After releasing the first offering since its reboot, Dj Flight’s play:musik imprint has dropped another thought-provoking and interesting offering for its sophomore EP in the form of Trauma Response by Quartz. It seems that will be the way forward with play:musik, and fans can depend on Flight and company for well-curated work, and with his deep, snare-heavy and emotionally honest work. Quartz is a perfect fit.
With recent releases on Metalheadz, 1985, Rupture and Halogenix’s new Gemini Gemini label, Quartz is a deep jungle and D&B veteran with over two decades in the game with no slowing down in sight. Stylistically, his work covers everything from liquid to hard beats with hurrican snares, but it’s always deep and dreamy and he often works with vocalists who can put his thoughtful sounds to words.
With mental health and wellness being in the forefront of the music community in recent years,Quartz’s Trauma Response EP is not only thoughtful but brave, vunerable and culturally siginificant. The title of the tracks show the inspiration for each, and Quartz is a master at using his beats and sounds to connote the feelings contained within. From the soulful ‘WYN’ to the dark and somewhat analytical title track to the airy and unconventaional ‘What Is Real Love,’ the tapped-in listener will be able to relate to those feelings. From a musical perspective, however, Kmag thought it would be interesting to hear what inspired this work and Quartzes work in general, and so this playlist was born. After all, connection to music is often a trauma reponse in itself, albeit, a positive one, as well as a way to share and connect as well.
General artist’s note: It’s always hard to pinpoint specific songs that directly influenced my writing because that’s not really how I work. I just listen to music I like—there’s no rhyme or reason to it. That being said, there are certain tracks that have stuck with me over the years, whether because of their emotion, production, or just something intangible that keeps me coming back.
Rainey Miller – The Fable
This is a fairly new release, but it’s rare for me to hear a song, listen to it all the way through, and then immediately run it back ten more times. The Fable just hits all the right spots. I think it’s an incredible piece of music, and I’m genuinely excited to see what Rainey Miller does next.
Paula Cendejas – Colibrí
This one’s a non-English track—’Colibrí’ means ‘hummingbird’ —and as far as I’m aware, it’s about Paola having a miscarriage. The emotion in this song is just unreal. From an engineering perspective, what really grabs me is the way it’s mixed. Unlike a typical ballad with simple piano and vocals, she’s allowed whoever engineered it to really twist her vocal up as the song evolves—layering in odd effects, edits, and moments where everything stops and starts in unpredictable ways. Especially towards the crescendo, there’s this massive finale, and then everything pulls back in. Even though I don’t understand the lyrics, the emotion in this song gets me every time.
Janita – That’s How Life Goes
Janita is a relatively unknown artist, and a friend put me onto this track years ago—over a decade now. If there’s one song that has always felt like the soundtrack to my life, it’s this one. Word for word, everything about it makes me go, yep, you nailed it. You said what I could never say. Without getting too morbid, if I had to choose one song to be played at my funeral, it would be this.
Brent Faiyaz – Circles
Similar to ‘Colibrí’, this track has no drums, wild vocal processing, and an insane melodic structure. It’s an unconventional ballad, but the way it’s mixed is completely experimental. And then there’s Brent Faiyaz’s voice—it’s just silk. Every time I hear one of his songs, I think, man, I wish I could do that.
Stray – Pushed (Mosaic Volume 1)
Stray is doing Ivy Lab now, but this track is from way back when. I can’t remember exactly when it came out, but it doesn’t matter—no matter how old this is, you can put it on today and it still works. It’s timeless. Just an incredible piece of drum and bass.
Loxy & Ena – Photo
This one was tough to track down. I first heard it in a DJ mix and spent ages trying to figure out what it was. Eventually, I found out it was Loxy & Ena, though at the time, I didn’t know Andrew (Loxy) personally. Now, he’s a close friend of mine but back then, I was just some guy obsessed with this tune.
Heavy auto-tune in drum and bass is rare as rocking horse shit, and when it’s done well, it’s next-level. The vocal processing on ‘Photo’ is so unconventional, but the emotion in it is mad. It floored me then, and it still does now.
Zapp & Roger Troutman Live in Aruba (Sinbad Summer Jam)
This one is a bit different, but I’ve listened to this so many times over the years, so I think it’s very important to mention. Not just because of how much it means to me, but because events like this just don’t happen anymore. That’s part of the magic of this footage—when you watch it, you can’t help but think, damn, I wish I was there.
Musically, the funk, the groove, the sheer musicality of it all—it still gets me. Whenever I can, I try to apply that same level of musicality to what I do, or at the very least, capture that kind of raw performance energy in a song.
I’m talking about Zapp & Roger Live in Aruba at the Sinbad Summer Jam. Sometimes you’ll find it in two parts, but but it’s worth it to track down the full set because it’s packed with all the classics. If we’re going to talk about auto-tune and vocal effects, this is the original don. Roger Troutman was the godfather of it all—except there was no auto-tune, just a talk box. This is real R&B, real music, before all the digital effects we have now, and it’s still untouchable.
Martyn – Nxt2U
This one’s a bit of a journey for me. ‘Nxt2U’ by Martyn is a seminal piece of music from play:musik. I can’t quite remember when I bought it, but it’s one of those moments where I went out with my week’s paycheck, ended up at our local record store, and came back with a bag of records to absorb over the next few months. Of all the play:musik releases, this one hit me hardest. I played it to death. Martyn, if you’re not familiar, isn’t really a drum and bass producer. His focus is more experimental, blending elements of garage, techno, and UK music with a hip hop-like sampled approach. He’s one of those artists who doesn’t conform, and that’s what makes his sound so unique.
This song, ‘Nxt2U’, just nailed it for me. Big ups to Martyn—he really got it right with this one. Also, I want to shout out both him and Natalie (Flight), because I actually sampled the vocal from this track in one of my own songs. I reached out to both of them for permission, and they were incredibly cool with it. I credited them on the centre label for the sample, and for me, that moment was so full circle. I grew up enjoying this music, and it shaped my taste, and then later, when I was writing my own music, I was able to sample it. That connection, and the grace they showed in letting me reuse their work, really meant a lot to me. So, this track is so important, not just for what it is musically, but for how it ties into my own journey in music.
The ‘Trauma Response’ EP is out now on play:musik and can be streamed on Spotify and purchased on Beatport or Bandcamp, where there is a vinyl option.