Madeleines: Joseph Quartana

Interview with visionary and founder of Six Scents Parfums.

If Quartana Parfums was a song / poem, what song / poem would it be? 

That's a tough one, but I always believe that the first thing that pops into your head is the correct answer and "Shake The Disease" by Depeche Mode did just that! 

What /who is your greatest inspiration? 

Aleister Crowley, for having learned how to take off his "shackles". He had a wicked side, too, that I don't care for, so I don't completely endorse him as a human being.  But he still inspires me. 

What is the most beautiful memory in connection with perfumes? 

My most beautiful memory tied to the perfume world:  hard to say as there are so many, but where it really hit me for the first time was in '93 at a pulsating nightclub in New York city called The Tunnel where I just got a job as a college freshman to host in there.  It was a very colorful world of drag queens (think Leigh Bowery types), fashion students, artists, and very theatrical, and extremely creative and flamboyant.  Featuring techno music when it just started, so that in itself was entrancing.  But Angel by Thierry Mugler had just come out and someone wearing a head to toe cyber robot outfit from THIERRY MUGLER himself walked past me in 2 foot platforms (so appearing like a giant) trailing that scent (its a VERY heady gourmand) and between what she looked like, the flashing laser lights, the sound of the blasting techno, and the smell of the whole experience, I was just completely blown away and was aghast with inspiration; it made me freeze.  It was like a giant exclamation mark over my head, and I really saw and understood the power of perfume as an accessory in that moment, just utterly and completely entranced like a deer in car headlights.

What are those ˝Proust˝notes, / moments / triggers that always take you back to it.

There isn't any one note, per se, but some in combination act like a key to open doors in my mind.  I'm personally partial to violet, lilac, honeysuckle, and gourmand notes like coffee, cream, cookie, etc.

Are you planning to visit Slovenia again :)? 

I would love to!  Maybe next time to return to Maribor (as it has been about 13 years) and maybe see the seaside this time?  

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