Breaking Free: Quarters of Change Share the Ethos of Their Upcoming Album
Photo: Amyas Ryan
[UNPUBLISHED]: Thank you for taking the time to sit down and talk with Unpublished. I am a huge fan myself and saw you guys live in San Diego on your “Into the Rift” tour.
[QOC]: At the Voodoo Room! That place sold out within a week, so we should have upgraded. Next time, it’ll be a rager.
[UNPUBLISHED]: You are New York City guys who are taking the music scene by storm. Tell us more about those early beginnings and how you got your band name, Quarters of Change.
[QOC]: Ben Acker and I started playing music together at a very young age. We met Ben Roter and Attila in high school, and we started playing in high school all together. We could not think of a band name at first, but Quarters of Change stuck with us, and we joke that it is the worst part of our band.
[UNPUBLISHED]: What has the journey been like for the band since the start?
[QOC]: I think it's the foundation; we all just love each other and love doing this together. It's the root of it all, for sure. I think the biggest change overall is that things happen so much faster. We have a lot further to go in terms of where we want to be. To think about the events that have happened, like in terms of shows being played, the most have been now. It's been really exciting to just sort of continue to break new barriers, and I feel like I'm a guitar hero sometimes. The venue's getting nicer like you're leveling up.
[UNPUBLISHED]: Where are you at now with the upcoming release of your album, Portraits?
[QOC]: We're feeling pretty good. The hardest part is done now.
[UNPUBLISHED]: Of the songs you guys have released so far, like “Hollywood Baby,” “Do or Die,” and “What I Wanted,” fans get a glimpse of themes to expect from the album, but what is the overarching theme you want fans to know?
[QOC]: The name "portraits” comes from each song being like its own portrait, its own portrayal of the different ways that expression could take place. It has an overarching sense of trying for liberation and breaking free of whatever's holding you back. Getting stuff off your chest and just screaming — I'd say that's sort of the ethos of the album.
[UNPUBLISHED]: The music videos you have released so far play around with different aesthetics and perspectives; what was the inspiration for these videos and the artwork?
[QOC]: I love music videos. Growing up, if a music video connected with me, I loved the song 10 times more, and it's just a little sad now, in a world where that's been completely given up on. For this album, we left the creative freedom up to our videographers and how they interpreted the songs, which for the most part take place in New York City, and this time I feel like there's definitely a better depiction of each of us doing a particular thing or something that I don't know ties a little more portrait-y about us.
[UNPUBLISHED]: Also, your fans are curious to know if there will be any features on the upcoming album.
[QOC]: We are continuing to ride solo.
[UNPUBLISHED]: Do you have a dream collaboration?
[QOC]: There's some legendary producers that I know that we would all be super into working with. We really want to work with people that are going to help unlock stuff within us rather than just guide the process to be how they are. We are in this in a lot of ways to be students of music.
[UNPUBLISHED]: From Into the Rift to Portraits, how do these two albums follow or differ from each other?
[QOC]: I'd say that Into the Rift was a long project from the beginning to the end of it. We started writing it in 2019–2020. We had four songs from one year and another four songs the next year. Then another four songs from the following year to wrap up that whole album. Whereas for Portraits, we essentially, right after putting out Into The Rift, rented a cabin upstate, set up a live room, and banged out the entire album in two weeks. Then spent the whole year finishing it and putting the finishing touches on it. It is a lot more cohesive in that it is a lot more stamped in time. There were a lot of songs on Into the Rift that were written so long that when they got put out, I didn’t feel that way anymore. I wrote some stuff about anger, and when it was released, I was not angry anymore. I honestly felt like, “fuck, why did I say that? I feel bad; I now have to live with this.” Whereas now, I'm ready to roll the dice. You know, I feel very strongly about this album. I stand behind it.
[UNPUBLISHED]: Can fans expect even more godly guitar riffs?
[QOC]: Yes, my favorite guitar solo for the entire QOC discography is on this album.
[UNPUBLISHED]: Is there a song on the album that you guys are most excited to release?
[QOC]: I’d say “Turn it Away,” “Keep My Blood,” and “Heaven Bound.”
[UNPUBLISHED]: What is the meaning behind “Heaven Bound?”
[QOC]: In my life, it has culminated in a nihilistic outlook, which is neither bad nor good; it just is. To me, when the lyrics came and hit me, it felt like a deeply resonating statement to myself, when I am feeling down, to remind myself that we are “heaven sent, heaven bound.” We are born and then die.
[UNPUBLISHED]: How excited are you guys to play at Webster Hall?
[QOC]: I am not even thinking about the album drop yet because I am just thinking about Webster. The amount of time that we get to play music in our own city frustrates us, so the opportunity to play at Webster Hall, this iconic venue that we have been looking up to our whole lives, is going to be a great time. I am excited, especially since the New York rock scene is super present. It will feel like a real cherry-on-top kind of moment for the band and for New York City rock in general.
