Hit it!
(Music: Adele "Rolling in the Deep")
Yeah.
(Music ends)
(Applause and cheers)
Zack Clark: Hello. You guys are so great.
Well, as you can probably already tell,
we're not your standard classical string trio.
That was Adele's "Rolling in the Deep,"
a very famous, beautiful pop song
of recent years,
and we arranged that ourselves for the cello, the bass and the violin.
In fact, our arrangement of it has developed over time
to, you know, going from classical sounding
to having more of a pop feel,
and that's something we try to work on -
is establishing and incorporating pop elements into our arrangements.
But this is just a recent change.
In fact, most of our lives,
we have all been trained classically on these instruments.
Nicholas Villalobos: That's right. Zack and I, we're from Arizona,
just the next-door neighbor to you guys,
and we both went to Arizona State University
and we got performance degrees -
he got one in cello and I got one in bass.
And when you play a string instrument
and you decide to get a performance degree,
you're kind of put into a box;
there's this standardized box,
and what that box is
is you go to school,
you learn how to play your instrument,
and you learn how to make it into a symphony orchestra.
So they teach you what to play, how to play it,
and then, after you graduate,
you go and you do auditions all across the country,
sometimes even the world,
trying to get a spot in the symphony orchestra.
And once you get that spot?
Hallelujah.
You've got a job and that's awesome.
But then, you are pretty much required to stay in that orchestra
the rest of your life.
A lot of these people that make it into orchestras,
that's their job.
And you know, that's great, that's awesome.
I have a bunch of friends
that are in some of the major symphonies of the world,
including the New York Philharmonic.
But as we went through this process,
we kind of felt that we didn't want to be in that box.
We love classical music,
and we're so grateful that we were trained in the classical style
because it really teaches us to master these instruments.
But we were talking, and we said,
"You know, we love all kinds of music.
We love classical, we love jazz,
we love pop music,
we love funk.
Why can't we play this music on our instruments?
Just because they're classical instruments
doesn't mean that we can't perform other types of music."
So we were put into a pretty harsh situation.
It was either we go with the norm
and stay on this pathway that led to a symphony orchestra
or we could, you know, bury our passions
of wanting to play different kinds of music.
So we decided that we were going to break the norm
and we were going to try and create something,
a new career for ourselves,
playing these string instruments.
Alex Weill: My name is Alex, and I'm from New York City.
And just like these guys, I too was classically trained.
I started playing the violin at the age of three,
and I was fortunate enough, with an incredibly supportive family,
to study at music conservatories such as Juilliard Pre-College,
the Yale School of Music, Vanderbilt University
and the Manhattan School of Music.
All of this training was classical.
And this classical training was very necessary,
this classical foundation was necessary to be the musicians that we are today.
But I wanted to play pop music for a living.
I loved listening to artists
such as Britney Spears, Mariah Carey and the Backstreet Boys.
Z: Hit me, baby.
A: Yeah.
And I even dreamed about performing on stage with them one day.
In recent years, I've actually been living that dream,
performing as a background violinist in New York City
for great artists such as Jay-Z, Alicia Keys, Justin Timberlake, Farrell
and many more.
It's incredible, working with these talented artists,
playing background music.
However, keyword - "background."
Strings today, in mainstream music,
are used to set a tone, a mood, and play a supporting role.
Until I met Nick and Zack,
it had never crossed my mind
that a group purely made of strings could headline a rock show.
I was deeply, deeply influenced by their creativity, talent and passion
in bringing strings to the forefront of the pop industry.
Z: Thank you, Alex.
N: Yeah. Thanks a lot.
Z: I mean, what a compliment, really.
We are just so, so happy to have Alex with us;
she actually joined the group just this past October.
Isn't she amazing. Give it up for Alex.
(Applause)
So as you can see,
Nick and I in Arizona and Alex in New York City,
we were in the same predicament.
We were kind of herded into a pathway that is a great pathway,
but it kind of wasn't for us.
We didn't feel that we fit into a symphony orchestra.
We had a lot of ambition and passion to create other things
and to play other kinds of music,
and Alex was living her dream that she had when she was younger -
she's performing with these pop artists, but she's still kind of the background.
So, you know, it was -
I don't think it happened in one moment,
but there was a decision that we made,
and that decision was, like Nick had just said,
to break from the norm.
Our decision was, "You know what?
This path is great, but it's not for us.
Let's go over here to another path and play this other kind of music."
And as we looked around,
we realized there wasn't hardly anything out there
teaching the way to do this.
There isn't a degree program, at least from where we were.
There's a couple in the whole United States,
but there's, essentially, nothing out there
that teaches classical instruments how to become a pop band.
It's kind of a new idea.
But it's an exciting one that we thought,
"Let's just start chugging along, let's start trekking along,
and cutting those large, tall pieces of grass
and make a new pathway for classical musicians,
for people that perhaps love the cello or the bass or the violin
but want to play, perhaps, a different kind of music."
So we set out to break every classical stereotype.
We wanted our recordings to sound not classical but like a pop song,
we wanted our music videos
to be competitive with the music videos that are the top of the pop industry,
and we wanted our arrangements
to have pop elements incorporated with them
so that they are perhaps revolutionary
and, perhaps, that we could perform unique sounds on these instruments
that, maybe, aren't always used.
And here we are, right now in front of you,
and we're going to do a demonstration
on how we came to do that.
N: That's right.
We're going to play a very popular song that I'm sure all of you will know.
It's one of the very first songs that we arranged.
It's called "Viva la Vida," by Coldplay.
Sure you all know it; it's a great song, beautiful song.
And we're going to show you
kind of how we began to - oh, what's happening here -
kind of how we began to arrange this music -
how it sounded at first -
and then how it evolved from classical to pop.
(Music: Coldplay, "Viva la Vida")
(Music ends)
Z: Well, that sounds nice. You recognize the song?
(Audience) Yeah.
Yeah, you can hear the song,
you have the little motif going on,
you hear the melody.
It sounds pleasant - there's nothing wrong with it,
but we wanted something more edgy,
so we thought to ourselves, "I think it's kind of missing something."
And maybe we would say something like this in rehearsal.
What do you think is missing, Nick?
N: Well, I mean, it sounds nice. You're right.
It's not that it doesn't have that edge.
You know, I think something that pop stars and pop bands have,
they have that drum set, right?
Z: Yeah, drums.
N: We're missing drums, that backbeat.
Z: So do we get a drummer?
N: I mean, we can, but I really want to do it on strings.
Z: Yeah, let's try to keep ...
A: Yeah, let's try it out.
N: I could try hitting it.
(Laughter)
Like I'll put my bow down, and I can, you know,
(Percussion sound)
Z: You're going to hit your bass? N: Sounds pretty good.
Z: Is it going to break?
N: Maybe.
(Laughter)
But I think, let's see.
Z: See what you can do.
Let's try it again, and we'll add drums this time.
Three.
(Music: Coldplay, "Viva la Vida")
(Music ends)
Z: Yeah, that was good.
You guys feeling the beat a little bit heavier?
(Applause)
Yeah, alright.
A: Alright. I still feel like it's still missing a few things.
What about on that low end, what about those bass notes?
N: It's kind of hard to play the bass notes and do this -
you know, do the drums at the same time.
A: Yeah, you wouldn't be able to.
N: I think, maybe, can you cover it, maybe?
Play a little lower?
N: I'm only playing one note,
so I guess I could try to do some of the low notes,
kind of be like a bass.
N: Yeah. I'm doing the drums. You do the bass.
Z: I'll try. Now we'll add some chords and maybe get that low end.
Let's see how that influences it.
Two-three.
(Music: Coldplay, "Viva la Vida")
(Music ends)
Z: Yeah. Sounds pretty good.
N: Yeah, I like that.
Z: Did you guys feel the difference there?
Did you hear that low end better?
Let some chords there.
We love harmony, got to have some harmony,
so maybe that added something good.
I think that was good.
A: There's still something missing, like a few things missing.
Z: It's still a little nice. A: At the core of it.
N: Maybe you're kind of playing it a little still too classical.
Put a little edge into it.
A: So I'll put a little more attitude,
a little more grunge.
Z: Attitude. Yeah, alright.
A: How about I add some improv on that too.
Z: You want to improvise? Sweet.
Okay, maybe that's the finishing polish it needs.
N: Let's try it one more time. Z: Let's try it again, two-three.
((Music: Coldplay, "Viva la Vida")
(Music ends)
(Applause)
Z: That was better.
Thank you. Right.
Hello.
So, what did you think?
(Cheers)
Thanks.
You know we started off with an arrangement that was great,
but then we kind of ended up with an arrangement
that had a lot more pop quality to it.
Not to say that classical music is boring or lacks passion,
but certainly adding drums and chords on here like a guitar
and adding improvisation
really gives it a kind of pop feel
that you really can't get by doing it any other way.
And so, this has been our journey over the past several years,
and in recent months especially.
How do we continue to create this pop sound
on these string instruments?
And we're happy to say that we're doing it.
We're still in the middle of unfolding a lot of great projects,
but our recordings do sound like a pop track.
Our music videos have, indeed, been shared and recognized
by the Huffington Post, Rolling Stone,
and in fact, the band One Republic, themselves,
said they loved our version of "Counting Stars."
And as you can see,
our arrangements have more of a flair that we were going after.
So this is just so exciting for us,
and we're glad that you could witness that evolution from classical to pop.
A: But really, our journey has only just begun,
and we still have so much to work to do
to bring strings to the front of the stage.
We hope that you'll join us in our cause
in leading this classical crossover movement.
N: And the best way you can support us
is by liking us on Facebook, subscribing to our YouTube channel
and sharing this music with, you know, your friends and family
because, you know, we put a lot of work into this
and we just want to show people exactly what Alex said:
we want to bring strings from the back of the stage to the front.
And we thank you so much.
We'd like to leave you with one of our newest arrangements.
This is "Wake Me Up" by Avicii.
(Music: Avicii, "Wake Me Up")
Z: Let's get a clap going, everybody.
(Clapping)
(Music ends)
(Cheers and applause)
Z, A, N: Thank you.