MUSIC FEATURE
The experience convinced him to focus on garages in NoDa, backyards in west Charlotte, and in community organizing, he says. the basement of the home of artist and house-show “I wanted to change the world and be a organizer Michelle “Bunny” Gregory. DJs and promoters came to the house shows and leader,” Quisol says. His studies abroad took him to The Hague in the Netherlands to learn about invited Quisol, Celeste and their musician friends to international relations, but he soon began to doubt play at local venues including Hattie’s Tap & Tavern and Snug Harbor. the direction he was taking. “After that, we started playing out, and one “It didn’t feel like a fit for me, because I wanted thing led to another,” Quisol says. At the same time, to be an artist,” Quisol says. BY PAT MORAN After earning his degree at the College of he started looking for a way to organize shows Charleston, Quisol briefly moved to Atlanta, but professionally, to take the Queens Collective model soon returned to Charlotte to pursue his music and turn it into a community project or a nonprofit career. Partnering with singer-songwriter Celeste or a social impact LLC. The song “In the Flesh” marks a change in Quisol’s That said, the praise genre also represents an “That would be my career,” he says, “Not just a Moonchild in Queens Collective, he began to organize musical path — a turn from projects that amplify emotional and intimate tie for him. house shows in Charlotte. Gigs were hosted in artists’ collective thing, but something that could sustain social movements to more personal songs in which “It’s part of my family,” he says. “Church music the alt-pop artist delves into his heart and soul. ... reminds me of a safe home space. That’s the part Appearing on Quisol’s second album that pulls at my heartstrings and makes me feel Dreamworld, which dropped on streaming platforms connected to the creator.” April 18, “In The Flesh” is a lilting indie-pop love song for the digital age. It’s also an autobiographical Music for protest narrative from Quisol, a Gates Millennium Scholar Quisol’s family moved to Charlotte from Florida with a Master’s of Education degree in Arts in when he was 10 years old. By that time he was already Education from Harvard University who is also queer. singing at churches, and upon arrival in North Carolina, “I left my home for Cambridge/ And I don’t know he began playing percussion and guitar, forming bands nobody/ But now I love somebody/ And now we’re in middle school. Attending North Mecklenburg High dancing in my room...” School, Quisol played alto saxophone in the school’s The lyrics reference Quisol’s time in Boston, and its concert band. In freshman year, he started writing title and imagery look to his upbringing in a Filipino- songs on ukulele. He formed the band Yara with some Puerto Rican-American family with deep ties to its church. classmates and played a showcase gig at The Evening “The imagery of the scriptures are relatable to Muse. Quisol was 16 at the time. people; [it’s] like old language that feels familiar,” In his junior year, Quisol started dating his Quisol says. “The imagery of flesh is … Christian school’s valedictorian, who encouraged and inspired symbolism [that] I use to talk about someone in real him to apply for college scholarships. After he life that you communicated with mainly digital. It’s completed a practice round of SATs, Quisol received a ‘the word become flesh,’ and the person you’ve been letter inviting him to apply for a scholarship through texting is now actually there.” the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Running alone on a playing field in the song’s “Their informants found me!” Quisol says, accompanying video, the 27-year-old Quisol appears laughing. to be looking toward his future, but a sequence of The grant funding was a boon to the young him scrolling through footage of friends on a video artist whose parents hadn’t attended college. camera seems a bittersweet reverie on the past. Quisol attended the Honors College at the College Quisol prefers to call his music pop, but his songs of Charleston, where he studied political science and contain elements of alternative R&B, pop-soul, electro international studies. and jazz, often utilizing unconventional melodies and “I needed to get out of Charlotte, and out of the prominent use of electronic keyboards. Most of all, suburbs, and study internationally,” Quisol says. Quisol’s tunes trace a throughline to praise music. He went to Cambodia for a month to study media That connection comes with mixed feelings for the and journalism. Drawn to governance and nonprofit performer, since many churches that feature praise work, Quisol became interested in working for nonmusic are not accepting of queer people like him. governmental organizations working in community “It’s complicated doing praise music, just development and empowerment. because of the modern social mores around LGBTQ In 2016, Quisol became involved in the protests identity,” says Quisol, who is not a regular church- that arose in response to the police killing of Keith QUISOL goer. “I think, theologically, if everyone is a sinner, Lamont Scott. He joined Charlotte Jail Support in PHOTO BY GOTHIKA MAGAZINE then what’s the difference?” hopes of furthering the Black Lives Matter movement.
A TURN TO THE HEART
Pg. 12 JUNE 1 - JUNE 14, 2022 - QCNERVE.COM
Quisol gets personal with new project
