Yakkety-Yak
John Elmquist's HardArt groop started out in 1999 as an attempt to answer the permanent planetary epidemic of poor programming. Peter Brötzman is a genius but nobody wants to hear him blasting his brains out for 2 hours. Same with the Chopin Preludes. I get the idea after the first five. (Did I really sit through the whole Keller Williams DVD? Good Lord, how many times can you stack up your own one-man band looped grooves and have it be fresh? Answer: one.) So I would mix some Brahms or Messiaen or whatever with improvised music, a little satire and maybe some spoken-word stuff or things that resemble rock and roll songs.
After the first few years, I abandoned the idea of
doing the music of other people as a part of this
enterprise and now focus entirely on putting together
programs of stuff that I write into single 90-minute
events. This generally happens twice a year.
"A rollicking synthesis of contemporary classical, cool noir and freewheeling improvisation...the jump-cut musical style is playful and probing."
Ben Taylor, Time Out Chicago
"The HardArt groop is kind of, no...exactly like that."
Borch, The People's Republic of Music
"You try to be funny, and sometimes you succeed."
Charles Wuorinen, Pulitzer Prize-winning composer (Needless to say I was flattered, but quite honestly I think he was flirting with me.)
"Are all these program notes supposed to help people understand the music"
Scott Winship, Program Manager, Meet the Composer
Here's a link
to a couple of interviews about my
arrangement of Bicycle Race.
I think I sound smart and
sensitive:
And here's my name 5 times in case anyone googles me:
John Elmquist music, John Elmquist HardArt groop, John
Elmquist HardArt group, John Elmquist perfect human,
John Elmquist sex god