06/13/2025
Happy 25th anniversary to Quasimoto’s The Unseen.
: It’s the late 90s. I was at an indie vinyl distributor in SF where I worked my way up to head of indie hip hop. I ran my label at night, releasing Bay Area, DJ-friendly boom bap on vinyl only.
One night I heard The Lootpack on college radio. I got the record and called the number on the back. It was Madlib’s dad. It was an EP called ‘Ill Psyche Move’ and I was in love. I ordered 1000 copies & the group came up to SF to meet me. They knew Stones Throw from Charizma, Homeless Derilex, etc. We agreed to do a full album.
On one of their demo tapes, I heard the b-side and immediately wanted it to come out on Stones Throw. I asked Madlib about it - he said it was his side project, Quasimoto. It easily became my favorite stuff I was involved in at the time. The East Coast wasn’t really feeling it, but we got love from Cali DJs like the Beat Junkies and support in Europe, Australia & Japan.
When the Quas LP finally came out in ‘99, I convinced Madlib to play record release shows in LA & SF. Madlib said half-jokingly, “I’ll only do it if you get a life-sized furry costume of that aardvark creature (from the first Quas 12”) made.” I found a costume maker in the Yellow Pages who agreed to do it for $800. It was very homemade-looking, but close enough.
Madlib made the Quas songs by recording beats into his Tascam 388 tape machine, slowing it way down, recording the raps in his normal voice, then speeding it back up, which gave it that helium chipmunk sound. We had to use a pitch shifter effects unit for shows. Worked fine at home & soundcheck, but in costume it was a disaster. It created an audio feedback loop, like looking at yourself with a mirror in front and behind you, where you see infinite reflections of yourself.
Madlib rapped in costume at the SF show. You couldn’t hear a word through all the feedback. For LA the next day, he said he’d only do it if Wildchild wore the costume and rapped next to him, who luckily knew the lyrics. But sure enough, more feedback & embarrassment.
He told me he’d never perform on stage as Quasimoto again. To this day, he’s kept his promise. Happy 25 years of The Unseen.
