"Music to Dream of the future"
-Kurt Ketonen, Chronicle-Journal (October 10, 2002)

“Querkus uses traditional pop music as a base, augmented by flourishes of jazz, industrial and trip-hop”
– Rob Williams, Winnipeg Sun (May 23, 2002).

“(Querkus) sends you into a dark, swirling existence that seems scary, but at the same time you don’t want to leave, craving more”.
- Derek Penhale, Swerve Queer Newsmagazine (February 2002).

“Somehow orchestral, rich with effects, and highly dramatic, this music explores the dark and the beautiful”
– Tom, Stylus Magazine (February, 2002)

“The sound of Enya and Tori Amos dropping LSD and getting right paranoid”
- Melissa Martin, Uptown Magazine (January 24, 2002)

“The sound seems to come from all directions, the layers of programmed sounds mixed with the subtle piano, the powerful guitar sound, and Dunham’s lilting vocals to form a sound that is purely Querkus.”
- Jeff Robson, The Uniter (January 24, 2002)

“Both Dunham's keyboard playing and Ozolins' six-string work are classically inspired, yet are dark, original and innovative, in a new age cabaret sort of way.”
- Chuck Molgat, Exclaim! Magazine (December 19th, 2001)

“The bastard progeny of Nine Inch Nails and Rachmaninov, with Tori Amos providing midwife duties”
- Chuck Molgat, Uptown Magazine (May 17th, 2001)

Querkus: 'music to dream of the future'
Kurt Ketonen

Everybody asks Karen Dunham the same question. "How to you classify your music?" It's not an easy answer, for either her or Edgar Ozolins, her partner in the Winnipeg-based duo Querkus. "It's hard to come up with something really good (to describe the music)," Dunham said from Winnipeg recently. "Something we have kind of stuggled with is describing our sound."
But they've thought about it - a lot - and they offer this: a combination of Tori Amos, Portishead and Nine Inch Nails. In the band's bio material, the music is called art-pop, gothic trip-hop, and classical electronic. But for simplicity's sake, Dunham tones it all down: "You could say it's electronic pop music, to sum it up really quickly, " she said.
Whatever it is, it's Ozolins on guitar, accompanying Dunham's hounting vocals and her keyboard and the thousands of different sounds it can produce (she plays Celtic Harp, too).
And Dunham assures those who've heard the bands six-song debut album that there'll be a lot of new music pouring off the Apollo stage tonight. "Pretty much everything we'll be playing will be new material that's not on the CD," she said. "We'll play some tracks from the CD, which is still pretty representative to how we sound."
"But we've done quite a bit more now with our music," she said, adding it has more of a "down-tempo trip-hop feel now."
"Querkus is great music to dream of the future to."
The duo is on their first-ever tour, a six-stop trip eastward that ends in Quebec City. "We've had quit a bit of success on college radio, so that was our main reason to want to tour out east," Dunham said.
"We play what we play, mostly because we enjoy it," she said. "It so happens that we started playing and we put out the CD, and a ,lot of people really liked it too, which is really lucky for us." Tickets cost $4, and are available at the door.

Bee Stung - Saturday, 10 pm, The Orbit Room

It can dangerous going outside.
Sunburns, out-of-control rollerbladers and mosquito bites are a few ways people get hurt when they venture out in spring.
To help people avoid these risks, avant-garde popsters Querkus have organized Bee Stung: An Evening of Demented Burlesque, a multi-media eventin the safety of an indoor environment.
"One of the dangers of spring I've noticed is the pollen in the air because the elm trees are having sex, and it gets in our eyes," says Kaern Dunham, one half of the duo. "I have a degree in biology, so I notice these things."
The evening features drag queen Casandra Crossing, classically trained vocalist Sonya Olivera and the claymation fillmd of Victoria Prince. Olivera will sing traditional Portugese and Spanish songs, backed by a guitarist and bongo player, while Cassandra will tap dance, recreate moments Mommy Dearest and belt out show tunes. For their part, Querkus uses traditional pop music as a base, augmented by flourishes of jazz, industrial and trip-hop.
"The music of Querkus doesn't really lend itself to that many other muisical acts in the city, so we figured let's just do something really different," says Dunham
Admission is $8

Querkus’s No Direction heads in the right direction

No Direction
Querkus

Reviewed by Derek Penhale

Querkus is a Winnipeg duo made up of Karen Dunham doing the vocals and keyboards, and Edgar Ozolins playing guitar. Getting their name from the latin word meaning “oak”, their music can be described just like the tree - big, surrounding, sheltering music that is both haunting and yet dreamy at the same time. Although they’ve been compared often to Tori Amos and Portishead, they definitely have their own sound.

No Direction is their first six-song EP, which they debuted this past January at Ms. Purdy’s, and it’s an impressive start. A lot of production went into this over the past year, and it shows, as the mixing of all the instruments together is flawless. Admittedly, their sound does feel like a harder-edged surreal Tori Amos at times, but Dunham has her own distinct atmosphere to her voice that cannot be compared to anyone else. Ozolins’ guitar playing adds an extra eeriness over the hypnotizing piano and synths. One of the EP’s highlights is “Stick it to the Man, a kind of sequel to Tori Amos’s “Me and a Gun,” where Dunham chants repeatedly “it’s the last time” before the track slides into a very cool echoed flute (the Dunham has not played since junior high), taking you to a new level. In “The Skeleton Song”, she sings about a lot of hang-ups that you have to deal with, while a happy player piano backs her up.

The whole album is satisfying. It sends you intoa swirling, dark existence that seems scary, but at the same time you don’t want to leave, craving more. I hope there will be more, because just when I started to enjoy walking down the road they put me on, it’s back to reality, and the hypnotism has worn off.

Querkus
No Direction

The debut release of this Winnipeg duo, No Direction is a five song (+1 remix!) EP that displays dissonant piano and vocal melodies over stark industrial drum programming. Songwriter Karen Dunham’s unusual voice defines Querkus’s sound - kinda creepy like an old oak-paneled house. Edgar Ozolins’ ghostly synth-guitar sounds blend in an out to provide texture and depth. Somehow orchestral, rich with effects, and highly dramatic, this music explores the dark and the beautiful.
- tom

Querkus
No Direction EP
(independent)

On its first recording, local duo Querkus is aiming to creat e a spooky soundscape. The CD’s liner notes describe the project as “gothic trip-hop” or “classical electronica”, but a closer approximation would be the sound of Enya and Tori Amos dropping LSD and getting right paranoid, a sort of Celtic mish-mash of keyboard arpeggios, gloomy beats and edgy, high pitched vocal acrobatics from singer Karen Dunham. Keyboards are granted pretty melodies, which could have been beautiful if a real piano had been used instead of the colorless, padded sound of the keyboard. That harpsichord-shallow approach works best on “Skeleton Song”, a carnivale-noir escapade that lets Dunham streach her voice to its slurring, trilling finest. The slower songs, however, lack direction (perhaps that’s where the title originated), and the duo doesn’t incorporate a wide enough range of programmed sounds to lend the material distinction.

Melissa Martin

Querkus - Music for the open minded

The Uniter, January 24, 2002 by Jeff Robson

Slowly, and quietly, a buzz has been building around a relatively unknown band from Winnipeg called Querkus. If you’re one of the many that hasn’t heard Querkus yet, you’re in for a surprise. In order to really introduce you to the band, I should tell you what they sound like, but unfortunately, that is not easy to do. When I first heard Querkus I really didn’t know what to think. Like many children of the 70’s and 80’s, I was raised on a steady diet of pop music. Pop music is safe and familiar to me. Querkus is neither of those things. It seems that today, our world is becoming even more overcome by disposable pop bands, but every once in a while something comes along that is so differently honest and mysterious that it can’t help but turn a few heads. The sounds contained on Querkus’ debut EP, “No Direction”, do not sound like any pop music I’ve ever heard. Querkus’ music is so intricate and unusual that is could not possibly have been thrown together by someone wanting to appeal to a certain
demographic; it had to have come from the heart.

Querkus is made up of keyboardist/vocalist/programmer/songwriter, Karen Dunham, and guitarist Edgar Ozolins. In their own words, “Querkus remain happily elusively unclassifiable. Rooted in the unlikely combination of punk and classical music, wedded to a love for lush melodies and raw, sexy grooves. With their dreamy, musical meanderings, Querkus is Querkus.” You could come up with a million general words to describe the sound, but no phrase could be descriptive enough to really encapsulate the experience. Querkus’ music has to be heard to be understood, and even then it takes time.

The band, onstage, in intense and focused. The sounds emanating from the duo present a strange dissonance of influences. There are recognizable bits of modern day influences, but what sticks out the most is the way the music is created much in the mold of classical music. These are not simply written three chord pop tunes; these songs are meticulously crafted and layered until they reach the desired wall of invigorated noise. The sound seems to come from all directions, the layers of programmed sounds mix with the subtle piano, the powerful guitar sound, and Dunham’s lilting vocals to form a sound that is purely Querkus. The fact that the two musicians share an appreciation for intricate classical music is not surprising, but where does the other worldly mix of classical and modern electronica with hints of punk come from ?

Even the band doesn’y seem to know exactly how the sound originated. Dunham says, “We’re not out to make a statement. We just play what we like because we enjoy it. We write it and we tweak it and do whatever it is we do until it’s right, and then we keep it.” Ozolins ideology is similar, “When I play music, I don’t gieva shit sbout what people think, I just play exactly what I feel like playing.” This desire to make music simply for their own enjoyment is what makes Querkus’ sound so sincere. Ozolins says, “Most people are quite fed up with pigeon holed music… Maybe I’m wrong, but I’m hoping people are becoming more open and accepting of music from all genres, rather than fad monsters.” This music requires a bit more effort than the majority of the public are willing to invest in a band. Querkus is truly music fo rthe open minded.

Asked if he was concerned that masses may never accept Querkus’ unique blend, Ozolins says, “I’m perfectly happy doing what I’m doing, I couldn’t care les how many people are there. Ultimately we’d like to be able to do this for a living instead of whatever it is we do now, but that doen’t mean that we’re ever going to change what we are doing for anyone else”.

With the recent completion of their debut EP, the band has received some local press coverage, as well as a new attention by university radio staions. Already “No Direction” EP has landed at number one on the chart at UMFM. As time pases public awareness of the band is increasing, but the road to widespread success may be a bit of a long one. Luckily, the band members have the kind of determination and love for their craft that will no doubt propel them to whatever heights they wish to reach. One important tool that the band plans to utilize in the internet. They’ve already established an informative website at www.querkus.f2s.com and are marketing themselves to a more global audience via www.mp3.com. This seems to be an important tool for the band. “in order to really succeed with our kind of music, I think we’re going to have to go to Europe,” says Ozolins, “I don’t even know if we’d make it in Britain, probably Germany and places like that would be most receptive.” According to Dunham, “I’ve
already had emails from all over the world from people who like Querkus”.

The pair hopes to tour Canada in September, but for now are focusing primarily on promoting the CD locally by playing live shows as often as they can get them. Those appearances along with substantial play on the university stations and the Internet, are getting the word out. If you’re interested in hearing more about Querkus visit www.querkus.f2s.com or phone UMFM or CKUW to request a song. The “No Direction” EP is available at Into The Music and Music Trader in Osborne Village.

Querkus
No Direction EP
(independent)


Exclaim! Magazine, December 19, 2001 by Chuck Molgat

In choosing a title for their debut release, Winnipeg musicians Karen Dunham and Edgar Ozolins have anticipated the most likely criticism to be levelled at this six-song outing. However, given the duo's consistently meandering approach to its keyboard, guitar and programming routine, the seeming lack of direction is evidently part of the unit's crafty stylistic oeuvre. Both Dunham's keyboard playing and Ozolins' six-string work are classically inspired, yet are dark, original and innovative, in a new age cabaret sort of way. Dunham's dreamy, Beth Gibbons-like vocals rarely let up, providing a consistent thread throughout the CD, and imparting an additional avant-garde quality to the endeavour. Though often an awkward fit on live bills at local rock clubs, Querkus's studio efforts come off as comparatively bold and confident. Providing the disc finds its way into broader art-pop circles, the band ought to have no problem making a few fast fans. The disc represents the first production/recording credit for former Grand Theft Canoe guitarist Angus Kirkpatrick (outside of his own solo and GTC material, that is), while veteran Winnipeg sound artist Ken Gregory handled the mix.

Wood Works - Local duo barking up the right tree

Uptown, May 17th, 2001 by Chuck Molgat

Querkus members Karen Dunham and Edgar Ozolins aren’t your typical tree-hugging musician types. As a rule, they’re more likely to show up for a gig decked out in black leather and eyrliner that tye-dye and patchouli oil. Even so, the three-year-old avant-rock duo - whose name means “oak” in Latin - has clearly been bitten by some sort of bark bug.

“I write a lot of songs about trees,” says keyboard player and principal songwriter Dunham, who spends her days pursuing a botany degree at the University of Winnipeg. “It probably sounds so lame, but I really, really like trees.”


Guitarist Ozolins isn’t quite as enthusiastic an arborist, although his moniker suggests some sort of familial affinity for leafy perennials.


“It’s Latvian for ‘little oak tree’ he explains with a laugh, adding it’s considered an affectionate term in the land of his ancestors.

There is nothing wooden about the music the pair creates, though, both literally and figuratively speaking. The duo’s unconventional output relies heavily on an aural canvas of sequencers and drum machines, over which complex arrangements of keyoard and effects heavy guitar is added. More often than not, th ecompelling results come off sounding like the bastard progeny of Nine Inch Nails and Rachmaninov, with Tori Amos providing midwife duties.

“I took piano lessons for I don’t know how ong, “says Dunham. “I’ve listened to a lot of classical music and that was the first musica I ever learned to play, so I think I can’t help but show some of that.”

Ozolins says Dunham’s neo classical learning served as an inspiration to him from day one of their musical partnership.

“I get board really easily so I have to play things that are challenging,” he says, adding that he has no formal training aside fom a year of saxophone lessons as a teenager. “When I write stuff on my own it normally ends up being som weird, pseudo-baroque piece. I grew up listening to classical music, too, and I didn’t hear pop music until I was about 12 or so. Now, if you look through my record collection you’ll find reams of ‘70s prog-rock with all these massive orchestrations of rock instruments, so I guess it all mkes sence somehow.”

Unconventional though it amy be, Querkus’ material has been finding favour of late with a growing number of music enthusiasts - many of them artists in their own right.

“A lot of people who like our music seem to be musicians or people that are involved with music already,” explains Ozolins. “I think they kind of understand where we’re coming from, and what we’re trying to do, because a lot of it is really complicated stuff”.

One such fan is Winnipeg Sound Artist Ken Gregory, who’s currently doing some remixes of the bands latest recordings. That material was put to tape earlier this year by former Grand Theft Canoe guitarist Angus Kirkpatrick and co-produced by Kirkpatrick and Weakerthans soundman Cam Loeppky. The results should be available in the form of an independent EP sometime later this summer.

Querkus performs this Tuesday, May 22, at the Pyramid Cabaret, where the unit will be opening for Portishead DJ Andy Smith. Scott Henby is also on the bill.