Joined briefly by Debbie Smith, before she was recruited by Echobelly, they added musicians Graham Newbury (drums) and Pookie Jin (violin). When Andrew Blick was drafted in on trumpet, the unusual textural sound of QUINT was born.
The first few gigs over the winter of 1994-95 brought an excellent return - two live reviews in Melody Maker and an interview in The Lizard magazine as a result of the excitement the band generated. One astute reviewer remarked "Quint arrive from five different musical zones, but refuse to waste time telling each other where they've been". John Loder of Southern Records saw this promise and signed the band for a debut single produced by Steve Albini in June 1995. The songs 'Blueprint to a Blackout' and 'Sawtooth' were released as a 7" vinyl single on 2 October 1995.
Immediately capturing the 'No. 1 Single of the Week' in Melody Maker (where journalist Dave Jennings described 'Blueprint to a Blackout' as "a wake-up call . . . amazingly stimulating and uplifting"), followed by an Advance piece in the same paper only a week later (in which journalist Mark Luffman described the music as "some of the most exciting avant-garde pop you'll set ears on"), the QUINT single was an unquestionable critical success. NME favourably reviewed the band's single launch at The Splash Club and UK radio stations echoed the enthusiasm - it was played on The John Peel Show, RTM, XFM and GLR (where it was no. 12 in the Indie Charts). The single was also picked up by foreign DJs, blasting through the airwaves of OUI FM in Paris, Couleur 3 in Switzerland, Rock de Lux in Barcelona and Radio Brussels and Rock a Go Go in Belgium.
1996 began with QUINT's inclusion in Tips for '96 of the year's first issue of Melody Maker. They also appeared on the compilation album Punkadelia, released by the Spanish label El Colectiva Karma in August. During the summer, Steve Gilchrist replaced Graham Newbury on drums and, soon afterwards, Ian Watson (ex-Terry Edwards and the Scapegoats and Gallon Drunk) replaced Andrew Blick on trumpet and guitar. The year ended with a sold-out UK tour supporting Shellac.
In 1997, QUINT concentrated on recording an album: Time Wounds All Heals (catalogue no. Egypt1) was released as a CD in March 1998 on Egypt Records, distributed by Cargo throughout the UK, Europe, Scandinavia and the USA. The album has already received favourable reviews in The Sunday Times, Melody Maker and Vox and airplay on GLR's Sean Hughes Show and XFM. The band will be touring the UK in April, Europe in May and Ireland in June to promote the album, so keep an eye out for live performances.
QUINT's
next live dates are:
Wednesday 12th August at The Water Rats, London.
Monday 31st August at The Environmental Fair, Carshalton Park,
Ruskin Road.