The Qualia is an electro-pop band from Brooklyn, NY. We write conceptually-focused, handcrafted records in spare bedrooms. Our second album, “Secret Weapon,” will be released by WTII Records on April 27th, 2010. Upon the release of our first record, Nevada’s Greatest!, in 2007, Side-line Magazine called The Qualia a “revolutionary band,” and Derek Pegritz hailed the band as “evocative of Gary Numan, Kraftwerk, and Afrika Bambataa, yet… exquisitely modern.”
The band has been playing one-off shows around the northeast for the last year, and is preparing to hit the road to support the new record in the first half of 2010. “Secret Weapon” will be accompanied by the Station Wagons single, a digital-only release featuring remixes from Daniel Myer, Caustic, and Milieu.
The Qualia was founded in 2006, after Lars Casteen completed recording the Nevada’s Greatest! LP. The record was a labor of love – the lush and byzantine EBM-inflected pop songs were recorded in several different cities over the course of a few years. WTII released the song “Better” as a single, featuring remixes by cut.rate.box and Lismore (the members of which have since started releasing music as The Golden Filter).
Currently, The Qualia consists of four members. They are Lars Casteen, Chvad SB (keyboards), Rossen Nedelchev (drums), and Zakai Robbins (bass, keyboards). Chvad is well-known from leading t.o.t.s., the Invisible Records-signed band. Rossen graduated from the Brooklyn Conservatory of Music in 2008 and leads his own jazz quartet. Zakai is an incomparable sound fx genius. Lars has an American Studies degree and works at an office.
photo by Ruth Arnold