"What is life without creativity?" he philosophizes. "That's the difference between people and machines. One-day machines will be so complex that they will be just like humans in every way with the exception of one thing. That one thing is the soul. The soul is necessary for true creativity. The spirit is life... the mind is the builder... the physical is the result."
Quanah is uniquely qualified to express this view, for his spirit has come a long way. One might even say that it leads to a talent that is 'out of this world'? "Once there was a boy who lived on a planet in the constellation, Lyra. He lived a good life among friends and family, but he was also living through a great war. The Reptilian forces of the opposing faction killed him and his family and his soul ascended. This was not the end because he decided to experience life as a human boy on Earth and accomplish great things in a troubled time. He chose to reincarnate as Quanah Jay Hicks of Orange County New York..." He chronicles.
The lizard overlord's loss is our gain. "My father was in the Vietnam War. At some point during the war, he was stationed in Thailand . That's where he met my mother. When the war ended, he went back to Thailand to find her and to make a long story short, she came to America with him to start a family. Basically, if it wasn't for the Vietnam War, I wouldn't even exist." Quanah says with a laugh.
Also, emerging from the sanctuary of his mother's womb were two brothers and a sister, but, if they are likewise metaphysical refugees of a bygone conflict that spanned time and space... it is not so apparent.. "As my siblings and I grew up, we all developed very different personalities from each other. My brothers and sister are very business oriented; I was the only one out of us to pursue a life of music. As far back as my memory goes, I was always thinking up melodies and playing them in my head. I remember being in kindergarten and thinking of complex compositions while I was suppose to be learning to read. Of course, I thought it was normal to think this way, so I didn't think I was doing anything different from the other kids.”
Even in heartbreak and loss he finds new meaning and inspiration, learning how to handle the bumps and potholes in his journey aboard spaceship Earth. " My mother passed away in 2006. She was the best mother anyone could ever wish to have and I can't explain how much I miss her. Everything I've ever experienced has helped to shape me into who I am. That is the point of life, to experience and evolve. I suppose I don't think like most people. I got very used to seeing things for what they are. If you can really get use to doing that, you can more easily change those things into something that you prefer them to be. How can one fix something if he/she doesn't know what's wrong with it?"
There is certainly nothing wrong with his music, which is like a living idea that changes, mutates and sheds it's skin with every song to become something new and different, but always mesmerizing. "It is pure, tainted, simple, complex, carbon copied and extremely different." Quanah cheerfully contradicts. "I say that because I make all different kinds of music from rock to orchestral and everything in between. I have absolutely no formal training at all. When I was a kid, I tried to have a guitar lesson after a year of teaching myself, and my teacher didn't know what to teach me, so I realized then that I was doing fine with my self teachings. That's one of the most important lessons I've learned so far. After conquering the guitar on my own, I used the same approach towards everything else that I was learning. There were times when I was learning about piano, drums, music production, engineering etc. and I would always get to a point that seemed so incredibly difficult, but I would always think back to when the guitar also seemed just as difficult and how easy it has become now. That's the key. If something seems difficult, be patient and persistent to make it become easy. It always works as long as you don't give up."
"I'll share the scene in my favorite movie. These two brothers are swimming against each other in a private and personal competition. They're swimming out into the ocean and the first one to turn back loses. After a long while of swimming out into the sea at night, brother A says, 'We have to turn back, we're too far out and we can't see the shore.' Brother B says 'There's no point in turning back. We're closer to the other side.' This scene is an example of how I do things. I never save anything for the swim back..."
| written by Joshua Schrader
