FourPlay Electric String Quartet
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

FourPlay String Quartet is a string quartet from Sydney, Australia, formed in 1995 and renowned for playing music not typically associated with the format. FourPlay's members include brothers Tim Hollo (violin and viola) and Peter Hollo (cello), Lara Goodridge (violin and vocals) and Shenzo Gregorio (viola); former members include: Veren Grigorov (viola) & Chris Emerson (viola). Although all members of FourPlay had formal classical training, the band play an eccentric form of rock music, with subtle influences from three of the four band members'
Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...
heritage (although FourPlay regard themselves as an Australian band above all else) as well as gypsy, pop, folk, hip-hop, electronica, post-rock,
folktronica Folktronica is a genre of music comprising various elements of folk music and electronica, often featuring uses of acoustic instruments – especially stringed instruments – and incorporating hip hop, electronic or dance rhythms, although i ...
and many other forms.


History

FourPlay's first album, ''Catgut Ya' Tongue?'' was released in 1998, and featured mostly covers (of bands including Metallica and Depeche Mode, and the
theme Theme or themes may refer to: * Theme (arts), the unifying subject or idea of the type of visual work * Theme (Byzantine district), an administrative district in the Byzantine Empire governed by a Strategos * Theme (computing), a custom graphical ...
from '' Doctor Who''), along with a few original compositions. In late 1999, Emerson left to get married in
England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
and was replaced by Veren Grigorov. FourPlay released their second album, ''The Joy Of...'' in 2000, which included, among other things, a two-part dub/ klezmer composition, a distortion-heavy cover of
Pop Will Eat Itself Pop Will Eat Itself are an English alternative rock band formed in 1986 in Stourbridge in the West Midlands of England with members from Birmingham, Coventry and the Black Country. Initially known as a grebo act, they changed style to incorp ...
's ''Ich Bin Ein Auslander'', and a
gypsy The Romani (also spelled Romany or Rromani , ), colloquially known as the Roma, are an Indo-Aryan ethnic group, traditionally nomadic itinerants. They live in Europe and Anatolia, and have diaspora populations located worldwide, with sign ...
-style instrumental ending with a mass scream. This was followed, a year later (2001), by a 2-disc remix compilation, ''Digital Manipulation'', featuring work by many Australian musicians, including
Machine Translations Machine Translations is the performing name of Greg James Walker (born 1967), an Australian singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist; who is also a producer as J Walker. Walker started out recording all instruments himself in a home studio a ...
,
B(if)tek B(if)tek was an Australian electronic music duo comprising Kate Crawford and Nicole Skeltys, which formed in Canberra in 1994. They released three albums, ''Sub-Vocal Theme Park'' (1996), ''2020'' (2000) and ''Frequencies Will Move Together'' ...
and
Darrin Verhagen Darrin Verhagen is an Australian-born composer of dark ambient and gothic music. He has adopted several different monikers for his recorded output, depending on the genre including Shinjuku Thief, Shinjuku Filth and Professor Richmann. . After h ...
. FourPlay have also toured abroad extensively, and supported artists including
george George may refer to: People * George (given name) * George (surname) * George (singer), American-Canadian singer George Nozuka, known by the mononym George * George Washington, First President of the United States * George W. Bush, 43rd Presid ...
and
The Whitlams The Whitlams are an Australian indie rock band formed in late 1992. The original line-up was Tim Freedman on keyboards and lead vocals, Andy Lewis on double bass and Stevie Plunder on guitar and lead vocals. Other than mainstay Freedman, the ...
. In 2004, Grigorov was replaced by Shenton Gregory aka Shenzo Gregorio, renowned stunt violinist from Brisbane. Shenzo's personality and style meshed perfectly into FourPlay, and he took to the viola instantly. A highly fertile period of new composition resulted in many new originals, as well as covers of Radiohead,
The Strokes The Strokes are an American rock band from New York City. Formed in 1998, the band is composed of lead singer and songwriter Julian Casablancas, guitarists Nick Valensi and Albert Hammond Jr., bassist Nikolai Fraiture, and drummer Fabrizio Mor ...
, and various jazz/blues numbers. These were recorded in the latter half of 2005 and appear on ''Now To The Future'', released in June 2006. In July 2009, '' Fourthcoming,'' their fourth album, was released. Most of the tracks were written 3 years prior. Recorded live at the Street Theatre in Canberra over three small gigs. Like the previous three albums, Fourthcoming contains a number of covers.
Rage Against the Machine Rage Against the Machine (often abbreviated as RATM or shortened to simply Rage) is an American rock band from Los Angeles, California. Formed in 1991, the group consists of vocalist Zack de la Rocha, bassist and backing vocalist Tim Commer ...
,
Leonard Cohen Leonard Norman Cohen (September 21, 1934November 7, 2016) was a Canadian singer-songwriter, poet and novelist. His work explored religion, politics, isolation, depression, sexuality, loss, death, and romantic relationships. He was inducted in ...
and Sufjan Stevens. A number of the original songs contain politically charged lyrics. The track ''A Grain of Truth'' was inspired by the AWB (Australian Wheat Board) scandal. The track ''Where The Sun Don't Shine'' was written in response to the former Prime Minister of Australia
John Howard John Winston Howard (born 26 July 1939) is an Australian former politician who served as the 25th prime minister of Australia from 1996 to 2007, holding office as leader of the Liberal Party. His eleven-year tenure as prime minister is the ...
's sustainable energy policy for the 2007 election. The track ''Rudd-a-dub Dub'' refers to the then-current Prime Minister,
Kevin Rudd Kevin Michael Rudd (born 21 September 1957) is an Australian former politician and diplomat who served as the 26th prime minister of Australia from 2007 to 2010 and again from June 2013 to September 2013, holding office as the leader of the ...
. In August 2010, the band collaborated with author Neil Gaiman and comics author/artist
Eddie Campbell Eddie Campbell (born 10 August 1955) is a British comics artist and cartoonist who now lives in Chicago. Probably best known as the illustrator and publisher of ''From Hell'' (written by Alan Moore), Campbell is also the creator of the semi-au ...
at the inaugural Graphic festival at the Sydney Opera House, composing a 70-minute accompaniment to Gaiman's novella "The Truth is a Cave in the Black Mountains". The twelve year long collaboration between Mr. Gaiman and the Fourplay String Quartet culminated in the 2022 record "Signs of Life".


Discography


Studio albums

* '' Catgut Ya' Tongue?'' (1998) * '' The Joy Of...'' (2000) * '' Now To The Future'' (2006) * '' Fourthcoming'' (2009) * ''This Machine'' (2014) * ''Signs of Life'' (with Neil Gaiman)


Awards and nominations


AIR Awards

The Australian Independent Record Awards (commonly known informally as
AIR Awards The Australian Independent Record Awards (commonly known informally as AIR Awards) is an annual awards night to recognise, promote and celebrate the success of Australia's Independent Music sector. History The inaugural 2006 awards were held at ...
) is an annual awards night to recognise, promote and celebrate the success of Australia's Independent Music sector. , - , 2007 , ''Now to the Future'' , Best Independent Jazz Album , , -


References


External links


Official website

Myspace page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fourplay String Quartet Australian jazz ensembles New South Wales musical groups Musical groups established in 1995