The Riff Rag - January 2025

VOL. 11, NO. 3, JANUARY 2025

EARSIQ

QUANTOM PHYSICS

PUBLISHER: ANTHONY WELCH THERIFFRAG@GMAIL.COM FACEBOOK.COM/THERIFFRAG INSTAGRAM: @ANTHONYTHERIFFRAG SUBSCRIPTIONS ARE NOW FREE! EMAIL OR MESSAGE US TO GET ON THE LIST!

COLORADO SPRINGS

EARSIQ Talk about your music background and when you got started.

Yoooo! Riff Rag, always a pleasure! I grew up in a very eclectic home being of mixed race. I started DJing professionally roughly around 2002 or so. I grew up around music. All genres. I would hear Jackal and Megadeth on my family’s stereo system. Followed up by Zapp & Roger or maybe Smoky Robinson. It was all over the place. I loved 70’s funk at a young age. George Clinton changed my life and listening to him with my brother is one of my favorite memories. I remember making mix tapes that were actually on tapes. Utilizing the dual deck Sony situation my dad had. Vinyls, FM, and dubbing from other tapes. Loved creating a journey with my track selection.

Fast forward, a friend believed in me and gave me his turntables when he left for the military. I dove in. Starting at dive bars. DJing for local acts. Running open mics and learning along the way. I’ve since held residency at local clubs and bars which was fun and sometimes lucrative but creating has always kept me grounded. I’ve had a pretty good run contributing to local rap groups, bands and an improv musical project with local legends Charlie Milo and Animus Invidious. I learned how to mix and roll up cables from this guy named Sizzle, who always encouraged me and countless others along the way.

Tell us about your latest releases and what inspired them? Well in short - COVID. So towards the end of 2019, I felt it was an extended period of time since my last release. Yes I DJ, yes I promote shows, yes I write lyrics but, all in all, I at that time felt I needed a new project. January 2019, I wanted to do a project borrowing other people’s songs that aren’t normally heard. Ya know, I wasn’t gonna borrow a Dr. Dre or a Cake sample. I wanted to do off-the-cuff type of stuff. I already put out a project of just beats called “The Neat Tape” a few years before - not really an organized project but just some sounds I created. So in early 2019, I felt I needed another project showcasing my ability to write and compose or in layman terms the beats I can make. COVID happened. I got about seven songs into it. Then friends, family, and so many people passed for so many reasons. And I just kinda gave up.

Towards the end of 2019 into 2020 I could not write any lyrics. I just channeled my energy and depression and frustration and hope through making beats.

By the end of 2023, I had roughly 75 instrumentals and maybe about eight recorded singles with lyrics that no one had heard. So on my birthday Dec. 20, 2024, I woke up and threw together 12 songs that were just instrumentals and put them out everywhere. I’m actually getting a lot of plays online from the UK. No real promotion, no label. I had more I wanted to share though. I figured I either put out Part 3 immediately as a surprise and then I settled on Jan. 20, 2025.

Supposedly that’s like when the orange guy takes over again but is also MLK Day. It’s a month later after my first project and official solo release after three years right, why not? I released a song with my rap group Mad Trees a couple of days after the Capital riots. I don’t know; it just feels right.

What inspired the lyrics for your new releases?

Not a lot of lyrics. Just the vibrations of the world made these beats possible. With these two projects I felt these songs may not ever need lyrics to them. When I create beats, I kinda just let my mood dictate where the beat goes. For years I’ve been trying to stay away from samples that will get me sued so I just started learning how to manipulate my own sounds or at least a sample that is royalty free! Lol. Sometimes I have an idea maybe from watching a movie or something but I usually just play the keyboard and use my drum machine and let it all come to me in the moment.

Where can you be found online and where can releases be found? Apple Music, Spotify, Bandcamp, Pandora, etc.

DENVER

QUANTOM PHYSICS How would you describe your music?

Eric “Quantom Physics” Moreland: My music is kinda all over the place but I would like to say that it is conceptual underground boom bap with an updated sound. The New album I'm working on is with a new group called Hot Garbage. This sound is gonna blow the pants off the "Woke" community since it is very offensive against the western world's perception of what's politically correct. Whiny b#$%s beware! We have our self-titled album coming out on Feb 28th so keep your eyes peeled.

"If it ain't Hot Garbage, it's trash!"

When and how did you get into music? Growing up my father was in several bands and I always went to his gigs. He taught me a lot about how to play music and structure songs. I have been in a studio since I was about 9 years old mostly recording trumpet tracks since I was in a band at the time. I continued to play music and eventually got into hiphop since I always grew up with jazz and rock music. My father also had a SP1200 which I loved to play samples on.

Who are your musical influences? John Lee Hooker, Miles Davis, Big L, Lord Finesse, Nas and Big Pun. How many recordings do you have out, and where are they available? Five albums and four beat albums are out currently, and you can find them on all platforms including Bandcamp.

How many music videos do you have out? There are four you can watch on YouTube.

Are your lyrics based on fiction or reality?

Mostly reality. I named myself Quantom Physics because I hate how much content that is out in the world that is fiction that I want to advocate for being real. My lyrics are about drinking, partying, putting people in their place and sometimes about certain subjects such as the song "Hippycrit" which is about people who consider themselves "food conscious," "woke" and/or "one with the planet" but take drugs from random strangers or really are terrible people in general. I think hypocrisy is a huge problem in America so I find it funny to poke at.

Do you have any upcoming shows? I will be playing with my new hip-hop group Hot Garbage at Bar Red in Denver on Feb. 8th for Moe Hendrix's new album release party. Come down and party!

Do you have any memorable show moments?

I was throwing a show in Denver and booked Twista as the main event. I also had a full halfpipe with stunt BMX riders doing backflips while Twista was rapping on the top of the halfpipe. The show was posted on Worldstar Hip-Hop which was pretty cool.

Where can people find you online?

Facebook: Quantom Physics Instagram: @quantomphysics @official_hot_garbage @loop_nukem