» Bio

Bio

Long Bio /// Short Bio (Fact Sheet)

The distinct mix of styles

Quintasy was hatched in the south of Luxembourg in 2006. Five dynamic people wanted to mix, build and spread their love of sounds and rhythms. The diverse musical styles and different personalities of the band members offer a varied and pleasurable ear massage. Jazz, Folk, Pop, Rock, Blues, Metal and classical music all converge, however not excluding any other musical styles in doing so. Things are supposed to remain flexible and variable, like the freaks of nature. The lyrics can pop up in various languages as well. Creativity’s desire of freedom is infinite and should not be needlessly constrained.

First steps in the world of music

Nevertheless the recurrent thread can always be found through the songs whose lyrics are interpreted by singer-songwriter Nunzia with her rather smoky, breathy voice. Her mother, who sang in a choir herself back in the day, imparted the love of music to her. Hence the path to music was never in doubt for Nunz. She learned to play the guitar at age 15 and practiced with the Blues, Rock, Folk and Pop scene at the time, which surrounded her in the pubs as well as in the media.

Nunz made her first steps in the music scene in a number of bands, like “Coracao” (1997) or “Jazz or Never Express” (Jazz-Fusion, 1998) with Serge Vesque, Pierre Obertin among others, but also with the Engel Brothers, Yves Schulte etc. – it always depended on who joined in at the time. After several funny experiences, she decided in 1999 to definitely start a new project and proceeded to do just that with previously mentioned pianist Pierre Obertin. This led to the creation of “Message from Venus”. The band reached its peak in 2003 when they won the Emergenza competition in France, at the “Vache de Blues”. After their split in 2005 and a short break, she wanted to do another project.

Quintasy forms

Around this time, Nunz was singing in various Rock bands along the way, like “The Gang” and “The Kingstones” until she met lively Funk-Jazz orientated pianist Sacha Heck, for musical practice purposes at first, but soon things started to come together by themselves.

Back in the 90’s, Sacha Heck was rounding out the Blues-Funk-Rock ensemble “First-H” and after that band split up, he took part in a number of different projects (Big Band Opus 78, The Gentles …). Around the same time as Quintasy, he was part of the Rock band “Madcrow”, later renamed “Velvet Minx”. With Quintasy, Sacha took the task of concerting and arranging already existing finished songs like “Iceflowers”, “Daddy’s Debt”, “Living Outside”, brought his very own compositions into the fold, like “What Happens”, “Questions”, “Fantasy” etc., making the pieces come to life together with Nunzia.

Sacha’s performances tend to be playful and dynamic. Once he’s warmed up, he zestfully seems to sweep the keys off his synthesizer, delivering a burning, memorable performance.

The rhythm section

In 2006, Nunzia and Sacha added bass player Sylvain Schrantz to the mix. The former blues musician toured the area with the “Winkelpickers” for a couple of years before getting new input from various schools of music and workshops. He’s very much into playing around and working with effects, giving Quintasy’s songs their booming, groovy bass sound.

Drummer Christoph Engel (“Ah maja”) is a bundle of energy letting off some steam in Luxembourg’s rock scene in t-shirts dripping with sweat amidst a nicotine-soaked atmosphere with the Grunge band “Nogostunts”, which made it all the more interesting for the band to integrate him in order to try to find the common denominator in a very special way. His quick-witted arguments are very persuasive and he reels in the fish. How about that?

The icing on the cake

The fifth element then came in 2008 with saxophone player Jérôme Fellerich. The two-time father is well-known in the Jazz-scene, playing with the “Big Band Opus 78”, “Harmonie Dudelange” or conducting his very own Big band. He is a perfect match for the Quintasy sound. On songs like “Fantasy”, he passionately plays the transverse flute, which perfectly melds with the lyrical content covering the ubiquitous struggle for acceptance.

On “Magic Dark Eyes”, Jérôme proves himself by very warmly playing his Alt saxophone, thereby giving the song its necessary swell. This song is about a covetable attraction between people that seems to be out of this world. However, his presence is also very much felt on other songs, only adding good things to the cause.

The first CD

With great pleasure the band released their first CD “Kick off” in July of 2010. It contains seven songs from their manifold catalogue and is available for the modest sum of 10 Euros at live concerts and gigs. The CD release party takes place on 3rd December 2010 at Café Steelway, Oberkorn. A journey through the realm of Quintasy lets you expect a lot and lets many things occur. It’s best to give it a listen yourself. The band is planning to release a video clip as well as another CD in 2011. The concert and live gigs schedule will be broadened to include neighboring countries.

Text: Nunzia (English Translation: Thierry Heck)

Quintasy Fact Sheet

Quintasy was formed in the south of Luxembourg in 2006. Five dynamic people wanted to mix, build and spread their love of sounds and rhythms. The diverse musical styles and different personalities of the band members offer a varied and pleasurable ear massage. They primarily work on their own compositions. Jazz, Folk, Pop, Rock, Blues, Metal and classical music all converge, however not excluding any other musical styles in doing so. Things are supposed to remain flexible and vicissitudinous, like the freaks of nature. The lyrics can pop up in various languages as well.

Nevertheless the recurrent thread can always be found through the songs whose lyrics are interpreted by singer-songwriter Nunzia Schickes with her rather smoky, breathy voice. Nunz made her first steps in music with a number of different bands such as “Coracao”, “Jazz or Never Express” and “Message from Venus” and later sang in various Rock bands along the way like “The Gang” and “The Kingstones”. A little while later, the fateful meeting with Sacha Heck occurred. Quickly they began working together on already existing finished songs as well as their own new compositions. Quintasy was born.

Dynamic keyboarder Sacha Heck is very versatile and already played the keyboard in the Funk-Rock-Blues Ensemble “First-H”, “Big Band Opus 78” or “The Gentles” for example. He’s also no stranger to rock music. He composed many songs for the bands “Madcrow” (later “Velvet Minx”) and is a most-welcomed guest on a multitude of different projects.

Bass player Sylvain Schrantz gives the band its solid, groovy base. He too is a very versatile musician who cannot be pigeonholed in terms of style. He initiated the “Scout band Wiltz”, played in the Rhythm and Blues band “The Winkelpickers”, is a member of the Jazz Club Trier and regularly takes part in their jam sessions.

Drummer Christoph Engel plays with a lot of energy and yet he makes it sound soft, light and open. He knows when and where to put the right emphasis on things and provides a lively rhythm. Besides Quintasy, he is also touring Luxembourg’s rock scene with the Grunge band “Nogostunts”.

Jérôme Fellerich plays the saxophone and the transverse flute in Quintasy as well as in the “Big Band Opus 78” and the “Harmonie Dudelange” or he conducts his very own big band. He gives the songs their essential flavor through his perceptive way of playing his instruments.

The differing provenance and the individual strengths of the band members hold creative potential, which is why work on own compositions began from the get-go. In order to share their music with other people, the band retreated to the recording studio in the fall of 2009, leading to the release of their first CD “Kick Off” in the summer of 2010. The CD contains 7 tracks that typically represent the style and sound of Quintasy.

A journey through the realm of Quintasy lets you expect a lot and lets many things occur. It’s best to give it a listen yourself.