Cellist Michelle Faehrmann got backstage at a Brian Wilson concert in Calgary in 2011 and asked the band members where the string ensemble accompanying the former Beach Boy hailed from.
They told her they hired an ensemble in every town and were visiting 麻豆传媒映画next. 鈥淚 was like ah crap, I want to be that string ensemble,鈥� she said.
So Faehrmann formed Four on the Floor String Quartet to collaborate with indie and pop musicians and bands in recording and live performance, choosing musicians for their look and ability to improvise and play by ear.
鈥淎nytime you see string players with big bands like that, they鈥檙e usually like symphony players, older people who are just reading charts and don鈥檛 necessarily fit in with the rest of the band,鈥� 28-year-old Faehrmann said. 鈥淚 wanted to put together people who fit in.鈥�
The quartet is poised to play its second String Fling Concert with special guests from the indie rock world.
String Fling, at the Rio Theatre Feb. 6, will not only include Faehrmann on cello, Elliot Vaughn on viola, Stephanie Chatman and Emily Bach on violin, but also violinist Hannah Epperson, Mother Mother drummer Ali Siadat and Limblifter鈥檚 Megan Bradfield on bass. Special guests are Ryan Guldemond of Mother Mother, Jay Malinowski of Bedouin Soundclash, Brandon Scott of Yukon Blonde, Laura Smith of Rococode, Tonye Aganaba, and Parker Bosley and Steve Bays of Fur Trade, Hot Hot Heat and Mounties.
It will be Fur Trade鈥檚 first live show.
鈥淚鈥檝e really tried to just keep it a recording project, just because I love the recording aspect so much and Parker and I work so well in the studio,鈥� said Bays. 鈥淪o it鈥檚 kind of bizarre that we would do it live with strings for the first time ever.鈥�
Bays and Bosley had Four on the Floor and Bradfield record a string version of their single 鈥淰oyager鈥� and Four on the Floor has collaborated with them on a yet-to-be-released song. 鈥淚 like their enthusiasm a lot,鈥� Bays said on the phone from a 麻豆传媒映画recording studio where he鈥檚 working with Hey Ocean.
Four on the Floor jammed with each of their guests two months ago and asked them what their stripped-down and stringed-up hopes and dreams would be. Each artist will perform three songs with Four on the Floor.
鈥淓verybody is super stoked, I think they鈥檙e really impressed with it,鈥� Faehrmann said. 鈥淎gain, it鈥檚 a fun experience for them. Normally it鈥檚 flipped. It鈥檚 them hiring the string quartet, so this is a very fun experience for us too, where we get to hire the musicians, so we have a little bit more of an open range of whatever we can do.鈥�
The quartet will perform original pieces and covers between each set, and Faehrmann plans to make String Fling an annual show.
Coordinating the concert is a massive production, but Faehrmann says she wants to combat the idea that 麻豆传媒映画is 鈥渘o fun city.鈥�
鈥淲e actually really have a ton of talent here and we can create really cool shows or experiences and I just want to start putting that energy out there and hopefully inspire more of that to happen and just make people aware of that, that 麻豆传媒映画doesn鈥檛 totally suck,鈥� she said. 鈥淚f we focus on it sucking then yeah, it鈥檚 going to suck. If we can focus on what鈥檚 good about it then it will grow. We鈥檙e still so young and there鈥檚 so much room for growth.鈥�
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