The Quarelation Coalition

A Profile

2020, a year that will well and truly be fixed in the minds of all those that lived through it. A year that will influence people for decades to come, in both positive and negative ways. A year that despite the distancing imposed on the world has gone someway towards bringing people together. Whether it is over the internet, or making people appreciate that personal contact we seem to have lost sight of in the modern age.

For musicians it has been a year of all these things and more. Whether its the passion ignited within the industry to rally together against those that would see it dissolve, or the innovative ways in which bands and songwriters have found to keep their music alive and firmly planted in the publics consciousness. One group of musicians from deep within the West Midlands are a shining example of how creatives are making the best of a bad situation.

The Quarelation Coalition is a band forged from the frustrations and chaos of the pandemic. Six like minded musicians from across the West Midlands area came together via the internet to produce an album, that is a musical representation of their feelings at the time of lockdown.

“….I think if it wan’t for this pandemic then I don’t think, personally, anything would have turned out the way that it has….” Erik. D

After completing a three day run of songwriting, Funk Goblin, headed to the internet and began to search out people to join his newly formed project.

“….Because of the lockdown I had three days to just write songs, then eventually I felt I had more than enough and so started to bring the band together….” Funk Goblin

The unique circumstances of this gathering meant that for most of the musicians involved this was their first time working together without meeting in person beforehand.

“….I had never met, or worked together with any of them before, and the first time we met was after the album we recorded was finished, it was a bit surreal honestly as most of that first meet up was me figuring out who was who and what instrument they linked to….” Erik. D

This unusual way of working, rather than hindering their creativity, actually had a freeing effect on each one of them.

“….Even though we hadn’t met in person, it still felt so comfortable as we had shared our music and so had an idea of who we all were before meeting, it honestly makes me look forward to performing live with them all even more….” Alb

Compiling the entirety of their debut album from home is just one of the stand out facts about this band.

“….It was just so comfortable to be able to record from home, and so freeing to have a comfortable space to work in, I know for me it allowed me to get out my frustrations and thoughts unhindered and create something honest….” Erik. D

Hinged on an almost anarchistic attitude and a Funk fuelled spirit, the Coalition began to form the bones of their album not long after forming, and soon had create their unique sound.

“….We are all influenced heavily by different genres and artists and so we are able to create quite a good style and unique feel, atleast that’s what I believe….” Funk Goblin

Not long after the bands formation and before the release of their first single ‘Isolate’, the Coalition underwent a dynamic re-creation.

“….We created our alter ego’s originally to be characters who walk through a fictional block of flats and discover new music on each floor, os it would almost be like a story concept, but then as time went on things just developed and it became more swayed towards getting our feelings out there but we decided to keep the alter egos….” Alb

“….For me, it almost created a kind of separation between myself in the present and the self that recorded the song and sang the lyrics….even listening to it back now, months onwards, I feel less confused and uncertain as I did when originally recording the tracks, and having that alter ego in place sort of helps to section it all off, in a good way….” Erik. D

Armed with this new direction and a plethora of illustrations and innovative ideas the band cut their album and released it to the world. Proving that despite everything music can still be created, produced, and heard no matter the situation surrounding it.

“….Now, we’re just really excited to get out there and start gigging the songs live….” Funk Goblin

“….I’m just really excited to see what we can create once we are allowed to record together and even be able to write together in the same room, it’s been great having this experience but it would be interesting to see what is created by us in a studio setting….” Erik. D

So for now the Coalition wait, biding their time until they can take the stage and begin to spread their message in person.

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