A New Era of Ultra Q

Ultra Q talks influence and growth in the music industry

Photo and Words by: Gracie Silverstein

Ultra Q is a 4-piece band from Oakland, California, led by Jakob Armstrong (vocals/guitar), Chris (drums) and Enzo Malaspina (guitar), and Kevin Judd (bass). Previously known as Mt. Eddy, they first released music in 2017 before renaming their collective in 2019, and redefining their sound. With support from Benches, Why Not, and Been Steller, Ultra Q headlined their own tour across North America earlier in 2022. Now supporting Barns Courtney on his Out with The Old tour, they are traveling across the country yet again, this fall. Off the Record Press contributor, Gracie Silverstein, sat down with them on October 24th, before their show at Park West in Chicago, IL.  

Gracie Silverstein: First, I wanted to ask about your tour experience so far and how this tour is different from other shows you've done? 

Enzo Malaspina: Actually, actually amazing. I mean, it's really fun just happening to go out on tour. The offer was very last minute, the acceptance was very last minute. And, pulling us all together to go on a tour where we really had no idea what the expectation was... It was kind of scary, but once we got on tour, the whole crew is so nice. All of the venue staff have been amazing and the shows have been great. The fans have been super nice. 

Jakob Armstrong: It's the type of shows too, where only a handful of people know our music or our name. Literally, there'll be no more than five people a night who like, know our band, and so it's pretty cool to see people kind of be won over at the show. That's probably been one of the best parts too, meeting a bunch of new people. 

Kevin Judd: Earlier this year we did a few months of touring as a headliner, so it's kind of the opposite.  

Chris Malaspina: And, into that too, we've had a tough time getting support tours. This is our first, since, Bad Suns. So yeah, it's been kind of tough. Like just kind of dealing with that because you just don't know like what you're doing wrong. You know, because you're like what the fuck is going on? We're putting all this music out like we don't know what we’re doing wrong. But to finally get this, it's really pretty fucking cool. 
How long have you all known each other and how do you think your relationship with each other affects your tour experience? 

Jakob: We've known each other forever. I've known Chris and Enzo since like third grade. Around there, very early in elementary school. And then we all met Kevin in high school when he joined the band. 

I mean at this point it's like we have such a routine to touring where, at least right now, it's just us four in the car, you know. Whenever we get one hotel room with two beds, me and Kevin share a bed, and Enzo and Chris share a bed. So I think we have it figured out so well at this point because we're lucky that we started touring so early. We got to figure out a lot of the harder parts of touring when we were still teenagers.

 I'm twenty-four now and everyone’s in their twenties. We know how to do this really well and we're really efficient, I think. We're just kind of like seasoned tour people, already, and we’re still super young, so that’s really cool.  

 I was going to say, you recently celebrated the five-year anniversary of your Mt. Eddy album, “Chroma”, how have you seen your musical influences and your relationships with each other change over these past five years? 

Jakob: It’s changed so much. I mean, five years since “Chroma”, it’s crazy. First of all, that feels like it was just yesterday.

Kevin: It also feels like it was ten years ago. 

Jakob: Yeah, it also feels like I barely even remember that stuff at all. Like literally today, we just teased the start of our new album, pretty much. But that started today, the whole album process for us started today. So, that's a pretty cool coincidence as well. 

Enzo: I'm just such a different person. I think everyone here has learned a lot and just gone through many life experiences. I mean, five years ago I was sixteen. And I'm twenty-one now and that's a big jump in terms of maturity. 

 And, in terms of learning about new music and honing your craft, learning what kind of musician you want to be and what kind of music you want to make, and how our relationship altogether, the four of us, can grow over time. It's only become positive, we have ups and downs...

Jakob: Our confidence has increased so much. We're so proud and confident in the stuff that we're doing now, so that also feels really good. 

Enzo: And whereas, “Chroma” was just like, “Hey, let's make an album. We got it. We got enough songs, yeah?” 

That leads me to my next question. How has your outlook on life changed as you've gained more exposure and public support? But also, as you’ve honed in on making music throughout that process? 

Jakob: Well, I think especially on a tour like this, where you get to see people play at a level where they're making a living doing what they love to do, that's really inspiring just to be around. And it makes you go, “Oh, this is possible that people can do this, and there’s a way to do it”. And so, just being in the environment, you know because up to this point, our environment was very much still like ‘local band’ feeling and still felt like we were stuck in that world a little bit. So, it's pretty cool to kind of break out of that and get to see live music from this point of view. 

Kevin: I almost have like too many things to say about that question because the first tours we ever did were like, really fun and crazy, exciting, and weird because we were in high school. People were almost weirded out by the fact that we were really young. And not just like the patrons, people we were on tour with, people who worked at venues. 

I feel like the live music industry is more refined than it seems. Like even at this level, it's nothing like you would expect. We do the same thing. You get into a really solid routine. I mean, none of us sleep very much and we're always driving. 

Jakob: We are always driving. And In a way, it feels like we're punching up a little bit. We’re on this tour that is designed for someone who's at a higher level than us. It’s just us four in the van and we're making all these drives. Like in order to start this tour we had to drive from SoCal to Detroit in two days. 

Kevin: We did an eighteen-hour day and a seventeen-hour day. 

Jakob: We did it. You know we're here and we're on the tour now. 

So, who drives?  

Chris: All of us.  

Kevin: This guy [Chris] drives more than the rest of us. He takes the tough drives. 

What are you usually listening to when you're driving? 

Jakob: Kevin and I just saw [My Chemical Romance] in Oakland, like two weeks ago. 

Chris: We listen to My Chem, all the time.  

Jakob: I've been obsessed with "Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge”. That album is fucking amazing. And then also this random band called Burning Hotels. They have like one EP, so good. 

Kevin: And also, whoever is driving gets aux. Whoever is at the helm, it's at their will. 

Enzo: Music people can sleep too. 

Kevin: Yeah, Enzo plays Aphex Twin. 

Chris: I play a lot of country and like old ballads and stuff. I have the windows rolled up, the heat cranked. 

Kevin: Jakob and I watched an Oasis performance at Wembley last week and I've been listening to “Morning Glory” a lot.  

Outside of musical influences, what do you think inspires your artistic process the most? 

Enzo: I mean, what's inspiring me right now is just learning more about physical technology and also just technology, in general. As a graphic designer, learning more about tools because I've had to make a lot of merch and an album cover. 

Jakob: Yeah, he made the album cover. Or... guided the album cover because the album cover was made with DALL-E, which is an AI software. So we just typed in prompts based on the songs and then it made an image.  

Enzo: Figuring out how to manipulate a bunch of technologies is really inspiring as an artist right now. I just rebuilt part of my board. We had a friend help us (shout out to Anson from Benches), he helped us with building a rig for in-ear monitors, which is a huge step. And you know, we're kind of an anti-tracks band, I would say like we'd at least want to keep all the magic live.

Jakob: Because on the album, there's a lot of stuff with synthesizers and stuff that we want to play. 

Enzo: But you know, we can't buy like eight different synthesizers and bring that shit on tour in a fucking Chevy express van. That's where I'm having a lot of fun in writing. 

 And on the flip side of that, at least me personally, you know I get home and I pick up  a small Spanish guitar and I just start writing really simple acoustic songs. And that’s the other side of that, which is learning how to write songs, hopefully on the level that Jakob can write songs,because he pumps them out. 

Jakob: Sometimes, it depends on creative bursts. It's like I won't do anything. And all of a sudden, I got an idea and then it'll be like weeks and weeks and weeks and weeks of just making stuff. 

Chris, what inspires you to make art, to make music? 

Chris: I've always had a burning passion for drums, I think. That’ll never go away. I would kind of get down on myself a little bit because I haven't been able to practice or do anything like that for pretty much three years. I practiced for the first time in three years right before this tour. So it's been kind of tough. I just listen to drummers on Instagram or whatever and kind of pull stuff from them or tap things out on my lap, you know. It's been kind of hard. I've been more so focusing on-- 

Enzo: Running the fucking business. 

Chris: The band business

 Kevin: Because for a band like us, that's half of it. If not more.  

Today, you announced a ‘new era’ of Ultra Q is coming. Well, what would you say is new or different about what's coming out? 

Jakob: Well, I think it's going to be very different. I started writing the music for this album almost two years ago. So, I forget that I've had this stuff for so long, heard it so many million times, and know it so well. But then I'll go and I'll check back on what we've already released, and I'm like, holy shit. This is so different than what people know Ultra Q as. It's going to be really cool to see people interact with it because it's way different, but I think people will also still find a home with it. 

Chris: Something for everybody. 

Kevin: Yeah, a lot of different songs. The first song is not necessarily like the rest of the album. 

Chris: Yeah, track one and track two are like polar opposites, which is pretty cool. 

Jakob: One of the goals that we defined too was trying to break outside of our comfort zone, especially with trying to reach new people and reach people who wouldn't normally listen to a rock band. People who might not have chosen Ultra Q to listen to before might be interested in this though.

Enzo: I can't wait to play this album. In addition to how we're going to have to learn to perform these songs, we get to look back on the past songs that we've already written and maybe reform them in a new way in the same sort of set and recontextualize what's already there with what's about to come.  

Jakob: For instance, when we get home, we're pretty much going to relearn how to play our live show, which is going to be really exciting.  

 Last thing, once this tour is over, what are each of you looking forward to most? What is the one thing where you're like, “This is going to feel so good, once I’ve accomplished this?”

Kevin: Prepping for the new live show, I think. 

Chris: Once we have that down, I’ll be very proud. 

Jakob: What I'm looking forward to the most is our show on November 26th. We're going to try and make it happen, where that is our first time playing some of the new songs. 

Enzo: Fingers crossed. 

Jakob: But just like that first time that we get to play... [looking at Enzo] 

You know... you know, the songs. When we get to play those, I'm dying to do that. And just for them to come out and be released, as well. 

Enzo: We’re going to have to study. That is going to be like, I’m serious, 6 hours a day, every day until the show. I mean, that's what it took for me to figure out this new thing that I built. MIDI integration is what I had to do with my pedalboard, but that's only because Jakub doesn't like fiddling around with pedals and so he left the more complicated shit to me. 

Jakob: Well, I have to sing so I don’t want to be pressing buttons all day. 

Enzo: No, I know. But if he wants a pedalboard, that's MIDI integrated, then I will be excited. 

 End of interview. 

Ultra Q is currently on tour, tickets can be found here.

Follow @ultraq on Instagram or visit their website to find out more.

Thank you to Ultra Q and their team for the opportunity.