Publish The Quest News

PTQ OPENS UP FOR OZOMATLI

Jacob Bain — Sat, 04 Sep 2010 07:00:00

An honor for us to warm up some bodies for these cats... here is some info if ya don't already know..

OZOMATLI

In their fourteen years together as a band, celebrated Los Angeles culture-mashers Ozomatli have gone from being hometown heroes to being named U.S. State Department Cultural Ambassadors.

Ozomatli has always juggled two key identities. They are the voice of their city and they are citizens of the world.

Their music— a notorious urban-Latino-and-beyond collision of hip hop and salsa, dancehall and cumbia, samba and funk, merengue and comparsa, East LA R&B and New Orleans second line, Jamaican ragga and Indian raga— has long followed a key mantra: it will take you around the world by taking you around L.A.

This has never been truer for Ozo than it is in 2009. More than ever before, the band is both of the world and of L.A.

Originally formed to play at an area labor protest over a decade ago, Ozomatli spent some of their early days participating in everything from earthquake prep “hip hop ghetto plays” at inner-city L.A. elementary schools to community activist events, protests, and city fundraisers. Ever since, they have been synonymous with their city: their music has been taken up by The Los Angeles Dodgers and The Los Angeles Clippers, they recorded the street-view travelogue “City of Angels” in 2007 as a new urban anthem, and most recently, they were featured as part of the prominent L.A. figures imaging campaign “We Are 4 L.A.” on NBC.

“This band could not have happened anywhere else but L.A.,” saxophonist and clarinetist Ulises Bella has said. “Man, the tension of it, the multiculturalism of it. L.A. is like, we’re bonded by bridges.”

AFRICA!

Jacob Bain — Mon, 09 Aug 2010 07:00:00

Seattle Band Publish The Quest Headed to Cape Verde Islands in September

Part of Local Effort to Preserve the Country’s Rich Musical Traditions

Seattle band Publish The Quest will be heading to Cape Verde in September to perform at Festival Santa Maria, an international music festival, on the island of Sal. They will also conduct music workshops for local children and collaborate with local musicians. Cape Verde is an archipelago in the mid-Atlantic, off the coast of Senegal. Most of the islands’ inhabitants are descendants of Portuguese settlers and African slaves, and this heritage is reflected in the diverse culture, music, and dance.

Publish The Quest's music is a combination of Blues, Rock, Ska, World Pop of some-kind and something else mixed and then decolonized; dance music melodies and powerful lyrics.. thumping bass, and stout snare shots coupled with sassy horns and some wicked guitar lines. Band members Jacob Bain, Jeffrey DeMelle, Mark Oi, Samantha Boshnack, Izaak Mills, Adam Kessler, and Chris Poage will be traveling with Johnny Fernandes, director of Salt, a effort to preserve the musical traditions of a people whose daily struggle is to put food on the table. Salt is a project of A World Institute for a Sustainable Humanity (A W.I.S.H.), an international non-profit organization registered in Washington state that helps to provide models for solutions to poverty while fostering self-reliance.

Salt was established after Fernandes visited Cape Verde in 2000 where he saw incredible talent being overshadowed by poverty. “How can it be that such gifted musicians do not own any musical instruments?” said Fernandes. “What will happen to their musical traditions that have been passed down for generations?” The project’s mission is to provide practical resources and training as part of a long-term approach to economic empowerment.

In 2005 Fernandes lead a successful trip with Quasi Nada, another Seattle band. On that mission they collected dozens of instruments that allowed the music school to be formally launched. The group will be joined by Mell Dettmer, a music producer and engineer, and Shannon Welles, a photographer that is collaborating with Johnny on a book to raise funds for the project. TACV, the Cape Verdean airline, is assisting with travel, and the municipal government on the island is providing accommodation.

Fernandes has long-term plans as well, for which he requires more support, including funding and awareness as well as the ongoing need for musical instruments. “I want the world to experience with me the beauty and soul of the Cape Verdean people and their music.” Some of Salt’s other initiatives are to build a library, a workshop for luthiers, and a recording studio, and to form a musician exchange between the US and Cape Verde.

This is not Fernandes’ first such project. Born in Zimbabwe, he came to America to get his Bachelor’s degree at Gonzaga University and his Master’s degree in Computer Science at Western Washington University. He worked in the high-tech industry for 15 years before committing most of his time to social issues. His first project, A Wall for Social Consciousness, which he is still very much dedicated to, was established to help orphans of the AIDS epidemic in Zimbabwe.

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Project Salt : http://salt.nimekula.org

Publish The Quest: http://myspace.com/publishthequest

A Wall for Social Consciousness:http://barefootworkshops.org/projects/awfsc.html

Cape Verde: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cape_Verde

Think about life without music

MB — Thu, 29 Apr 2010 07:00:00

I found this video while doing a little late night browsing for Publish. Check out a behind the scenes dialogue about the music, the origin, life without music, and the universal language. Thanks to Carla Moreno for taking the time to compile and produce this video.

Video Credits: Carla Moreno

Carpentry for recording...

Jacob Bain — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 08:00:00

Sooo close, i can smell the end.. By far the longest recording project that I have ever been a part of.. And worth every minute of the carpentry/recording barter that Mell and I have constructed.. A new wall for a new song, a new drain for a new melody, and a new stairwell for a new rough mix..

Late nights into new days, and some birds and frogs churping and croaking into a U67...

Next PTQ Update!

Jeff DeMelle — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 07:00:00

We're going back in this weekend to nail down the drum and bass tracks! Jacob has been hard at work crafting the songs and even surprised us with a new 'new one' last week that has been on heavy rotation in my head ever since. Can't wait to share!

P.S.

We still need more ears on The Threads (it makes a great birthday present!) and we're always looking for reviews too.

More soon...

The Start of the Quest...

Jacob Bain — Sat, 06 Dec 2008 08:00:00

PUBLISH THE QUEST's album THE THREADS is now available.. We started working on the album at the start of 08, almost a year ago..

I called Izaak Mills and Samantha Boshnack after returning from Cuba, knowing that I really wanted to have their bold melodies be a part of the stories that I had been writing.. I felt completely inspired by what I had been watching and listening to in Havana and Trinidad.. I played a bit of music with some young and talented horn players in Havana, and got a chance to try out some new songs in the process.. to say the least I was hooked.

Jeff DeMelle received a phone call next.. BIG-BASS-THUMP.. To my delight and surprise, he told me that he was in, no thought needed.. I wore a grin from ear to ear after our conversation about the music over the phone, and would find it easy and fun to play with Jeff in the recording sessions that followed.. SOLID

I have always wanted to incorporate keys of some kind.. Back in the early days at the Trolls Cottage, we used to have keys.. I have always missed the days when Erik Reimnitz (now bass player for Trolls) used to play them, although I wouldn't trade his new found love back in, I envisioned keys for Publish The Quest from day one.. The first person that I thought about, who I admire deeply for his song writing abilities and energy on and off of the stage, was Chris Poage.. Again Chris agreed to come to my studio and work out some songs.. we immediately recorded some tracks which would become some of the foundations found on our new album THE THREADS..

Earl Clay, drummer for Trolls Cottage and long time friend of mine, has always been my clock. I have played with a couple other drummers, briefly in my life, but not much. I asked him if he would like to work on this project with me, and he told me that he would play drums on any song that I wrote.. :)

Our first show was on August 29th, 08 at the Lo Fi, At which time out Album was being mixed, edited, dubbed, and arranged by Mell Dettmer.. Another new, amazing person in my life. At that show I saw Mark Oi, who I have seen for a long time play with Clinton Fearon, and always respected.. I had a great conversation with Mark on the sidewalk before the show that night.. When the show was over and I was loading some equiptment out, I found myself enjoying an almost-forgotten-first-show-buzz... I felt high on this music.. I think right about then, Mark told me that he heard some great spaces in the tunes, and if we wanted some guitar work that he was in..

My big brother Matthew has always taken care of me.. I must say. Building websites, printing shirts and buisness cards every time I think I have a new idea for something.. I probably own a few domain names that I will never use and have a few stacks of cards that will never see the light of day.. Matt designed our album, designed the website WWW.PUBLISHTHEQUEST.COM and some posters in between... he designed our shirts and did all the screen printing - Something he knows how to do well from his Casual Industrees days..

So thats are story so far.. If your reading this I would like to say THANK YOU for checking out the music! I hope it sturs you in some way...

-Jacob

The day before THE THREADS Seattle release party

Jeff DeMelle — Fri, 05 Dec 2008 08:00:00

It's been about 9 months in the making and what a time it has been! I remember the first time Jacob called about this project and how easy it was to say "yes" to the idea of being a part of it. I was excited from the start and I'm psyched things have gone so well this whole time. I knew right away that we had an awesome group of people and getting Mark onboard was such a natural step - so glad he came to Lo-Fi on opening night! And Mell!, OMG, don't even get me started.

I listened recently to some of the earliest recordings, ones that are just Jacob with his guitar and Earl or even a beatmachine and that's it and I like them as much now as I did then. I said at the time that I could see some of them being released as is with no further development at all and people would dig them! I still think so. That is magic. And then to hear what they've turned into is just craZy!! What a cool process. I can't wait to do it again and again (and we already are!). Stay tuned...

The Threads

Jacob Bain — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 08:00:00

What are The Threads? a commonality within and between humans or the barely-visible-fibers that hold our clothes together? Perhaps both.. The truth is, that the shirts that were wearing tell a story.. and as Thomas King so elegantly states in his book title The Truth About Stories, “The truth about stories is that thats all we are.”
Publish The Quest’s First album, The Threads, examines the human condition, and questions our moral obligations, through stories. Some of these stories are told from personal experience, and some an attempt to step outside of a that personal experience, and into one that has been observed.. Shoes..

It has taken one year to make this album..