Shollen Quarshie (born 1985), known by his stage name DJ Q, is a DJ and record producer from

Huddersfield Huddersfield is a market town in the Kirklees district in West Yorkshire, England. It is the administrative centre and largest settlement in the Kirklees district. The town is in the foothills of the Pennines. The River Holme's confluence into ...

, England. He forms part of the group TQD alongside

Flava D Danielle Gooding, professionally known as Flava D, is an English UK garage, grime and bassline DJ and music producer. She was previously signed to the Butterz record label and is now signed to Hospital Records . She is one third of the UK gar ...

and

Royal-T Mark Taylor, professionally known as Royal-T, is a British UK garage, bassline and grime DJ and music producer from Southampton. He is signed to Butterz and Rinse Recordings. Taylor was spotted in 2010 by Butterz label founders Elijah and Ski ...

Early life

DJ Q’s musical journey started from a young age at The Nook in

Holmfirth Holmfirth is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Kirklees, West Yorkshire, England, on the A635 and A6024 in the Holme Valley, at the confluence of the River Holme and Ribble, south of Huddersfield and west of Barnsley. It mostly consist ...

, listening to music played by his parents. It was at the age of 12 when 'Q' first got involved with the

UK garage UK garage, abbreviated as UKG, is a genre of electronic dance music which originated in England in the early to mid-1990s. The genre was most clearly inspired by garage house, but also incorporates elements from dance-pop, R&B, and jungle. It ...

scene, buying vinyl and tape packs. When his vinyl collection grew larger Q finally got a pair of record decks in his bedroom. After teaching himself to mix, Q started to get bookings at local parties at the age of 15, before learning to produce music the next year at college.

Career

Q's break on

radio Radio is the technology of signaling and communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 30 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a transmit ...

came in 2004, when a friend working at

BBC Radio 1Xtra BBC Radio 1Xtra is a British digital radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It broadcasts black music and urban music, including hip hop and R&B and is a sister station to Radio 1. Launching at 18:00 on 16 August 2002, it had been cod ...

informed him that the station were looking for a new DJ on the pulse of the rising

bassline Bassline (also known as a bass line or bass part) is the term used in many styles of music, such as blues, jazz, funk, Dub music, dub and electronic music, electronic, traditional music, traditional, or classical music for the low-pitched Part ( ...

scene in the North of England. He submitted a mix CD, and Q eventually became the youngest DJ at 1Xtra, hosting the fortnightly ''UKG Mix Show''. It was around the same time Q released his first vinyl, "Love Like This (The Reasons)" which was a big hit in the

scene. This brought him more bookings at bassline events and as time passed, Q produced more hits such as "Tea Bag", "Dirty" and later "You Wot!", which was signed and released via

Ministry of Sound Ministry of Sound or Ministry of Sound Group is a multimedia entertainment business based in London with a nightclub, shared workspace and private members' club, worldwide events operation, music publishing business and fitness studio. James ...

. "You Wot!" made the

UK top 50 The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

upon its release in summer 2008, which led to remix work for the likes of

Amy Winehouse Amy Jade Winehouse (14 September 1983 – 23 July 2011) was an English singer and songwriter. She was known for her deep, expressive contralto vocals and her eclectic mix of musical genres, including soul, rhythm and blues and jazz. A membe ...

Dizzee Rascal Dylan Kwabena Mills (born 18 September 1984), better known by his stage name Dizzee Rascal, is a British MC and rapper. A pioneer of grime music, his work has also incorporated elements of UK garage, bassline, British hip hop, and R&B. Dizze ...

Keri Hilson Keri Lynn Hilson (born December 5, 1982) is an American R&B singer, songwriter and actress. She was born and raised in Decatur, Georgia and spent most of her youth working with producer Anthony Dent as a songwriter and background vocalist for ...

and

Katy B Kathleen Anne Brien (born 8 May 1989), better known as Katy B, is an English singer and songwriter. She released her debut studio album, ''On a Mission (Katy B album), On a Mission'', in 2011, which spawned two top five hits, "Katy on a Mission ...

to name a few. Q continued to host his

BBC 1Xtra BBC Radio 1Xtra is a British digital radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It broadcasts black music and urban music, including hip hop and R&B and is a sister station to Radio 1. Launching at 18:00 on 16 August 2002, it had been cod ...

show – by now a weekly

broadcast Broadcasting is the distribution of audio or video content to a dispersed audience via any electronic mass communications medium, but typically one using the electromagnetic spectrum ( radio waves), in a one-to-many model. Broadcasting began ...

- throughout his mainstream success, and frequently appeared on sister station

BBC Radio 1 BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It specialises in modern popular music and current chart hits throughout the day. The station provides alternative genres at night, including electronica, dance, ...

for guest mixes, before his departure in 2012 after 8 years at the station. He soon began a new monthly show on

Ministry of Sound Radio The Ministry of Sound Radio (MoS) began service as a United Kingdom, UK-based radio station operating since 1999. It was accessible on the Ministry of Sound website as streaming audio until March 2016. Current MoS radio's DJs include: DJ Bailey, ...

, presenting the ''Essential Garage'' show. Recent years have seen an increase in new productions from Q, with over 10 digital single and EP releases since 2012 that cross a broad spectrum of

dance music Dance music is music composed specifically to facilitate or accompany dancing. It can be either a whole musical piece or part of a larger musical arrangement. In terms of performance, the major categories are live dance music and recorded danc ...

. These include "Say to You" (released under the alias Classified), the ''Sound Boy Connection'' EP via US label Party Like Us, and three singles from his debut album via Local Action Records. During his years in the

music industry The music industry consists of the individuals and organizations that earn money by writing songs and musical compositions, creating and selling recorded music and sheet music, presenting concerts, as well as the organizations that aid, train, ...

, Q has also played music in countries across the globe and Europe particularly, with sets in places such as

Ibiza Ibiza (natively and officially in ca, Eivissa, ) is a Spanish island in the Mediterranean Sea off the eastern coast of the Iberian Peninsula. It is from the city of Valencia. It is the third largest of the Balearic Islands, in Spain. Its l ...

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the Capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population ...

, Italy, Russia, Australia and the United States.

Work with TQD

TQD (often stylised as t q d or tqd) is a collaborative act that was formed in 2015, comprising

, DJ Q and

, with the name TQD being an amalgamation of the last letter of each of their names. All three artists were already signed to the Butterz record label and thus all TQD releases have also been released on Butterz. The act play and produce the genres of music that the individuals do (such as UK garage, bassline and grime), however they have released experimental tracks that cross into many other genres. In 2015, Royal-T and DJ Q were collaborating on their first project together and they asked Flava D if she wanted to join in on the project too. This would then go on to be their debut single "Day and Night", released on Butterz on the 18 April 2015, both digitally and as a limited 500 copy vinyl pressing. This track was released as "Day and Night (Day Mix)", however an alternate mix of the single was also released on the B-side as "Day and Night (Night Mix)". Due to their solo efforts and differences in location however, TQD releases were sparse with their second track titled "Ghosts" being previewed digitally over a year later in 2016 and then being released on their second vinyl release ''Only One/Ghosts''. The trio gained ample attention due to their releases and increasingly popular live sets and thus began working on an album together. This was formally announced at the beginning of 2017 to be the debut album, ''ukg'' and would be released on March 17, 2017. The album contains features from

P Money Paris Moore-Williams (born 8 April 1989), better known by his stage name P Money, is a British grime MC, rapper and songwriter from New Cross, South East London, who is also active in the drum and bass scene. He is best known for his live pe ...

, Swindle and Skilliam and was met with generally positive reviews. ''

Pitchfork A pitchfork (also a hay fork) is an agricultural tool with a long handle and two to five tines used to lift and pitch or throw loose material, such as hay, straw, manure, or leaves. The term is also applied colloquially, but inaccurately, to th ...

'' called the track "Vibsing Ting" "strange and outstanding" and ''

Mixmag ''Mixmag'' is a British electronic dance and clubbing magazine published in London. Launched in 1983 as a print magazine, it has branched into dance events, including festivals and club nights. History The first issue of ''Mixmag'' was prin ...

'' said it consisted of "10 hard-hitting face melters." However, ''Clash'' magazine wrote that the album was "disappointingly short" and that "there’s a feeling that t q d aren’t really a case for three heads being better than one." The

Bandcamp Bandcamp is an American online audio distribution platform founded in 2007 by Oddpost co-founder Ethan Diamond and programmers Shawn Grunberger, Joe Holt and Neal Tucker, with headquarters in Oakland, California, US. On March 2, 2022, Bandcamp ...

release of ''ukg'' contained three extra tracks that were not present on the vinyl or physical CD releases. Though they have not made any official releases since their debut album as a trio, each member continues to produce and release music individually and the act still performs shows in many countries around the world, including the United Kingdom, Spain and Japan.

Discography

Albums

*''The Archive'' (2012) *''Ineffable'' (2014)

Singles

EPs

* ''Q Bass Trax 1'' (2013) * ''Sound Boy Connection EP'' (2013) * ''Love Keeps Changing'' (2013) - rumpet & Badman, with DJ Haus

References

External links

DJ Q's official Tumblr blog

The Hub Entertainment - Management

DJ Q's official Twitter

DJ Q's official Facebook Page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Q, Dj 1985 births Living people Black British DJs Black British radio presenters English record producers Bassline musicians UK garage musicians Remixers BBC Radio 1Xtra presenters Musicians from Huddersfield Electronic dance music DJs