CURIOUS QUAIL

THE BAY'S LEADING CHIPTUNE, ORCHESTRAL ROCK BAND

Written by Giselle Tran | Photography by Jessica Shirley-Donnelly

If you combine the energy of rock music, the nostalgia of chiptunes created on old Gameboys, and the intricacy of symphonies, you end up with Curious Quail. Everything from the clean vocals to the tight drum rhythms, fuzzy guitars, eight-bit bee-boops, and soaring violin riffs are thoughtfully worked into carefully layered songs that capture your attention and lift your spirit. Even Quail’s lyrics are carefully crafted stories observing futuristic human society, which started out as frontman Mike Shirley-Donnelly’s idea for a novel before he decided to turn into concept albums.

Yet as unique and innovative as they are, from their sound to the mysterious name, Curious Quail never strived to be intentionally different. “From the get-go, this was how I wrote the first album,” Shirley-Donnelly says, remembering the first Curious Quail EP titled The GLOW. “I wanted to do loud, fuzzy guitar stuff, little bleeps, bloops, and also the symphonic side of that with string samples. I mixed them together, made five songs, and I was like, ‘Cool, this is what I sound like!’ ”

Curious Quail’s roots began in 2008 with singersongwriter Shirley-Donnelly and his Gameboy, “the second member of the band,” jokes drummer Joey Guthrie, who joined Shirley-Donnelly not long after. Guthrie’s high school friend Alan Chen, a violinist, joined about a year later. The three remained core members in Quail’s lineup as the band continued to grow, boasting as many as eight members before condensing into a serious five-piece in 2013. Quail retains a high level of musicianship-–most members have symphonic backgrounds and some even music degrees. The current rendition of the band also includes guitarist Joyce Kuo, one of the Bay’s hardest-working musicians, as well as the band’s newest addition, Josh Hotlosz, former bassist of San Jose’s Koruscant Weekend, which split up in 2013.

Still, even with so much transition, Quail has stayed true to its roots, keeping Shirley-Donnelly’s original vision at its core. Shirley-Donnelly traces the chiptune and symphonic influences back to when he was growing up playing video games on Atari and Nintendo systems in the ’80s. “I would

listen to the soundtrack of a video game I grew up with and realize, ‘My god, that was literally just four notes,’ ” Shirley- Donnelly recalls, laughing, “but in my head it sounded like this crazy symphony. I wanted to re-create that.”

I WANTED TO DO LOUD, FUZZY GUITAR STUFF, LITTLE BLEEPS, BLOOPS, AND ALSO THE SYMPHONIC SIDE OF THAT WITH STRING SAMPLES. I MIXED THEM TOGETHER, MADE FIVE . SONGS, AND I WAS LIKE, ‘COOL, THIS IS WHAT I SOUND LIKE!’

“I think of the chips as keyboards,” Guthrie adds, noting that “in a lot of other bands, [the chips] are sort of the backdrop to the rest of the song, but in our band they play a role like a synth would.”

But even with the chiptunes as a foundation for their music, Curious Quail finds ways to spread their wings and evolve their sound. “There is nothing signature about Quail except Mike’s voice, the chips, and the lyrical content’s ongoing storyline,” says Guthrie, “which frees me up to go, ‘What if I put double bass here?’ or Alan to go, ‘What if I throw a Doctor Who reference into this song?’ ”

Meanwhile, Chen adds his own flavor and references, incorporating past melodies into newer songs as “Easter eggs” that also help tie the concept albums together. “We like to call Alan ‘the concertmaster,’ ” jokes Shirley-Donnelly, explaining Chen’s ear for harmonizing and mixing parts together. “He thinks about things from an orchestral point of view, [telling] us how some 19th-century composer would have written it.”

Kuo has also found her own freedom in Quail as the band’s first true lead guitarist. “Joyce plays very differently from me, and on a level I’ll never be able to,” Shirley-Donnelly remarks, “She has her own way of making things sound good so we’re not doubling up.”

Even Hotlosz has already found his own flavor to add to the mix with his extensive pedal board, a less-common practice among bassists. “Thundercat the bassist said it best,” Hotlosz laughs. “He said, ‘A lot of people see the bass like a tool. I see it as a weapon. You could use it to hammer a nail, or to bash someone’s skull in.’ It’s my weapon of choice.”

Curious Quail continues “to constantly crescendo into better things,” Guthrie says. For them, as long as there is still story to write and people to play with, Quail’s flight won’t end—they’ll just keep going as different musicians come and go, and new opportunities arise.

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