Dubstep and classical fused together as one? Who would’ve thought it would ever work… But thanks to the experimental streak of one DJ/producer Dysphemic aka Julian Treweeke and classically-trained violinist Eliza Quirit, it’s a combination that’s proven successful beyond the duo’s hopes. At this week’s Hopskotch compilation launch party, Dysphemic and Miss Eliza will show us why. “I was doing a performance for a workshops at a library as part of this community project,” recalls Quirit of her first meeting with Treweeke. “I remember one of the pieces that I did that day was a Hungarian dance track which ‘Dys obviously liked. As it turned out, it was actually the perfect song to mix with dubstep because it had that same tempo and would work together really well.”
Realizing the potential of combining her classical leanings with Treweeke’s penchant for hip-hop and dubstep, the duo hit the studio quick smart and recognized they were onto something truly special. As a result, a three track EP Androids came to life and so did a signing with Hopskotch Records. “The most recent EP we did was Androids,” confirms Treweeke. “We made it as a digital release and that lead us to being featured on the Hopskotch compilation. It’s been amazing being involved with a record label because things are really starting to look up. We’re getting quite a bit of publicity and it’s really inspiring for us as artists to have that kind of support. It all started with the first ever track that we wrote together called Ramses, which is the one that’s featured on the comp. Right now we are working on an album together. We’re looking at having it finished and maybe released towards the end of the year, maybe October or November. These things always take longer than you’d expect. The whole project is going incredibly well at the moment. We’ve only done about six shows together.”
As Quirit explains, Dysphemic and Miss Eliza is a coming together of opposites… Dark versus light, male verses female, dance versus classical. It’s a melting pot in more than one way, as the violinist explains. “We’re actually also boyfriend and girlfriend!” she reveals. “With our music, though, ‘Dys always writes really dark stuff that sounds quite evil. I came in and I started writing these lighter girl melodies which were quite lovely. We do write together but we also write different parts on our own, I write the violin melodies.” Treweeke adds, “Eliza is the missing piece of the puzzle in this project. When you combine what we’ve both written, it sounds very balanced; there is definitely a middle ground. It’s the light and the dark side coming together. The audiences really seem to love it when they hear it. My older stuff was much different. As I’ve gotten older, I have actually gotten a bit slower in tempo with my music. My earlier stuff was more like breakcore. With this project it’s something very new and fresh and different. The tempo changes all the way throughout, a lot of this music is quite danceable, especially when you throw in the dubstep stuff.”
And while Quirit is still fairly new to the dubstep scene, Treweeke on the other hand, is well immersed within it by now. Producing numerous releases over the years, including full-length albums, Treweeke has also extensively toured Europe – something which he claims was an eye-opening experience that actually made him appreciate Australia even more. “Greece was a highlight, maybe because I’m half Greek, but Europe in general was an eye-opener,” explains Treweeke. “It’s amazing because it introduced me to a lot of music and over there you get almost these huge mosh pits. There’s heaps of illegal parties in Greece which are amazing and the energy is indescribable. If I learned anything it was that the key is to always be open-minded and to experiment with your style as much as possible. I used to think that Australia was behind the rest of the world musically, but I disagree with that now because I’ve opened my ears to a lot more music. Actually, I think it’s quite the opposite. While I was over there I actually found that I missed Australia quite a lot. Dupstep is absolutely massive; it’s out of control at the moment. I think bass music in general is getting really big right now. It’s always been big, really, but it’s getting even bigger now than ever thanks to the internet. It’s just amazing how quickly the genre has evolved – the genres are mixing together at a really quick rate. It’s a big melting pot of inspiration. It’s getting pretty hard to keep up.”
For the violin child-star of Filipino sensation, Maestro Julian Quirit, Treweeke’s partner in crime Eliza comes from a very different perspective. A violinist since the age of five, Quirit was the youngest ever winner of the prestigious Ferrier Hodgson award as the most outstanding violinist in three national competitions. With no less than 40 first prizes under her belt, Quirit has dominated Australia’s classical circuit since the late ‘90s, literally growing up in the concert halls of Australia and Asia while performing as a soloist for symphony orchestras. Renowned for her magnetic stage presence and fiery, passionate performances, in the last few years Quirit began pushing the boundaries of classical violin even more, collaborating with Australia’s leading producers and DJs including Barron Von Rotton, Kodiak Kid, Oblique_Industries and Rhythmik just to name a few. However, it’s the breakbeat/glitch-hop/drum and bass project with her partner Treweeke that’s closest to her heart. “This is our main project right now, it’s the priority for us both,” she states. “I’ve still got my classical music career and we are both working on our solo albums. ‘Dys always has a lot of projects going on anyway. Our album has been taking up quite a bit of our time. More than half of it is pretty much finished, the last bits left to do are really just the violin and the emceeing. Actually, my singing will the very last thing to add. I guess I just make sounds and make it up and totally improvise – same with the piano playing! The violin is definitely my strongest point!”
With their fortnightly residency at Miss Libertine’s kicking off shortly, word is certainly about to spread about this eclectic pair. Already, according to Treweeke, America is calling with a U.S. tour in the bag for 2012. “The exact dates aren’t locked in just yet, but we’ll definitely be touring America next year. The first request I got was from Hawaii and a few people have hit me up in Miami as well. Apparently the crowds are just crazy over there so I can’t wait to experience that. Apparently they love the hip-hop bass music there. The UK is much more dubstep-oriented while America is more open-minded with the slower bass-y stuff. I guess it comes down to the Americans loving the glitch-hop sound because America has so much hip-hop influence. I think it would be a much better market for Dysphemic and Miss Eliza on that scale. The Androids EP has received heaps of interest in the ‘States, I’m a little bit surprised!”
