COMPOSER | PRODUCER | MULTI-INSTRUMENTALIST
ESTHER QUANSAH
Fellowships & Awards
Jerome Hill Artist Fellowship, May 2023 - April 2025
The Narcotix received this award to support the creation of new work, our development as artists, and the development of our career as an emerging band.
NYC Women's Fund for Media, Music and Theater, April 2023 - March 2024
This award helped to support the production and performance of the 2024 LP Dying by The Narcotix.
National Black Artist Project Fund, February - October 2022
The Narcotix were awarded a $2,000 stipend to help support the production of our upcoming album. As part of
this program, we participated in several artist talks that will help facilitate career and artistic talents among
participants in our cohort.
Generative Works
The works listed below are all generative works in which I contribute as a composer and performer. Click on the album artwork to play the media.
Dying (2024)
Composers: Esther Quansah, Becky Foinchas (The Narcotix)
Producer: Gbluey from GB’s Juke Joint
Summary: Dying is a nine-track album written and arranged by The Narcotix. The album is rooted in the
practice of exercising unwavering vulnerability whilst creating. We investigate themes of meditation, spiritual
alchemy, and transmutation in our daily lives to address existential questions about the innermost self.
The Narcotix - Live in Studio (2021)
Studio performance, April 2021 (GB’s Juke Joint in Long Island City, NY)
Composers: Esther Quansah, Becky Foinchas (The Narcotix)
Co-Directors: Esther Quansah, Becky Foinchas (The Narcotix)
Producer: Gbluey from GB’s Juke Joint
Summary: In this 10 minute video, viewers are led through an audiovisual journey of symphonic ceremony. The live performance showcases a sacred unveiling of ‘Lilith’ and ‘John/Joseph’, two singles from the debut EP, Mommy Issues.
Mommy Issues (2021)
Debut 6-track EP, released June 2021
Composers: Esther Quansah, Becky Foinchas (The Narcotix)
Producer: Gbluey from GB’s Juke Joint
Summary: I worked with my co-composer Becky for years on the songs in Mommy Issues. Together we wrote
and recorded the original demos of each song. Then, we taught the songs to our fellow band members and
recorded it professionally at GB’s Juke Joint in the fall of 2020.
Mr. Weberg (2018)
Self-produced EP, released October 2018
Composers: Esther Quansah and Becky Foinchas
Summary: Mr. Weberg is our very first debut to the world as The Narcotix and a tribute to our high-school chorus teacher Mr. Weberg. The songs from this collection were composed in multiple different places and time zones throughout the most formative year of The Narcotix.
Noise and Movement (2017)
Self-produced EP, released April 7, 2017
Composer: Esther Quansah (Essie Quoi)
Summary: This is the first project I released as a solo artist. I composed, performed, and produced the EP and it was mixed by a friend of mine Lee Marchenko. This was the first of my experiments into composition and production. The sequel to Noise and Movement is inevitable.
Project Synopsis: There's this idea in quantum theory that there is an equal and opposite anti-particle for every particle and that when the two meet, they annihilate each other. There's also this concept in psychology called individuation, which is "a process of transformation whereby the personal and collective unconscious is brought into consciousness to be assimilated into the whole personality." For the album concept, I bring these two ideas together. The noise is the former concept, and the movement is the latter.
