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*INTERSTATE FUSE on Stage Artist 2006* (temporary listing)

FourPlay originally formed as a group of friends getting together to have “a bit of a joke” by playing Metallica and Beastie Boys covers for their university band competition. They ended up surprising themselves (and their friends) by winning.

“There are parallels with the taught propulsion of Philip Glass’s music and with the ultra modern and sometimes quixotic Kronos Quartet. They spit in the eye of classical romanticism, chain-sawing into these songs and then throwing them together in new shapes.” – Rolling Stone

At the time, they had little realisation that these arrangements which took a couple of afternoons to work out would draw them to the attention of international media, arts centres and festivals, paving the way to place them on stages across the globe.

Years later, the group has released two studio albums, recorded and distributed independently. They have also compiled a double remix album, “Digital Manipulation”, featuring 25 Australian electronic artists remixing FourPlay’s original material.

There is no other string quartet operating like FourPlay in the world today. They bring a dynamic fusion of a rock’n’roll mentality and pop sensibility to the finely honed skills of classical musicians with years of training. Their use of extended instrumental techniques combined with an array of effects gives them a truly unique sound.

“More Metallica than Mozart. The first string quartet to have inspired moshing and crowd surfing.” – The Sydney Morning Herald

They have grown into a unique musical project with an aesthetic unlike any other string quartet. Their original material spans many genres including pop, rock, dub, klezmer, and gypsy. They also perform their own arrangements of music originally performed by such artists as Metallica, Jeff Buckley, the Velvet Underground, Radiohead, the Strokes, the Beastie Boys, Depeche Mode, Charles Mingus and many more.

“They are like cinema for the ears.” – SBS Television

They are true collaborators – having worked with such artists as george, X, the Whitlams and Gerling – and in addition they have toured with bands as diverse as the Corrs and the Screaming Jets.

“Seeing FourPlay live is as strange as it is sublime. It’s about going to see a band with a too clever name and too clever album titles that play classical string instruments that don’t even sound like classical string instruments half the time and being totally enraptured, totally seduced.” – Rave Magazine

For FourPlay’s first visit to Asia they were part of the main program for the Singapore International Arts festival and sold out three nights straight in a beautiful theatre, the Jubilee Hall at Raffles Hotel.

The group’s last European tour consisted of 31 dates through 22 different cities. Highlights included playing on the main stage at sunset on the closing night of the Ghent Festival in Belgium, the outdoor performance space of the Royal National Theatre on the Thames in London, and the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in Scotland; selling 283 CDs in two hours at Temple Bar in Dublin; performing to a very rowdy and responsive crowd at the 35th Karlovy Vary International Film Festival in the Czech Republic and playing an extremely rock'n'roll pub gig at Rotown in Rotterdam.

Check out: www.fourplay.com.au

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FUSE on Stage Artist 2006

 

See MusicSA's FUSE on Stage Feature Article: click here

 

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