Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Nebulous Quartet . We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Nebulous , appreciate you joining us today. We’d love to hear about a project that you’ve worked on that’s meant a lot to you.

As string players, nothing has been more meaningful to our development than working on our debut album. The journey of the Nebulous Quartet has been profoundly shaped by the opportunity we received from the City of Boston’s Opportunity Fund in 2022. This grant played a pivotal role in bringing our debut album to life, marking a significant milestone in our musical endeavors. The experience of working on this project, from the professional studio sessions in Connecticut to the creative process, has left an indelible mark on our artistic growth and passion for music. It’s been a fulfilling learning experience because we have created a sound that is groundbreaking and authentic to each of our life experiences has been a new challenge. This group challenges what it means to be modern string players, so each arrangement we complete or song we write feels like meaningful progress.

Nebulous , before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

Nebulous is a string quartet that started out of an improvisatory space. Beyond conventional bounds, our quartet, composed of recent Berklee alumni, crafts innovative arrangements and compositions. Nebulous is made up of 4 members from Brazil, Haiti, Taiwan, and Guyana and you can tell that a lot of our music is influenced by that. Our pride lies in conducting workshops, offering a platform to share accumulated knowledge, and foster musical growth. Collaboration has always been a strong component of the Nebulous mission. With chamber strings being our medium, we’ve been able to find ourselves in circles working with artists that heavily inspire us. Being able to bring our friends and colleagues visions to life through our arranging and writing is one of the most exciting parts of being in this ensemble. Although all four members are trained professionals, our time exploring different musical spaces expanded our tastes and we now perform in multiple genres. Recently, we have begun exploring interdisciplinary concerts featuring talented visual artists and dancers. We are always looking for ways to be creative and break the mold, showing those who love music that there’s more than one way forward.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

Although facing the challenge of living in separate states after two of us graduated, the quartet navigated through rough months of remote work and frequent travel to meet. Despite the distance, we maintained productivity and continued our collaborative efforts. This experience reinforced the value of our time together. Balancing work schedules, frequent gigs, and traveling we’re constantly learning how to make time for our work as a quartet while staying inspired creatively. As busy as we are currently, the grind and hustle of the city is a constant reminder of the value of what we’ve been able to accomplish so far. We applied for several grants during college. Whenever we received a grant we had to set up the workshops and public concerts around our class and performance schedule. We were able to fulfill our commitment and through that, still make time to get together and continue developing the album.

What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?

In our creative journey, a paramount mission is the precise articulation of our artistic expression, striving consistently for the highest levels of quality in our music. We are driven by a passion for collaboration, viewing it as a means to enrich our artistic depth. Our aspiration extends to collaborating with esteemed inspirations, a dream that holds immense significance for us in furthering our artistic evolution. To elaborate further, we always focus on community outreach and inspiring the next generation of musicians in our communities. Wherever we consider home, we all find value in supporting where we live and uplifting the people that surround us. Working towards success has always been a means to support our endeavors to give back to our local communities. Music should free us from constraints and be an avenue for self-expression. As we perform our music more and more, we see how people are inspired by our bravery and vulnerability. To deliver a sound that is authentic to us and inspire people to create has always been our goal. Through our work we have gotten to see how far our voices can go, and how much our unique sound matters.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://nebulousquartet.github.io/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nebulous_quartet/

Image Credits
Photographer Robert Torres