Local producer showcased at EDM show
Guelph producer Elaquent, otherwise known as eQ, provided the vibes and the waves at Silence on Saturday night. Elaquent, who is based mainly out of Toronto, came back to his hometown, which as he says was, “like playing a showing in my backyard.”
And it felt like the show took place in a backyard. The show itself was very personal. With no stage, it felt like Elaquent was showcasing his instrumentals to his friends, while we vibed out with him. His live sampling was a treat as well. Too often do I see DJs, especially in the EDM scene, use a board and rarely add anything to the set except click play and transition to a different song before a drop. But Elaquent supplied live drums on his tracks, among other impressive feats during his set.
The Guelph producer played in a dark room, while his iPad and his sampling machine provided the backlight to the chilled-out atmosphere. The crowd’s necks were certainly breaking as Elaquent dropped his soulful beats that were complemented by glitchy sounds, which provided a perfect mix of hip-hop and electronic. The electronic sounds gave the tracks the textures and depth to stand alone without the need of any vocals but the samples.
But with J Dilla samples frequently spread throughout his set, eQ’s presence was authentically hip-hop in nature. A remix of Slum Village’s classic “Raise it Up” was a case-in-point example of how Elaquent gave a fresh twist to traditional hip-hop sampling.
Elaquent himself has a new EP dropping soon, and in the meantime, his whole catalogue is refreshing and great to relax to. His music is excellent to study with as well, and, as we are coming to exam season, instrumentals are something everybody needs in abundance for their study playlists. So, do yourself a favour: peep Elaquent, and support local artists.