By: Kylie Cooper Photo courtesy of: Quentin Arispe
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About two weeks ago – if your general following on socialbrmedia consists of local folk – you probably will have noticed bright colors ofbrhot pink and electric yellow flash across your screen as your thumb continuously scrolled. The image was the cover artbrfor a local artist’s newest musical endeavor.
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Quentin Arispe, a self-proclaimed genderless queen, hasbrembarked on a journey they had previously yet to explore. But, before we canbrtalk about where Quentin is today, we must first take a trip down memorybrlane. The funniest part about the whole thing? Their musical expedition startedbrtruly by mistake.
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“I did musical theatre for half of my life,” Quentinbrexplains as they recall back to a different time in life – a time that most ofbryou will probably recognize them as Sebastian from Harbor Playhouse’s production of The Little Mermaid. “I hadbrno intentions of ever being a vocal artist. My uncle owned Hacienda Records, sobrwhen I was little, I would go during the summer and just mess around with the piano,brwriting little songs that we would record on CDs.”
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It wasn’t until 2016, when Quentin started going to ArtWalkbreach month, that they stumbled into the studio over at Produce. They first metbrKinderr, another local artist here in town, and knew they would make a greatbrmatch. Quentin had been working on a musical and wanted help recording thebrtracks. However, Kinderr saw the potential, and asked if Quentin ever wrotebrmusic for themselves: The answer was yes.
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“Vienna,” Quentin’s first full EP, came out shortly after. But, they still viewed music as more of a hobby and most certainly didn’tbrview themselves as an “artist.” It was early 2018 when the commitment tobra full-length album was made, and in October of 2018, “June” came out and bybrearly 2019, Quentin began working with local producer, El Dusty, and the crew over at Produce. It was then when Quentin’s life truly changed.
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They describe their first real conversation with Dusty beingbran awkward encounter, taking place in Dusty’s living room by chance. Quentin hadbrdecided to wander the space in Produce one day and found themselves in Dusty’sbrapartment upstairs. They eventually set up a meeting with one another and frombrthere, a flow of advice came through the floodgates and one of Quentin’s mostbrcherished mentorships was formed. “He is the kindest, most humble human being Ibrhave ever met,” Quentin says in regard to their relationship with the producer. “Ibram so grateful to him for believing in me. The whole [Produce] team is mybrfamily, and in a weird twist of events, this group of very straight dudes hasbrhelped me be more comfortable in my own skin; and I think i have done the samebrfor them.”
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This brings us now to the present, where they have currentlybrreleased the first single off their upcoming EP. A time where they have hadbrto figure out how to separate Quentin as a person, and Quentin as an artist. Thebrrelease of their newest single (and what we can only guess will be a consistentbrtheme throughout the evolving EP as a whole), is the expression and celebrationbrof individuality. “This single is an anthem for self-identity,” they said. “Ibram not here to push my ideas or lifestyle on you; I am here to help you understand and love yourself, all of yourself. Being a queer artist of color,brmost times our music doesn’t reach a large community of people because of various socialbrissues. But, my goal is to break that [mindset] by creating a song and music thatbris digestible to anyone.”
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In an ever evolving, local music scene here in the CoastalbrBend, Quentin’s addition to it is not only welcomed, but needed. At a time inbrour world where individuality is not always celebrated, Quentin’s music does thebrexact opposite. “I want people to bump a queer artist like me, no matter theirbrrace, gender, social status, or anything. I want men to know it’s okay to be sensitivebrand women to know it’s okay to be powerful, and all those in between to knowbrthey are heard and loved and represented.”
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And, similar to the vast variety of people who (not everbrhaving met Quentin) shared the single all over social media the day it camebrout in an outpour of support, the message the song brings to the table is one of diversity, universalbrunderstanding, and an acknowledgement that, at the end of the day, everybody isbrsomebody.
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You can find Quentin and their latest music on iTunes and Spotify now.
