Rapping wasn't a first choice, T.Q.D cited, “I considered making beats, but I figured it'd be cheaper to just buy pens and notebooks...
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Rapping wasn't a first choice, T.Q.D cited, “I considered making beats, but I figured it'd be cheaper to just buy pens and notebooks instead. I just did some writing during my formative years and by high school, I was handing out bad demos to my classmates. When I went off to college I kept working at it and now feel ready to take music seriously.” His first chance came to fruition by meeting his cohort and friend, Audyssey. “We both go to Augsburg and I had no clue who he was for a while. I took a class with his girlfriend and met him in December '05 when I ran into his girlfriend after a show.” After that chance meeting, the rest cements how he made his splash in the local scene. “We got together and made a track called “Stage Topics” and it was done so easily that we decided to make ‘The West Bank Mixtape'. I was unsure how we'd mix, but I think it turned out well. Whether we do another project together is uncertain, but I'm glad we did it. I learned a lot.”

Certainly the West Bank Mixtape sounds like a Gnarls Barkley project, two friends who got together and made music just to see how it worked out, minus all the psychedelic rock influences. But T.Q.D. will be quick to say, “I'm a loner by nature. I'd never collaborated with anyone before that project. Writing solo tracks and writing collaboratively are very different things. I'm glad I had a chance to see the difference.”

He took the collaboration point up a notch when he mentions how he hooked up with another up and coming crew set to make wavelengths of noise, the Doomtree family. “I met Mike (Mictlan) a couple years ago. I met the rest of the crew by virtue of having a mutual friend in Mike. At the time, I had been taking a break from rapping with little intention of getting back in to it. Watching the crew play live and seeing what they were working on inspired me to start taking music seriously again .” As far as the Doomtree camp, he's not signed with them, but they do assist in quite a way. T.Q.D. mentions, “I was hanging out with Cecil one night and he mentioned how he had a stash of beats to unload and I let it be known that I'd hit him up once I started working on my solo record. He ended up making half of the beats on my record and made a guest appearance. P.O.S will make an appearance on my record too. I'm glad to have worked with both of them. ”