Downtempo music has long been a staple in bridging together atmospheric sounds with world instruments and modern drum patterns. Along with drum'n'bass, downtempo is currently considered some of the most progressive and inspirational music around. Infusing hip hop and jazz with tribal rhythms and samples from far-off lands, the Oakland-based EQ collective is changing the rules for break-beat production and performance. Through live performance, field recording, and painstaking production, EQ has created a sound that is set to unite like-minded people from all over the world through the creation and construct of the breakbeat.
EQ started with Joselito Sering and Ben Hayes. Sering has been a multimedia producer, programmer and performer since 1984. His music history includes performances with Bad Brains and Faith No More. Producer and audio engineer by trade, Hayes is an accomplished didjeridoo player who studied with Galpu chief DJalu Guruwiwi, and has circumnavigated the globe in search of natural and ethnic field recordings. DJ and beat-producer Matt Englund spent years in punk and funk bands before settling primarily on electronic music. Rich Bologna, EQ's keyboardist and programmer, has studied classical violin and jazz piano, produced, made field recordings in Southeast Asia, scored independent films, and created experimental beats on a laptop. DJ David Eli Hason has been instrumental in EQ's appearances at prestigious Japanese summer music festivals, where he performed with the collective. Paul Howard adds basslines that solidify Bologna's melodies; he was classically trained up until he was 15, and eventually taught himself fretless bass and guitar, later studying Arabian hand percussion and rhythm for two years. With a wide range of musical histories, EQ combines different genres of originally produced music collected from sources around the world.
