EccentroSoul 1 Woman Band, Chaquis Maliq, delivers the sound of Eccentric Tasteful Grooves and Honey Soul to her listeners. ArtsQuest calls her “Beauty, Brains, and Power of Soul”.
Chaquis Maliq transformed as an artist in 2011 by picking up the guitar with the motivation to uplift listeners on her first project, entitled ‘Harmonies of Me’. Since then Chaquis released ‘Resilience Eludes Death’, displaying her production growth and evolution with guitar and bass.
In 2014, Maliq made her successful debut as the 1 Woman Band for her Spring Tour, and received media attention as the 1 Woman Band performance artist to be featured in coverage of the Columbus Arts Festival for Fox28’s Good Day Columbus (Ohio). 2016 Chaquis and her 1 Woman Band made their way to ABC4’s Low Country Live Charleston, SC and CBS7’s Your Carolina- Greenville, SC. Chaquis’ 1 Woman Band compliments her cozy sound by giving the audience a full band experience you’ll never forget.
In this interview spotlight, we chat with Chaquis about her newest project, her influences, surviving in the digital age and more.
Full Q&A along with links a stream of Resilience Eludes Death can be found below.
Where are you from and what style of music do you create? (In your own words, not necessarily in marketing terms or by popular genre classifications.)
This is always a funny question to me, because I’ve gotten to a point of wanting to just ask : Does it matter where, I’m from? Does it matter where I was born as a musician? Or does it matter that I have decided to respond to my calling in music? But yeah, I’m originally from San Francisco, CA. Yes, born and raised. A lot people are unaware of it, because I wasn’t a musical artist during my life in Frisco. But I started creating music when I got to the East Coast. First in Virginia, then I moved to Baltimore, where my first 3 projects were created and where I started playing the guitar. But, most of my performances took place in Washington D.C., So, that’s where the thing of me being a DMV artist comes in, but I performed a lot in New York during the beginning of my guitar singer-songwriter days, which led people to believe that I was from New York. So, yeah, I’m from a lot of places if you ask me. But now I’m in South Carolina, where I’m being treated with the utmost support with my EccentroSoul 1 Woman Band.
EccentroSoul is just my way of describing the sound I have, without going all over the place when people ask my genre. Trust, that’s what it used to be, me going through a list of genres to describe my sound. And it could seem rather boring to listener or just confuse them. But the thing is, I keep my music soulful, whether it’s infused with Rock, Pop, Folk, Blues, Alternative; etc. And when I say, “Soulful”, I mean I’m giving some old school feeling in my music, without a whole bunch of vocal “Runs.”
What led you down this path of music and what motivates you to stay the course?
I really think just simply being influenced by so many musical styles, and being open to what we call “genres”. I mean, I asked for the James Brown greatest hits when I was 12 years old, as Christmas present. My parents were shocked, but they made sure I got it. But I also watched a lot of VH1 as a kid, so there’s how I got into a lot of Alternative music. And my Father played a lot of 70’s music. But, the music I created on piano as a child was more of a Contemporary Jazz and some Classical. (I think I got into Classical without knowing because of Looney Tunes) The piano helped me out when it came to making digital music production once I got to the East Coast. But then I ended up creating guitar driven production for the guitar player in my band in 2009, only to have him back out of an 8 hour recording session block, for my first Album, ‘Veracity’. I wasn’t playing guitar at all. But it got to a point where I needed to figure something out because, I learned that band members aren’t always on the same page and can reroute your plans. At some point I just had Bass and Drum, but that didn’t last too long, plus I was told by the Bassist to play an instrument, but I refused to play the keys, because I just Loved moving around on stage and beyond (LOL)!.
So, why not play the guitar since that’s what was driving my music at the time. Plus I could stand up. And the funny thing about playing the guitar is that I never had to worry about someone backing out of a gig at the last minute or missing out in gigs. Some asked me to play the keys because that’s what I started out in, but my response was, “WHO’S CARRYING AN 88-KEY KEYBOARD?! I’m a 5 Footer!” But it got to the point where I just kind of cut off most of the people I knew in the music community, and take on the guitar while I was on Unemployment. Best decision I ever made at that time. People encouraged me to keep up with the transition I was making and loved the Youtube Transition Videos I was posting. And after 6 months I did my first show as a trio (December 2011). 2012, I started my own acoustic dining show at a local restaurant in Baltimore , once a month, and got other bookings from simply posting my progress videos on YouTube and then to Facebook. And it didn’t stop there. I had a show in New York, where the house band totally messed up, and then I started my 1 Woman Band (lol)! So, since March 2014 I’ve been doing this. So, it looks like not being able to depend on other people and just receiving great feedback and support from multiple outlets and communities, I have no choice but to stay motivated to continue to do what I do, and inspire others.
How is your new release different than previous ones? Did you set out to accomplish anything specific?
‘Resilience Eludes Death’ is very different from my earlier projects for a lot of reasons. The first 3 tracks were originally produced in 2011, right as I got serious with playing guitar. But didn’t make it to my first EP ‘Harmonies of Me’, with my Guitar , where I focused on just presenting my transition with Mr. Maliq (guitar). And it didn’t turn out the way I wanted in the end, because of the mixing and mastering stage that got rid of my original drum blueprint, and added unnecessary plug-ins on a song, which ended up being rejected for a commercial because of the plug-in that was placed on my voice. ‘Veracity’ was my first complete full album and as I mentioned before it was guitar driven, but all digital programming via MIDI. But this time around I ended up tweaking samples on Letter to My Life with live bass by Stephen (Edge) Edgerton, using vintage synth sounds on Don’t Matter with Edge dominating the spine of the song, and I simply say what’s on my mind at the time; then creating a clean R&B track that would definitely appeal to those who like a simple song that describes how they feel and how to overcome it.
And then the EP transitions with a short jam session on the guitar, that I couldn’t remember doing. I tend to do that a lot. That’s why I record all my randomness. I was looking through older sessions and I found it and loved it. I just knew it would be the perfect track to bring listeners into the more emotional songs with me on Acoustic Guitar, Electric Guitar, and playing bass. I bought my bass 2 weeks before I released the project (LOL)! But I had to do what I had to do. I’m no Meshell Ndegeocello, but my beginning served it’s purpose for this project.
The project I intended to accomplish is not what I put out. Not saying that I didn’t want to put this project out. But I believe timing always tells what you will release. I mean, I had no idea that some of the songs would end up the way they did. I even have my first little duet. I’ve never featured any other artist on a track as a collaboration before now. I worked with Rocky Spitz on Sweet ‘n’ Nappy. Another eclectic artist, who plays multiple instruments and calls his genre “Blues Hop”. It wasn’t planned, but I’m so random with ideas, I threw it out there with some simple springy chords, and he added lead guitar, wrote the chorus, and his vocals fit perfectly. We couldn’t figure out a baseline, but eventually it came once I actually bought a bass.
Although, I believe anything I do has room to grow, I’m just grateful to have gotten a review that was actually printed in the Charleston Chronicle, and I also made the City Paper’s Favorite Records of 2016 list. So, no matter what you set out to accomplish, whether it’s little to you are great, something greater will take place and let you know not to give up.
Do you face any challenges as an indie musician in a digital age? On the flip side, how has technology helped you (if it has)?
Umm, I think the challenges are what keeps you growing as an artist. But my biggest challenge is REDDIT! I just don’t get it (LOL)! I actually just signed up today and totally closed out the tab after subscribing to music related topics. But honestly it’s actually more of a challenge in the Southern States to me. Only because, a lot of establishments are into phone calls and face to face. The thing is most of us don’t have time to chat because technology has enabled us to get more done all at once without phone calls or meetings. In today’s time we have to keep paper trails because our lives depend on it as artists.
The digital age sort of saves you money if you’re an organized person. There are people who still want physical discs, and that’s fine. It’s just a process, and I have gotten to the point where I release physical discs months after the digital release. CD’s a awesome at shows, but I always have my promo flyers/Biz cards on hand, that tells you where to follow me, how to book me, and where to stream and download my music. Either way it’s a win win. But now with all these PRO perks from CDbaby and patience, my music will soon be on Pandora, I can see how many streams I have on Spotify, and collect mechanical royalties. The number one thing that’s helped is having live performance footage from fans posted online in support of my music. Sometimes, I can’t see all posts because some are private, but still in yet it’s being shared, and that’s what counts. So, we’ve got to give it up to the digital times and respect analog technology, they go hand and hand.
Where can we follow you online and hear more music?
Please Please Please *in James Brown voice* follow me on Spotify. I’d love for your to add me to your playlists as too!
I do have Bandcamp. You can follow me at ChaquisMaliq.bandcamp.com
I don’t see the new album on iHeart Radio yet, but all my other projects are there, so please feel free to add my to your stations or create a Chaquis Maliq one.
If you’re a Tidal member you can follow me there as well.
And of course iTunes/Apple Music, Google Play, Amazon, and Deezer. There’s more too!
Anything else before we sign off?
Oh Yeah. I was also involved with the artwork for ‘Resilience Eludes Death’ . The portrait was painted by Marcellous Lovelace, and completed the artwork with some abstract art I painted on a small canvas in addition to manipulating the fonts.
And of course thank you so much for inviting to interview! This was totally unexpected and I’m glad that you took the time out to do so, Joshua! Means a lot for you to take the time out to support fellow singer-songwriters and help them gain exposure. Shot out to Middle Tennessee Music! I would really like to perform in Tennesse in 2017!
