Indie Singer/Songwriter Khalid Quesada On Music, The Cold War, And Artificial Intelligence

Khalid Quesada is an indie singer/songwriter from New Jersey who has performed all over the Garden State, Philadelphia, and surrounding areas, including regular appearances at the annual Elephant Talk Indie Music Festival in Atlantic City.

He recently took some time to talk to DCWS about William Penn, Six Flags Great Adventures, and Spotify. Check out the full interview below.

According to ReverbNation, you are the 13th most popular* indie musician in Philadelphia. When they erect a statue of you, would you rather it replace the statue of Rocky or the statue of William Penn atop city hall? Why? 

I would probably choose William Penn because I don't see the point in having statues of fictional characters. Rocky Balboa single-handedly ended the Cold War and saved us from the Russians. The answer is clear.

*Note: Since sending these interview questions, the ReverbNation charts have appeared to have changed, but rest assured, Khalid is still very well-known and adored in the region.

One of your most popular songs, "Radio Silence," was released in 2012 and has been followed by five years of radio silence. Was this series of events a piece of some sort of long-form performance art? Please discuss.

*ridiculously long pause*
No.

You often post pictures of people holding up signs that say "Listen to Khalid Quesada." Please post three of your favorites here. Then provide a few sentences about why each is one of your favorites. The sentences don't have to be true.

I have no idea how to insert photos directly into the e-mail. You're lucky I can play guitar... sorta. 

I can attach them and you can choose which sentence goes with which picture.
I just really appreciated her attention to detail.

I enjoy depictions of social anxiety.

He paid me to put him in.

If you could take two musicians, one living and one dead, to Six Flags Great Adventure for the day, who would you choose? 

Probably Dave Grohl and one of the Munchkins who was in Wizard Of Oz, I'm sure one of them was a musician. It's probably going to be hassle though dragging a decomposed corpse around Six Flags, so we're gonna wanna go with a small one. Is that racist?

There are more than 30 million songs on streaming services like Apple Music and Spotify. Which means there's way more than that many songs that have been recorded in the history of the world. Plus, artificial intelligence can now compose music. So, like, what's the point of recording and writing more songs? Haven't human beings created enough music? Can't we move on to something else? If so, what should that something else be? 

If we move onto something else, I think it'll be directly downloading the memory of watching or listening to something without doing it. Like in Johnny Pneumonic, only less shitty movie like. Or is that the wrong Keanu Reeves movie? As far as what humans will contribute artistically after music dies out, I'm not sure. But we'll probably make pretty excellent batteries.

Please list your five favorite musicians or bands that we probably have not heard of, and tell us which song we should listen to by them if we are to only choose one. 

Nada Surf - Blizzard Of '77

Elliott Smith - Waltz #2

Superdrag – Unprepared

Amedio Kitts – Panda

The Beatles - A Day In The Life (these guys are probably gonna hit it big soon)

Check out some of Khalid Quesada’s music here.