Hashim Abdul Quddus aka »HaQ« has been circuit ending and other sound manipulation techniques fusing his western classically training with Desi inspired traditional music along with his Native American tribe: the Oglala- Lakota (commonly called "Sioux Indians").
Along with Mia Tazaad (vox/found sound) and Ibby Tazaad (sound collector), «elephant bass communication» is HaQ's latest band,
taking inspiration from how elephants communicate with each other over long distances via infrasonic sounds made with the stomping of their feet; the elephants dance.
Humorously, ebc's critics and fans agree on their opposed review describing them as "nightmarish", "sounding like it belongs in a horror file" or even as "sonic poetry, except I like it."
How HaQ (prouncoud H-A-Q) came from the middle of Kansas to [not-in-the-middle-east-but-in-southern-Asia-not-that-it-should-matter] Pakistan is, like his sonic constructs, quite the journey.
Though born in Kansas, HaQ grew up in Los Angeles and Seattle exposed to a variety of artists from ABBA to Skinny Puppy to Joy Division/New Order and the bands that would be his unlikeliest of influence: anything coming from the art collective COUM Transitions, in particular COIL and Genesis P Orridge.
From having to sneak in to perform with his first band as an [underage] teen to manufacturing an "industrial boy band" in his early twenties, HaQ has performed from the seediest of nightclubs to an empty audience to a being a regular under various band names Temple 40, In Soma (for a look back in time, the website is still up though one would need a rather complicated setup just to play the few songs still up as we had used the cutting edge technology of dialup music streaming> Real Player [fun fact: even the company no longer supports the format]), Auto-Aggression Device, and ration at classier dives such as the legendary [obligatory?] top-rated college bar Kirby's Beer Store (voted one of Playboy magazine's top dive bars in the country>not clear if that is a good thing or not), coffee shops, and the-rather-oddly-popular "artisan" donut [sic-"doughnut"] shops in middle America.
One favorite venue has been at the Mid America All Indian Center in Kansas; a community center for and by both indigenous Native Americans and anyone else interested in various tribes' traditions. It is these traditions, >Lakota< virtues that helps HaQ navigate where the waters flow with >elephant bass communication< easter egg laden lyrics primarily concerning climate change, defense of misfits, ending mental health stigmas… as well as the mysterious tale of Lena and Solerno woven throughout; themes from the very beginning.
The >c< in ebc also stands for >collaboration< and indeed, musical cult icon Edward Ka-Spel, cofounder of The Legendary Pink Dots & The Tear Garden with Skinny Puppy, makes several guest appearances on the soon to be released Honey Comes Electric with singles available now on all major platforms. Also ebc has worked with other artists including euro rack maestro Daxium's Witness Exchange in New Orleans, Ifsh in Portland Oregon, as well as experimental artists from Urkraine to Spain.
Ebc's latest offering is the EP Run Right dedicated to "someone who should have known better but didn't" and the album Tasking Anima which has been in the making for some time as HaQ makes the transition from being not only a performance artist but recording as well with a controlled cacophony of layered textures conveying cathartic waves of emotion taking the listener to uncomfortable places yet worthwhile leaving one wondering where it all started and lose time.
