William Holland (born 1980) is an English musician, DJ and record producer. He is based in New York City, after spending seven years in
Colombia. Holland records under various pseudonyms, including Quantic,
the Quantic Soul Orchestra, The Limp Twins, Flowering Inferno, and Ondatrópica. His music features elements of
cumbia
Cumbia refers to a number of musical rhythms and folk dance traditions of Latin America, generally involving musical and cultural elements from American Indigenous peoples, enslaved Africans during colonial times, and Europeans. Examples include:
...
,
salsa
Salsa most often refers to:
* Salsa (Mexican cuisine), a variety of sauces used as condiments
* Salsa music, a popular style of Latin American music
* Salsa (dance), a Latin dance associated with Salsa music
Salsa or SALSA may also refer to:
...
,
bossa nova, soul,
funk and
jazz
Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a m ...
. Holland plays guitars, bass, double bass, piano, organ, saxophone,
accordion and percussion. Much of his sound is original composition, rather than
sampling of other artists' material. In addition to his original compositions, he has also produced
remixes of over 30 songs.
Holland's first label was called Magnetic Fields, on which he released heavy soul and funk. Holland retired Magnetic Fields in 2003. In 2018, Holland founded the record label
Selva
Selva () is a coastal comarque (county) in Catalonia, Spain, located between the mountain range known as the Serralada Transversal or Puigsacalm and the Costa Brava (part of the Mediterranean coast). Unusually, it is divided between the provinc ...
, based in Brooklyn NY, and he has been releasing music on Selva since the start of 2020.
History
His albums ''
The 5th Exotic'' (2001) and ''
Apricot Morning'' (2002) featured vocals from British artists including soul singer
Alice Russell. In 2003, he assembled
The Quantic Soul Orchestra, a project aimed at producing 1960s/1970s style raw funk, playing guitar himself, and featuring musicians including his sister Lucy on saxophone.
In 2007, Holland moved to
Cali, Colombia. He set up an analogue studio called Sonido del Valle and recorded and released the Quantic Soul Orchestra album ''
Tropidélico'' (2007) and the self-titled debut from his tropical-dub side project, Quantic presenta Flowering Inferno (2008), which featured a variety of musicians from the area. He subsequently assembled the Combo Bárbaro ('Bárbaro' is a colloquial term in Colombia meaning 'very talented').
Holland's collaboration with
Nickodemus, "Mi swing es tropical", was featured on an Apple iPod television commercial in 2007.
The Quantic Soul Orchestra
The Quantic Soul Orchestra is a live band project of various musicians and Holland. Holland has recorded under several names, most notably Quantic.
The band's line-up changes from album to album, with sometime members including Holland's sister, saxophonist Lucy Holland, his Limp Twins collaborator Russ Porter and former
Hardkandy member Simon Little. Will Holland plays guitar and bass, and performs some of the percussion.
Their music focuses on reviving a dusty funk and jazz sound. They are signed to the
Tru Thoughts label and have released four albums to date as well as a collaborative album with funk and soul artist
Spanky Wilson.
Their album ''
Tropidélico'' was recorded in Colombia, where Holland was based at the time.
Discography
Albums
Holland has self-produced eighteen studio albums under various pseudonyms. Until 2020, all his albums were released on the label
Tru Thoughts from
Brighton:
Singles
*2001: Quantic – "We Got Soul"
*2001:
The Quantic Soul Orchestra – "Super 8"
*2001: The Limp Twins – "Living Well"
*2001: Quantic – "Life in the Rain"
*2002: Quantic feat.
Aspects – "Primate Boogaloo"
*2002: Quantic feat.
Alice Russell – "Sweet Calling"
*2002: Quantic – "
Apricot Morning"
*2002: Quantic – "
Through These Eyes"
*2003: Quantic – "Search the Heavens"
*2004: Quantic – "
Mishaps Happening"
*2005: Quantic feat.
Spanky Wilson – "Don't Joke with a Hungry Man"
*2005: Quantic – "
Perception
Perception () is the organization, identification, and interpretation of sensory information in order to represent and understand the presented information or environment. All perception involves signals that go through the nervous system ...
"
*2005: Quantic – "
One Off's Remixes and B Sides"
*2006: Quantic – "The Sound of Everything"
*2006: Quantic feat. Alice Russell – "
Somebody's Gonna Love You
"Somebody's Gonna Love You" is a song written by Rafe Van Hoy and Don Cook, and recorded by American country music artist Lee Greenwood
Melvin Lee Greenwood (born October 27, 1942) is an American country music singer-songwriter. He also play ...
"
*2006: Quantic – "Tell It Like You Mean It"
*2007: Quantic – "Sabor"
*2008: Quantic & Nickodemus – "Mi swing es tropical"
*2008: Quantic presenta Flowering Inferno – "Juanita Bonita"
*2008: Quantic presenta Flowering Inferno – "Death of the Revolution"
*2008: Quantic presenta Flowering Inferno – "Ciudad del Swing"
*2008: Quantic – "When You're Through"
*2009: Quantic & Nickodemus – "Sun People"
*2011: Quantic – "Sol Clap"
*2011: Quantic & Los Miticos del Ritmo – "Hiphop en Cumbia"
*2012: Quantic & Alice Russell with
the Combo Bárbaro – "Look Around the Corner"
*2012: Quantic & Alice Russell with the Combo Bárbaro – "Magdalena"
*2013: Quantic & Alice Russell with the Combo Bárbaro – "I'd Cry"
*2013: Quantic &
Ana Tijoux
Anamaría Tijoux Merino (; born 12 June 1977), commonly known by her stage name Ana Tijoux or Anita Tijoux, is a Chilean-French singer and musician. She became famous in Latin America as the MC of hip-hop group Makiza during the late 1990s. In ...
– "
Doo Wop (That Thing)
"Doo Wop (That Thing)" is a song recorded by American recording artist Lauryn Hill for her debut solo studio album ''The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill'' (1998). It was written and produced by Hill. The song was released as the lead single from ''Th ...
"
*2013: Quantic & Nidia Góngora – "Muévelo negro"
*2014: Quantic – "Duvidó"
*2014: Quantic & Alice Russell – "You Will Return"
*2014: Quantic – "Spark It"
*2014: Quantic – "El Yagé" (self-released)
Collaborations on individual songs by other artists
Holland has collaborated and was featured on many recordings by other musicians, including (listed alphabetically):
*
DJ Greyboy
DJ Greyboy (a.k.a. Andreas Stevens) is an acid jazz DJ from San Diego, California now residing in Long Beach, California. Early in his career he was the partner of Rob Dyrdek in Crime on the Turn Tables. His style of music includes hip hop, so ...
, on the track "Got to Be a Love" from the album ''Soul Mosaic'' (2004).
* Kinny, on the track "Enough Said" (2008).
*
Lanu, on the track "Mother Earth" from the album ''This Is My Home'' (2007).
*
Mr. Scruff, on the tracks "It's Dancing Time" (2002), "Giraffe Walk" (2006) and "Donkey Ride" (2008).
* Nickodemus, as co-producer for "La lluvia", "Didibina" on the album ''Sun People'' (2009), and on "Conmigo" (2012) as guitarist.
* Nostalgia 77, on the track "Thing" (2004); as saxophonist.
*
Alice Russell, on the track "Somebody's Gonna Love You" from the album ''Under the Munka Moon'' (2004).
* Transgressors, on the tracks "Will Power" and "Money for Born, Money for Die" from the single ''Will Power'' (2012); as guitarist.
*
The Whitefield Brothers
The Whitefield Brothers are a German funk band. The band, which consists of brothers Jan and Max Weissenfeldt, was previously known as the "'Poets of Rhythm"' beginning in 1991. Under this name, they were signed to the Quannum Projects label after ...
on the track "Lullaby for Lagos" from the album ''Earthology'' (2009); as guitarist.
References
External links
*
*
Quanticat
Allmusic
AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databa ...
Official Bandcamp Site*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Holland, Will
English jazz musicians
English multi-instrumentalists
British DJs
Living people
Crossover jazz musicians
People from Bewdley
Musicians from Worcestershire
English soul musicians
British trip hop musicians
Nu jazz musicians
English funk musicians
Bossa nova musicians
Downtempo musicians
1980 births