FourPlay started life as a classical string quartet, originally made up of friends from the Australian Youth Orchestra. Inspired by the Kronos, Balanescu and Brodsky Quartets blurring of the boundaries between classical and rock music, they began playing rock covers for friends. FourPlay use two violas as opposed to two violins (as a traditional string quartet would use) to produce a thicker, deeper sound.
In 1995 they bought pickups and distortion pedals, and transformed themselves into an electric string quartet. In 1998 they released their first album, Catgut Ya’ Tongue? which sold out of the first 1,000 copies in 3 weeks… with no distribution or label in place. In April 2000 they released their second full-length album, The Joy Of… to glowing media coverage (now re-pressed an estimated 8 times ? and even more for the first album).
FourPlay’s double remix album Digital Manipulation came out in 2001 to rave reviews across the nation. Produced and distributed independently, this uniquely designed double CD is an amazing compilation of 25 Australian electronic artists remixing FourPlay’s material, from B(if)tek and David Thrussell to Machine Translations and Deep Child: an album of new work fusing the electronic with the acoustic.
In 2006, FourPlay released a unique series of three 3″ CD singles in the run-up to their long-awaited third studio album, Now To The Future, an album which captures the energy of their live performances and the breadth of their sound like never before.
In early 2007, FourPlay won “best band featuring a fiddle” at the Golden Fiddle Awards at the Tamworth Country Music Festival, despite not really playing any country. FourPlay are well chuffed to have received this award!
FourPlay’s live shows are unlike any other string quartet in the world. The energy and sound created is more like that of a rock band, as is their on-stage presentation and banter. A FourPlay gig is an affair not to be missed.
FourPlay’s repertoire includes covers of diverse artists such as the Beastie Boys, Jeff Buckley, Depeche Mode, Charles Mingus, Radiohead and The Strokes, and their own originals, inspired by wide array of diverse music such as rock, dub, folk, gypsy, klezmer, electronica, post-rock, jazz and improv.
Lineup
Jazz, Blues
Testimonials
EVIEWED IN RAVE MAGAZINE (BRISBANE STREET PRESS), 11.07.06
Who knows what might pop up when these four play
Not to be confused with the veteran American jazz outfit (which probably explains why they added the String Quartet part to their name). Sydney’s FourPlay have spent a decade or more blurring the boundaries between the normal notion of a string quartet and a broader audience. They’ve done this by electrifying their instruments and applying their classical training to rock and contemporary music generally to create a surprising crossover sound. This latest album, their third, is no exception. Among a brace of original pieces are reworked jazz masters like Miles Davis’s All Blues. Okay, you may see some logic to that link. But Radiohead’s 2+2=5 or The Strokes’ Reptilia? In these cabable hands, it makes sense. And singing with a string quartet? Violinist Lara Goodridge not only cruises her way through Julie London’s 1957 classic Cry Me A River, she adds a folk touch to self-penned works like Trust. Not to be outdone, other tracks here take you on diverse journeys, from Downtown Nudnik’s Stephan Grappelli jazz jaunt with Eastern European and tango elements to the metal and Indian flavours of Bollyrock. Sure, it all reads like it’s weird but it actually sounds fine. Quite an accomplishment, really.
?Bill Holdsworth
REVIEWED IN DRUM MEDIA (SYDNEY STREET PRESS), 04.07.06
For everyone out there who always thought there was an undeniably orchestral quality to the music of Radiohead, the proof is right here in the opening track, 2+2=5, off the third album by Sydney’s own internationally renowned electric string quartet. I’ll be you weren’t expecting the same to be said of The Strokes but again, their feisty rendition of their Reptilia says it all.
As to fans of FourPlay, don’t assume that you’ve got them pegged either. The quartet has always been eclectic, opting for a broader musical diversity than their contemporary classical quartets, Kronos or Balanescu, which initially inspired them. But with Now To The Future, FourPlay finally place themselves as much in the centre of their work, as composers, as interpreters of the work of the pop, rock or metal bands with whom they’ve previously toyed.
So you get the European sensibilities and romance of Peter Hollo’s Downtown Nudnik segueing into the bounce and frivolity of pure Grapelli, set against the limpid sadness and beauty of Lara Goodridge’s trio of vocal love songs, Evolve or Decay, Trust and The Hunter, contrasting the ebullience and energy of the collective collaborations You’ve Changed Your Tune, Appalachian Jam (which isn’t) and the gloriously exotic Bollyrock.
But then you get the bebop jazz influence of “new” boy Shenton Gregory courtesy of some wonderful reworking of Miles Davis’ All Blues and Mingus’ Goodbye Pork Pie Hat, a promise of an even more improvisational future. Forget anything you ever thought about string quartets. This is the future.
? Michael Smith