Dysphemic and Miss Eliza

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!” - The Unlikely Combination:Classical Dubstep Pioneers

The evolution of the shadowy, nebulous genre of dubstep over the past few years has been a curious thing to watch. The deep rumblings of bass and slamming drums that characterise its sound have had a deep pull on dance music in 2011 –at the same time, giving birth to a chaotic movement coloured by all manner of sonic influences. Melbourne’s powerhouse duo of Dysphemic and Miss Eliza are at the forefront of the action - having supported the likes of Chasing Shadows, Andy C, Foreign Beggars and Plastician on tour, with an EP and website launch party at Roxanne this week and a full album set to drop later this year. I spoke to both to find out a little more about what they’re up to.

We open up talking about the whack things coming out of the scene at the moment – “Listening to all the kinds of music that ends in ‘step’”, Eliza says of her day, with a giggle. “How is that even possible, Burial-step! An artist-name and step! What is ‘step’ anymore? It could be anything!” This aversion to the confines of genre becomes evident in their music - borne from a partnership between two talented musicians from vastly different worlds.



Dysphemic, known to his parents as Julian Treweeke, has a well-established career in electronica, with a number of fiercely good releases to his name, and cites a wild variety of scenes in his successful career as a producer. “I’ve done a lot of experimental electronic music – hardcore techno, a lot of jungle, DnB – I had a big break from that and did a lot of hip hop and vocal stuff, and kind of moved back to DnB and dubstep,” he says, of his past. “The stuff I’m doing at the moment with Miss Eliza and MC Hines – merging all of those styles into one project.”



The other half of the couple is Miss Eliza aka Eliza Quirit. A classically-trained violinist since five, Quirit grew up in the concert halls of Australia performing and winning over forty awards as a soloist with Australia’s symphony orchestras, as well as performing abroad in China and the Phillipines, and is a graduate of both the Victorian College of the Arts and Monash University. “I did that for a long time! I’ve always loved performing as a soloist for orchestras,” she says. These days she’s known for her riotous, individualistic stage presence in an altogether different scene - asked about it, she laughs, and says of her past in classical music: “I was never really a team player, I never really wanted to sit – I wanted to be up the front with the big dress, taking bows!”



How did she find her way into the dark and mysterious realms of electronica, then? “I grew up on classical music, of course, and nineties RnB but my second eldest brother Christian was really into it – the rave scene, the mid-nineties!” They both become rather animated when it comes to the topic of nineties dance, mentioning rave culture and hanging out in London, ’92 when drum and bass was huge. It’s also where they first met. “We met behind the decks at a party,” Treweeke explains. “Eliza played me some of her IDM/experimental stuff, and a lot of her stuff was very melodic - I think we just really clicked.” It’s a collaborative process that has impacted more than just their careers in music – the two are boyfriend and girlfriend who live together. They love it: “We get to spend all this time together doing things!” Quirit says, happily. “And a lot of opportunity to practise with each other to get it really tight.”



The results are off the chain, as the monstrous recordings of the duo’s onstage antics that have surfaced on YouTube reinforce. With Treweeke blasting out broken beats as Quirit wields her violin like a weapon, ripping out melodies with fearsome precision – juxtaposing her delicate compositions with the murky depths of electronica. It’s a dream come true for Quirit. “I get to live my classical violin dreams – I reckon it’s like a violin making love to a subwoofer!” Treweeke agrees - “I think collaborating with Eliza and other people has really opened up my mind to different things.”



Their website and Sloth EP launch party is at Roxanne Parlour this week. “We’ve got some special plans for next Friday!” Eliza says excitedly. “We’ve got a few new tracks that no-one has heard yet, and MC Hines is going to be rapping with us, too - he’s on the new album.” Treweeke describes the gig as a chance to showcase the new direction their music has taken – a teaser for audiences waiting to hear their work together on record.



Their album Classical Remix, will hopefully drop by the end of the year. “We’ve got some mixing down to do, but it’s gone so fast!” says Quirit, of the album’s birth. So, what to expect? “Some crazy violin action,” she begins. “And triple-time violin shredding,” Treweeke interjects, and they both laugh. Quirit continues: “Triple-time rap, and some really beautiful melodic luscious landscapes”. Exciting. - Beat Magazine

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