Enter the Wave Twisters

Hip-hop goes Hollywood, as DJ Q-Bert brings his scratch-music saga to the big screen

Comments (0) By Brendan Joel Kelley Thursday, Feb 8 2001

The finished product was such a success that it stunned even its creator. "When I saw it the first time, I was trippin'," Q-Bert says, laughing. "It was crazier than I expected."

The movie has been screened by audiences at two major events in recent months; an early cut of the film was shown at ScratchCon, the world's first convention for scratch artists held last year and organized by Yogafrog. It also debuted at last month's Sundance Film Festival in Utah to rave reviews.

Richard "Q-Bert" Quitevis: His 1998 scratch concept album Wave Twisters is the basis for a new feature film.

A shot of Honey, one of the characters from Wave Twisters: The Movie.

Details

Screened on Friday, February 9. The show will also include a special performance from Q-Bert and DJs Radar, Terra, Fashen and Z-Trip. Showtime is 6 p.m.

Nile Theater in Mesa

More About

This year Sundance saw an explosion of scratch-themed projects. Along with Wave Twisters, the festival also witnessed the première of Scratch, a new documentary from Hype director Doug Pray, which features Q-Bert and Valley DJ Z-Trip.

"Scratch was really good; it helped turn people on to what scratching is about," notes Q. "People didn't really understand what Wave Twisters was about, but after they saw Scratch they knew a lot more about it. A lot of people opened their eyes to [scratching], and we got a lot more respect than before."

The two films and their unique perspectives on the art form will likely expose the general public to the music in a way that recordings alone could never hope to achieve. And Wave Twisters: The Movie won't be the last scratch-inspired film Q-Bert attempts, either; he's already at work helping former ISP partner D-Styles on a concept album the pair hope to transfer to celluloid.

As for what he hopes to achieve with Wave Twisters: The Movie, Q is adamant about using the film as a tool to help spread the gospel of the turntable to the masses. "How long are people not gonna know about this?" asks an adamant Q. "If they did see scratching, they'd be able to make some beautiful music with it. It's about time this art has come up."