Sqthreer (pronounced “square”), born 11/1/1986, is an experimental electronic music composer originating in Portland, Oregon, USA. Sqthreer is comprised of Blake E. Stephens with occasional contributions by friends. Sqthreer’s sound and style is in its early stages of development and prone to rapidly evolve, though Blake simply refers to it all as "experimental". He claims to derive inspiration mainly from other electronic music artists, but feels that every sound he's ever heard -music or not- heavily influences his work. Each song is vastly different than the last, with usually only a subtle and/or abstract commonality tying individual songs on his albums together. To describe the music Blake has conceived can be difficult; consistency is not apparent throughout his work. With no education or background in music besides his occasional tinkering in the past, what he creates comes only from the auditory experiences in his life. He has been working with nothing but a keyboard and mouse on his PC since he started, but intends to expand the variety of tools and samples he uses as he progresses. Blake claims to live by the principle: do what you can with what you've got. Blake has been creating music almost strictly electronically since 2004. Back then it was nothing more than a casual interest piqued by his strong passion for unusual noises. Only since 2010 has he narrowed his focus to creating legitimate compilations of songs and making his music available publicly. His first completed album, Hypothetical Situations, is an eclectic assemblage of music that can stress you out as easily as it calms you down. Blake says he created this album only with the intent to "make people feel things". His next album, entitled Everybody Needs Friends is due to release mid-2013. The name “Sqthreer” is derived from the 5-step reading strategy commonly known as SQ3R. There is no direct connection with the studying method and Sqthreer’s music. He explains: "I first saw it written in a high school psychology class and it immediately sounded like 'square' in my brain. And I've always thought squares were pretty cool so I guess it just snapped into place.