifully effective.

When QRTR finished her album and asked him to pick a song to remix, it seemed like an odd choice to choose a two-minute interlude. However, the choral sample was something he knew he could work with. 

Initially, the remix flowed from him organically. "I spent like one day on it. And like I got the weird string crazy drop thing and then the intro thing. " 

What's remarkable about the source material revealed itself when he asked QRTR for the original sample. You won't find the choral sample on Splice or in any sample library, for that matter.

"I asked her about it. She recorded it in a church. She just took a field recorder and recorded the choir." 

The creativity behind both the original and the remix are hallmarks of these two remarkable artists.




Track Of The Week: Proper Villians Remixes QRTR's 'Nossa' into a Rave Ready Masterpiece


Gray Area makes another step in its mission to “unify and strengthen the House Music community around the world,” today by partnering with Spotify for an official editorial playlist on the streaming platform. Gray Area Guest List launched with over five hours of house and techno from the forward-thinking and creative voices that are defining the myriad sounds of underground dance. 



Spotify’s Guest List playlists allow noted brands and artists to take over an official editorial playlist curating it from top to bottom precisely to match that brand’s unique footprint. And the Gray Area list is lovingly selected to reflect the future of dance music.



Included are songs from Gray Area Spotlight featured artists QRTR, LP Giobbi, Vintage Culture, and Will Clarke. Alongside bonafide legends like Ricardo Villalobos, Miss Kittin, Maya Jane Coles, Anja Schneider, Guy Gerber, Steve Bug, The Martinez Brothers, Joseph Capriati, Jamie Jones, Louie Vega, Pig & Dan, Royksopp, and Maceo Plex. 2022 GRAMMY Award nominee Black Coffee, Repopulate Mars boss Lee Foss, Drumcode front-man Adam Beyer, and Godfather of House Frankie Knuckles are also featured.


The Gray Area Guest List is a great way to get familiar with the sweeping sonic footprint of house and techno. Too often, we get stuck in our own lane, and the beauty of dance music is that it encompasses an array of shifting moods and aural textures. So take yourself on a journey through the expanse of underground dance music, turn up the volume and Let There Be More House Music.




Gray Area Takes Over Spotify's Official Guest List Playlist

On Wednesday, August 25 Canadian producer, Felix Cartal divulged his plans for a special project to be released on September 1st. Expensive Sounds From Nice People: A Streaming Festival, his first Twitch festival, features sets from renowned DJs Dr. Fresch, LŪN, Hotel Garuda, Subset, and QRTR. The festival is named for his album Expensive Sound For Nice People released earlier this year. 

The Juno Award winner had a landmark year. He used his weekly streams through quarantine to promote his album that premiered to rave reviews receiving tens of millions of streams.

Cartal chose to partner with The Ally Coalition, (TAC) a lifeline of direct support for LBGTQ+ youth programs. Any donations collected during the event will be donated to TAC.

Founded in 2013 by Bleachers front-man Jack Antonoff and his wife Rachel Antonoff, The Ally Coalition provides meaningful support to LGBTQ+ youth through social media campaigns, collaborative partnerships, and live events. Music has always been a vector for social justice. 

According to TAC, LGBTQ+ youth are far more likely to be victims of depression, violence, bullying, and suicide. Last year, over 30 states tried to pass anti-LGBTQ+ legislation. TAC encourages allies to fight injustice and use music to mobilize the masses.

Because The Ally Coalition holds such a unique connection to the music industry, the artists who partner with the organization are able to use their expansive platforms to raise awareness of the adversities facing the LGBTQ+ population on a wider scale and activate their fan bases to fully engage with these issues in fruitful and effectual ways.

The partnership hits close to home for queer Brooklyn-based producer QRTR. She shared her thoughts with Grey Area on Cartal’s festival partnership with TAC.

“As a queer person myself, it's extremely refreshing to see such big names support LGBTQ+ youth via the The Ally Coalition,” she said. “I know this sort of thing would have been unheard of just a few years ago, so it's really heartwarming to see it happening now. It's a great indicator of the way dance music is pushing forward by amplifying and supporting the same types of marginalized people that built the foundations of dance music culture as we know it.” 

The New York-based producer will be headlining the festival next Wednesday with fellow house artists, LŪN, Dr Fresch, Hotel Garuda, Subset and Wh0.

“It feels really special to know I get to be part of this to not only represent, but also support the queer community simultaneously. Much respect to Felix for putting this together, I can't wait for folks to tune in!”

Expensive Sounds From Nice People streams September 1st, 2021 on Twitch







Felix Cartal’s Streaming Festival Supports LGBTQ Advocacy Group The Ally Coalition

United States

QRTR

The Brooklyn Mirage

OCHO Episode 6

QRTR, aka Meagan Rodriguez, has a sound that is drenched in emotion, layered with wavering synths that drip with sultry sophistication. Intentionally heartfelt yet innately dancefloor focused. 

She has managed to stand out with a unique take on house music. And in a genre that often relies on recycled tropes, she bravely injects her music with a meditative sensuality that refreshes mind, body, and soul

QRTR Liveset

 dropped just as the pandemic had eviscerated all hope for an immediate sense of normalcy. It was composed during a dark period in her life. She intended to open a window to her emotions and ended up holding a mirror for the state of the world.

Her music reflected her life at the time. Her job in film was grueling. She spent over 10 hours a day in an office with no windows. Exhausted and confused, she intentionally isolated herself.

Things felt dark. And she said, “I [was] creating this whole world in my head about how things are so dystopian right now.”

She engaged in a strange dance with herself. The album was another source of stress, but she insists, “It was also a release and a creative outlet. So, it's just this weird kind of Tango [I was] doing.”

She never pondered her mental health. It was the first time she recognized her depression and anxiety. "And I let that come out in the album. And I wanted to live in it a little bit because I felt like I needed to just for my own sort of evolution.”

Her goal was to express how difficult it was to be human and how existence can be painful. She never expected her emotions to reflect what was happening on a global scale. She says, “It was just a really fucked up. coincidence.”

It takes courage to lay your emotions bare the way that 

 did. Her strength and resolve are qualities she is admittedly modest about.

“I feel like I have these moments where I suddenly have intense courage and bravery. And those moments are usually pivotal for me [in] gearing me into a new direction or a new chapter.”

Her affection for melody has always been with her. She fondly recalls her dad blasting freestyle in the car when he picked her up for the weekend. It didn’t embarrass her, she just bopped along. Somehow those broken beats have now snaked their way into her music. 

Rodriguez grew up tri-lingual and mixed race. Her young mind often comingled English, Spanish, and Portuguese. One thing she was never confused about was her love for singing. Her parents always supported her passion for the arts and bought her instruments for birthdays holidays. 

They never stopped encouraging her. She was always inside as a child, creating songs and videos. In middle school, she started to play with production software when her dad bought her a computer.

“I had a PSU USB microphone. I'd plug it into my computer and sample knocking on my desk and shit. And I would make music in middle school and bring CDs and give it to friends.”

It’s hard for her to imagine her success without her parent's involvement. “I feel like, my mom was super encouraging. She was like, ‘You're an artist, you need to be an artist one day. You're a creative person.’ And always was telling me to embrace that. And then my dad gave me the tools to be able to embrace it. He got me my first computer. He was the one who pushed me to go to NYU and move to New York.“

Moving to New York was a catalyst for her artistic growth. She ended up there for film. And even though she carried a lifelong passion for music she insists, “I never thought to pursue that further than just enjoying it.” 

She didn’t become a New Yorker until she graduated. That’s when she started to explore nightlife for the first time. The seed was planted when she went to an open-air in Portugal at 16. And when Spotify notified her that Chrome Sparks was in her hood she went and the seed began to grow.

That summer she went to her first festival, Bonnaroo 2014. And as a spontaneous (now legendary) late-night art car set from Mija and Skrillex blurred into the sunrise, she had a full-on rave revelation. This was what she’d been missing from her life. 

“Sunrise is about to happen. And we're all partying still. And this is everything I didn't know I needed and now I'm hooked. And then immediately I came back from Bonnaroo and I was going to as many raves and club nights as I could.”

A friend she’d met at a work function joined her on the quest for the perfect night out. Jenny had also been there for the transcendent experience at Bonaroo. After several months they agreed it was difficult to find their people. So, they decided to create the perfect party themselves.

Wavcave was their creation. A party in what was ordinarily a punk rock venue, with no expectations or boundaries. Rodriguez and friends provided the sonics. Jenny was the badass promoter. “Our whole mission was to let people get weird. We want people smiling on the dance floor. We want people to be goofy and enjoy themselves.”

The brand organically transformed from a monthly event to a shared studio space to full-on artist collective and record label. All of which are rooted in creating the inclusive and tolerant space they desired. 

As the world begins to awaken, she’s excited to see more of that. “I'm seeing parties that [are] not a bunch of white guys. And it's amazing. It's queer people, black people, brown people. It's people that are fucking talented and weren't getting shine that absolutely deserved to be getting shine.”

It excites her that more people will experience the creativity, love, and inclusivity that she shares in everything that she touches.  

“I don't think I've ever seen such diverse and enthusiastic crowds,” she says with a touch of sincere sentiment in her voice. “It is so exciting what's happening right now. And I don't know that it would be like this if it weren't for everything that happened in 2020. I think in a weird way that was one of the only positives. That maybe we're inching toward something that makes more sense and is more equitable.”

60 Seconds With QRTR

QRTR discusses her start in DJing and producing.

Read our Spotlight on QRTR - https://entergrayarea.com/artists/qrtr

▪️Follow QRTR ▪️
Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/artist/2THXZ...
Twitter - https://twitter.com/qrtrmusic
Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/qrtrmusic/
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/qrtrmusic
Soundcloud - https://soundcloud.com/qrtr

Connect with Gray Area:
Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/entergrayarea/
Twitter - https://twitter.com/enterGrayArea
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/entergrayarea
Spotify - https://spoti.fi/3nGJIfQ
Website - https://entergrayarea.com/

QRTR, aka Meagan Rodriguez, has a sound that is drenched in emotion, layered with wavering synths that drip with sultry sophistication. Intentionally heartfelt yet innately dancefloor focused. 



She has managed to stand out with a unique take on house music. And in a genre that often relies on recycled tropes, she bravely injects her music with a meditative sensuality that refreshes mind, body, and soul

Her debut album Drenched dropped just as the pandemic had eviscerated all hope for an immediate sense of normalcy. It was composed during a dark period in her life. She intended to open a window to her emotions and ended up holding a mirror for the state of the world.

Her music reflected her life at the time. Her job in film was grueling. She spent over 10 hours a day in an office with no windows. Exhausted and confused, she intentionally isolated herself.

Things felt dark. And she said, “I [was] creating this whole world in my head about how things are so dystopian right now.”

She engaged in a strange dance with herself. The album was another source of stress, but she insists, “It was also a release and a creative outlet. So, it's just this weird kind of Tango [I was] doing.”

She never pondered her mental health. It was the first time she recognized her depression and anxiety. "And I let that come out in the album. And I wanted to live in it a little bit because I felt like I needed to just for my own sort of evolution.”

Her goal was to express how difficult it was to be human and how existence can be painful. She never expected her emotions to reflect what was happening on a global scale. She says, “It was just a really fucked up. coincidence.”

It takes courage to lay your emotions bare the way that Drenched did. Her strength and resolve are qualities she is admittedly modest about.

“I feel like I have these moments where I suddenly have intense courage and bravery. And those moments are usually pivotal for me [in] gearing me into a new direction or a new chapter.”

Her affection for melody has always been with her. She fondly recalls her dad blasting freestyle in the car when he picked her up for the weekend. It didn’t embarrass her, she just bopped along. Somehow those broken beats have now snaked their way into her music. 

Rodriguez grew up tri-lingual and mixed race. Her young mind often comingled English, Spanish, and Portuguese. One thing she was never confused about was her love for singing. Her parents always supported her passion for the arts and bought her instruments for birthdays holidays. 

They never stopped encouraging her. She was always inside as a child, creating songs and videos. In middle school, she started to play with production software when her dad bought her a computer.

“I had a PSU USB microphone. I'd plug it into my computer and sample knocking on my desk and shit. And I would make music in middle school and bring CDs and give it to friends.”

It’s hard for her to imagine her success without her parent's involvement. “I feel like, my mom was super encouraging. She was like, ‘You're an artist, you need to be an artist one day. You're a creative person.’ And always was telling me to embrace that. And then my dad gave me the tools to be able to embrace it. He got me my first computer. He was the one who pushed me to go to NYU and move to New York.“

Moving to New York was a catalyst for her artistic growth. She ended up there for film. And even though she carried a lifelong passion for music she insists, “I never thought to pursue that further than just enjoying it.” 

She didn’t become a New Yorker until she graduated. That’s when she started to explore nightlife for the first time. The seed was planted when she went to an open-air in Portugal at 16. And when Spotify notified her that Chrome Sparks was in her hood she went and the seed began to grow.

That summer she went to her first festival, Bonnaroo 2014. And as a spontaneous (now legendary) late-night art car set from Mija and Skrillex blurred into the sunrise, she had a full-on rave revelation. This was what she’d been missing from her life. 

“Sunrise is about to happen. And we're all partying still. And this is everything I didn't know I needed and now I'm hooked. And then immediately I came back from Bonnaroo and I was going to as many raves and club nights as I could.”

A friend she’d met at a work function joined her on the quest for the perfect night out. Jenny had also been there for the transcendent experience at Bonaroo. After several months they agreed it was difficult to find their people. So, they decided to create the perfect party themselves.

Wavcave was their creation. A party in what was ordinarily a punk rock venue, with no expectations or boundaries. Rodriguez and friends provided the sonics. Jenny was the badass promoter. “Our whole mission was to let people get weird. We want people smiling on the dance floor. We want people to be goofy and enjoy themselves.”

The brand organically transformed from a monthly event to a shared studio space to full-on artist collective and record label. All of which are rooted in creating the inclusive and tolerant space they desired. 

As the world begins to awaken, she’s excited to see more of that. “I'm seeing parties that [are] not a bunch of white guys. And it's amazing. It's queer people, black people, brown people. It's people that are fucking talented and weren't getting shine that absolutely deserved to be getting shine.”

It excites her that more people will experience the creativity, love, and inclusivity that she shares in everything that she touches.  

“I don't think I've ever seen such diverse and enthusiastic crowds,” she says with a touch of sincere sentiment in her voice. “It is so exciting what's happening right now. And I don't know that it would be like this if it weren't for everything that happened in 2020. I think in a weird way that was one of the only positives. That maybe we're inching toward something that makes more sense and is more equitable.”

QRTR

Articles

Alexander Dias

Alexander Dias

Alexander Dias