Kwes

Coordinates	51°53′50″N4°40′58″N
Background	solo_singer
Origin	Lewisham, London, England
Occupation	Record Producer, Songwriter, Musician
Instrument	Vocals, bass guitar, drums, keyboards, samplers, laptop
Genre	Pop Experimental Psychedelic
Years active	2005-present
Url	http://www.kwes.info

Kwes, officially stylized Kwes. (born 1987 in Lewisham, England) is an English record producer, songwriter, musician and artist. He is an autodidactic multi-instrumentalist musician.

Biography

Kwes was born and raised in Lewisham, South East London. He began playing his grandparents' organ at the age of four and his grandmother bought him his first small keyboard aged 5. For his 10th birthday, he received a radio/tape recorder with a built-in microphone, which launched his interest in sound recording.

Music

Kwes performed wurlitzer piano on the debut LP by singer-songwriter Jack Peñate's album Matinee. He would later join Peñate on tour in the UK and Europe in 2009, playing the laptop, snare and melodica. Kwes then co-produced a mixtape entitled Kwesachu Vol.1, with Micachu (as "Kwesachu"), alongside MCs Dels & Ghostpoet, with appearances from London pop-bands Golden Silvers, The Invisible, Hot Chip, Man Like Me and more. Matthew Herbert touted him as a musician and producer to watch, admiring his "really unusual, experimental approach".

Kwes has also reworked several artists including Damon Albarn’s opera ‘Monkey’, Portico Quartet, Keane, Zero 7 amongst many others. He is also going to be producing some of new Big Dada signing Dels' forthcoming album due for release in early 2011. He has also worked with The xx earlier on in their career producing an early version of their song "Insects".

Kwes is also a solo artist. XL Recordings imprint Salvia released limited edition single “Hearts in Home/Tissues” in January 2009. Kwes released his debut EP “No Need To Run” on Young Turks/XL on June 28, 2010.

Synaesthesia

Kwes has colour synaesthesia. His earliest synaesthetic experiences occurred around the age of 4 and he attempted to colour paper with the particular colours he was seeing when listening to music. These colours have been set since he first discovered his condition: "any form of a G-chord would have orange in it, and the other notes which are not G accompanying that G-chord would have an effect on the type of orange it is. Majors tend to be slightly brighter." Same applies for D which is always – yellow/green, E which is Yellow/gold, F which is violet/blue, C – Blue, A – light blue, B – yellow/gold/green. His synaesthetic impressions of his own music are translated in the artwork to his solo releases, "Hearts in Home" and "No Need to Run".

Performance

Kwes uses a laptop keyboard in the same way one might play an organ, separating the fours rows letters and numbers into two tiers, spreading the piano keyboard across them. Utilising the trackpad with his thumbs, he can control modulation, pitch and any number of audio effects. Collaborator Jack Peñate described Kwes' craft on French TV show, Taratata: "Kwes uses the laptop as an instrument in itself. It's still very very much a live thing"

Live collaborative performances

Ebony Bones - Guitarist (2006–2007, 2008) Bono Must Die - Keyboardist (2007)

Jack Peñate - Laptop (2009)

Kwesachu (with Micachu) - co-production and co-selector (2009-)

Elan Tamara - Bassist (2009-) Leftfield - Keyboards and Computers (2010)

Discography

Singles

"Hearts In Home" (January 2009)

EPs

"No Need To Run" (June 28, 2010)

Mixtapes

Kwesachu Mixtape Vol.1 with Micachu (June 5, 2009)

Production duties

Elan Tamara - "Gold Fishes" (EP) (7 September 2009)

The xx - "Insects (demo version)" (2009)

Elan Tamara - "Shadows" (EP) (28 October 2010)

Dog Bite - "Machino Machino" (22 November 2010)

Cornelia - "By The Fire" (5 December 2010)

DELS - "GOB" (debut album) (April 2011)

Reworks (Selected Discography)

"Passion by The Invisible"

"Magic Touch by Golden Silvers"

"Monsters Waltz by The Invisible"

"Hooting and Howling by Wild Beasts"

"One Pure Thought by Hot Chip" "Monkey Bee by Monkey: A Journey To The West Opera - Damon Albarn" "Cittàgazze by Portico Quartet"

"Shapeshift by DELS"

"Window by Laurel Collective"

"The Clock by Elviin"

"Jazzhole by Binario"

"Butterflies by Finn Peters"

"White Hair by Cibelle" "21st Century by Screaming Lights" "The Infinites by Bomb The Bass ft. Paul Conboy (w/ Micachu)" "Stop For A Minute by Keane & K'Naan" "Destiny by Zero 7" "Pigeons by The Hundred In The Hands"

References

External links

Kwes MySpace Page

Kwes Website

Category:1987 births Category:English male singers Category:English record producers Category:English pop musicians Category:Living people Category:Musicians from London Category:People from Lewisham