Kwes

Kwes

Kwes

British music producer, composer, and artist

Kwes ( /kwɛs/;[1] sometimes stylised as kwes, kwes., Kwes. or [o=o]. ) is a British music producer, composer and artist from London, England. Kwes is also currently signed to Warp as a solo artist and released his debut album, ilp in October 2013. He has since gone on to produce music for the likes of Damon Albarn, Bobby Womack, Solange Knowles, Sampha, Loyle Carner, Black Coffee, Nubya Garcia, Tirzah, Lucy Rose and numerous others.[2] He also composed his debut feature length score for 2023 British rom-com film Rye Lane, directed by Raine Allen-Miller. It won a BIFA award in 2023 for Best Original Music.[3]

Quick Facts Origin, Occupation(s) ...

Biography

Kwes began playing his grandparents' organ at the age of four and his grandmother bought him his first small keyboard aged 5. For his tenth birthday, he received a radio/tape recorder with a built-in microphone, which launched his interest in sound recording.[4]

Kwes has chromesthesia (sound-to-colour synaesthesia).[5]

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.[6] 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."[7]

Colour is not in my direct field of vision, it's more in my peripheral field of vision, so it's just something that's always going on; it doesn't annoy me, or it doesn't amuse me, or it doesn't make me feel good, it's a normal occurrence to me. But at the same time, that could be why I love music so much.

[8]

His synaesthetic impressions of his own music are translated in the artwork to his solo releases, including "Hearts in Home" and "No Need to Run".[9]

Discography

More information Year, Artist ...

Artist discography

Albums

More information Year, Album details ...

EPs

More information Year, EP details ...

Remix EP

More information Year, Remix EP details ...

Singles

  • "Hearts in Home" (16 February 2009)
  • "Get Up" (13 November 2011)[24]
  • "Bashful" (7 March 2012)[25]
  • "Rollerblades" (26 November 2012)[26]

Mixtapes

More information Year, Mixtape details ...

Live session duties

  • Ebony Bones – Guitarist[27][28] (2006–2007, 2008)
  • Bono Must Die now O. Children – Keyboardist[29] (2007)
  • Jack Peñate – Laptop and keyboards[30] (2009)
  • Kwesachu (with Micachu) – co-production and co-selector (2009–?)
  • Elan Tamara – Bassist[31] (2009–2011)
  • Leftfield – Keyboards and Computers[32] (2010)
  • Bobby Womack – Keyboards (2012–2013)

References

  1. [1]
    "Why Kwes's ilp is the one album you should listen to this week – video". The Guardian. 18 October 2013. Retrieved 19 October 2013.
  2. [2]
    (February 2023). . IMDB. Retrieved 23 February 2023.
  3. [3]
    (March 2024). . BIFA. Retrieved 26 March 2024.
  4. [4]
    (January 2009). Kwes. / [o=o].. Retrieved 17 November 2011.
  5. [5]
    Fitzmaurice, Larry (11 June 2010). Kwes: 'No Need To Run' | Forkcast | Pitchfork. Pitchfork. Retrieved 17 November 2011.
  6. [6]
    Dickins, Kieren (December 2008). Kwes. – A Tribe Called Next. A Tribe Called Next. Retrieved 2011-06-15. Archived 12 August 2011 at the Wayback Machine
  7. [7]
    Wright, Scott (17 June 2010). Dollars to Pounds: Kwes « The FADER. The FADER. Retrieved 15 June 2010.
  8. [8]
    (November 2011). 24 Year Old Producer, Kwes Collaboration – The Producers season 2 episode 3 – YouTube. Red Bull Music / The Producers. Retrieved 8 March 2012.
  9. [9]
    Erkas, Sinem (December 2008).SINEM ERKAS illustrator & graphic designer – Kwes record sleeve series Archived 26 April 2012 at the Wayback Machine. Sinem Erkas. Retrieved 17 November 2011.
  10. [10]
    "Shivum Sharma – Flicker". Dazed. 20 February 2014. Retrieved 11 September 2019.
  11. [11]
    "Introducing: Rosie Lowe - "If you reach that one person, your job is done."". The 405. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 11 September 2019.
  12. [12]
    Martin, Andrew (10 September 2012). "Listen: Eliza Doolittle "Don't Call It Love". Complex.com. Retrieved 20 November 2012.
  13. [13]
    "(1 May 2013). "prettymuchamazing.com". Retrieved 25 May 2013". Archived from the original on 16 December 2014. Retrieved 24 May 2013.
  14. [14]
    Dombal, Ryan (14 June 2012). Bobby Womack: The Bravest Man in the Universe | Album Reviews | Pitchfork. Pitchfork.com. Retrieved 22 June 2012.
  15. [15]
    Murray, Robin (10 November 2011). Speech Debelle Returns – 10 Nov 2011 | Clash Music Latest Breaking Music News. Clash Magazine. Retrieved 18 November 2011.
  16. [16]
    Recommender, The (13 October 2011). SUNLESS '97 – The Recommender Archived 22 October 2011 at the Wayback Machine. therecommender.net. Retrieved 18 November 2011.
  17. [17]
    » Interview: Valentina DRUNKENWEREWOLF Archived 25 April 2012 at the Wayback Machine. Drunkenwerewolf.com (30 November 2011). Retrieved 9 December 2011.
  18. [18]
    Michaels, Sean (31 August 2011). Damon Albarn and DRC Music announce new Congo album for Oxfam | Music | guardian.co.uk. The Guardian. Retrieved 18 November 2011.
  19. [19]
    Machino Machino, the Kwes produced debut single from Dog Bite. Fuckyeahyoungturks.tumblr.com, Retrieved 18 November 2011.
  20. [20]
    Saxelby, Ruth (28 October 2010). Elan Tamara interview: "Go with your gut instinct." | Dummy » Features Archived 8 December 2011 at the Wayback Machine. Ddummymag.com. Retrieved 18 November 2011.
  21. [21]
    Hokley-Smith, Sam (10 June 2010). Stream: Kwes, "No Need to Run" « The FADER. The FADER. Retrieved 15 June 2010.
  22. [22]
    Young Turks Records (28 June 2010).Young Turks — YT045: Kwes – No Need To Run. Young. Retrieved 15 June 2010.
  23. [23]
    "Kwes. Returns with Songs For Midi – XLR8R". 2 March 2018. Retrieved 6 March 2018.
  24. [24]
    Warp (13 November 2011). Warp / Records / Kwes / Signs to Warp, download free MP3 of new track 'Get Up Archived 18 September 2021 at the Wayback Machine. Warp. Retrieved 13 November 2011.
  25. [25]
    Dombal, Ryan (7 March 2012). Rising: Kwes | Features | Pitchfork. Pitchfork. Retrieved 8 March 2012.
  26. [26]
    Warp (26 November 2012). Warp / Kwes / Warp / Kwes 'Rollerblades' available to download now, 7-inch out in January Archived 18 September 2021 at the Wayback Machine. Warp. Retrieved 26 November 2012.
  27. [27]
    Mercury Music Prize Recommends (November 2011). Recommends. Mercury Music Prize Recommends. Retrieved 18 November 2011.
  28. [28]
    "ClintClinty" (9 July 2006). Ebony Bones @ Anti-Social (Bar Music Hall) PT 2 – YouTube. YouTube. Retrieved 15 June 2010.
  29. [29]
    Cafun, Evian (14 April 2007). Kwes,Forty Fives,EvIaNnAivE,BONO MUST DIE@ULU Video by Evian Cafun – MySpace Video. MySpace. Retrieved 18 November 2011.
  30. [30]
    mytaratata (18 May 2009).video Emission 318 2/4 – Jack PENATE – 318, jack penate – videos MYTARATATA.COM. MYTARATATA.COM Retrieved on 15 June 2010.
  31. [31]
    Mottley, Elan Tamara (June 2009). Elan Tamara – Organ EP – Out 6 June 2011. Elan Tamara. Retrieved 18 November 2011.
  32. [32]
    Williams, Scott (13 May 2010). Leftfield interview – Neil Barnes talks festivals. eFestivals. Retrieved 18 November 2011.
Share this article:

This article uses material from the Wikipedia article Kwes, and is written by contributors. Text is available under a CC BY-SA 4.0 International License; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.