Quitzow

Juggling mind-blowing Moog/Rhodes/bass while singing, playing Tchaikovsky in The Woodstock Chamber Orchestra, and creating Fender Rhodes loops layered with MPC drums, moog bass, cellos, violins, and vocals, Erica Quitzow brings a vast range of diversity to her records and live performance.

With a self-titled debut album and an upcoming second release, Erica is involved in various musical projects, constantly exploring new influences for her inner child gone wild, neo-post electro-pop sound. Erica holds down the majority of Quitzow’s instrumentation, which consists of MPC, Reason, and live drums layered with Moogs, Korgs, Rhodes, and Casios, as well as classical and electric guitars, bass, cellos, violins, and various percussion, all interweaved with her alternately playful and woeful vocal stylings. The record was tracked in her upstate New York home with production and mixing assistance by band and label mate, Gary Levitt. The music of Quitzow has been described as “combining the fun of Peaches with the intelligence of Lori Anderson”, and “Solex meets Liz Phair, but with more rhythm!”

Erica’s debut album Quitzow was self-recorded in her previous home in Los Angeles. This is where Quitzow’s signature acoustic/electronic collage elements, mirrored on Art College, were born. She played the majority of the instruments on the record, creating a high-drama palate, consistently going to the extreme. While the use of strings in songs like “Drink Up” sometimes conjures images of Rasputina, with a similar Sabbath-style heaviness, comparisons are hard to make when it comes to the cartoon-like playfulness of “R. Crumb.” “Know Me” is a complex, layered cut, evoking a Todd Rundgren soundscape with passionate, screaming vocals reminiscent of Patti Smith.

The latest Quitzow release, Art College, is a collection of sing-along pop collages and orchestral arrangements, splashed over hip hop, electro-clash, and down tempo beats, and topped off with adventurous harmonies. Art College comes out June 10th on Young Love Records.

Quitzow’s live performances include music from both records, and the band lineup ranges from solo cello/guitar and vocals to full instrumental recreations. The upcoming national tour will feature a five-piece band, including cello, live and electronic drums, bass, backing vocals and percussion, with Erica on Moog, Korg, guitar and vocals.

To name a few more of her musical projects, Erica plays violin, cello, and sings backup for Setting Sun’s live shows, and plays drums and keyboards on their recordings. Gary Levitt, leader of Setting Sun, is her partner in running Young Love Records, playing bass and singing backup for Quitzow. The bands tour together, share various band members, and assist each other in recording. Erica also occasionally plays violin for the Woodstock Chamber Orchestra, working to develop the orchestrations on her recordings by studying classical compositions. She records strings on an array of projects, recently working with Tony Levin, Garth Hudson, and Malcom Burns.

Past projects in which Erica sang and played bass include the critically acclaimed Heavy Pebble, a New York/San Francisco based experimental band that toured the west coast. More recently she played Moog, Rhodes, and bass with Jennifer Turner (of Natalie Merchant’s band) in Los Angeles indie-pop band, Inner. The first record was recorded in Nellie Hooper’s London studio. (Bjork, Massive Attack) This band toured consistently for its three-year incarnation to rapidly growing audience, a positive press response and national college radio play.