Urban Media - Episode 11: Lindsey Stirling of America's Got Talent Hip Hop and Rock Violinist

Season 2 kicks off with Lindsey Stirling of America's Got Talent. Lindsey is a skilled violinist that mixes classical pieces with Hip Hop and Rock.

More Info:
YOUTUBE: http://www.youtube.com/user/lindseystomp
http://lindseystirlingviolin.com/
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Lindsey-Stirling/132255980139931?ref=ts

Sponsor: Positive SLC
http://www.positiveslc.com

Urban Media
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Urban Media Lab Productions
http://www.urbanmedialabproductions.com

Captioned by StreamCaptions.com

[funky hip-hop music playing]

-What's your name?

-I'm Lindsey Stirling. I'm from Utah

and I play hip-hop violin.

-Well, let's see what you can do.

-[playing violin in tune with hop-hop music]

[crowd cheering]

I'm Lindsey Stirling and I am a violinist.

[playing rock tune]

What makes me a little bit unique is

yes, I was classically trained for years and years,

but I now play with rock bands, I do rock music,

and, most recently, I like to play hip-hop music

while I dance.

So, I write some of my own original music

that's, you know, backup tracks.

My music is all original,

but mostly what I've been doing lately

is I'll take popular radio hits that I really like,

'cause I love to go dancing.

I love to go, you know, bust my white-girl moves

on the dance floor.

So, I take songs that I love to listen to,

and I love to party to,

and I'll write violin parts over it

that are my own completely original

elaborations of the track, the original music,

and that's something that people seem to really like,

because it's a recognizable song,

but yet something completely unique that I add to it.

So, my dad had all these records,

all these classical records that he would play,

and I can remember dancing to Mozart

and Scheherazade as a little girl with my sisters.

And I also remember my dad

would look through the newspapers

and circle all the free concerts in town

and he would take us to all these

classical orchestral concerts.

You know, and I would hear the violins

and I just longed to be a violinist after hearing that.

At the age of five,

I began begging my parents for lessons.

They couldn't afford to give me lessons,

so my mom searched around town

and made calls looking for a teacher

that would give me lessons every other week

instead of every week,

and no one would agree to teach a six-year-old little girl

that infrequently,

'cause they didn't think that anyone could learn at that rate,

but my mom kept searching

until finally she found one teacher that she could afford

and that would do this

and that was my beginning to the violin.

I first kind of stepped away from my classical training

when I was 16 and I joined the rock band Stomp on Melvin.

At the time, it was totally just a fun thing

and we were all just about having fun.

We went on a little rock tour

and, you know, it was just fun and games,

but it was such an inspiration to me,

because for the first time,

I realized that the violin could be fun.

It could be exciting

and you didn't have to just stick in this mold regiment

of proper and classical.

So, that was when I first realized

the endless limitations of the violin.

[violin playing]

Music is completely my creative outlet.

It's how I love to express myself.

It's how I release my emotion

and it's just something that I absolutely love to do.

Not only do I love to play the violin for myself,

but I enjoy it so much when I can see people smile

or when I can their emotions come across,

you know, when they hear my playing,

and that just brings me so much joy

when I can tell that other people

are enjoying what I love to share.

Hey, I'm Lindsey Stirling and you're watching Urban Media.

[playing dramatic tune]

Now that I've gotten a lot of exposure

and that I realize that people really enjoy what I do,

the future is wide open and I'm actually super-excited

because I took this semester off school

just to kind of try the life of a musician.

I'm kind of in limbo right now.

I've contacted several agents and whatnot

and I'm just pursuing my own soloist career

as a violinist.

[playing folk music]

I have to thank my old teacher.

My first teacher, Janna Allred,

who put up with a lot from me.

She was so patient,

and even though I didn't always practice

and even though I probably gave her some attitude,

she's the best.

So, thank you, Janna Allred, my teacher.

And also to my band boys, Stomp on Melvin.

You guys are the ones that gave me my start,

so Randy, Adam, Brandon, and Jeff,

you guys are the best.

And, Mom and Dad, I love you

and thanks so much for your endless support and love.

Lindsey Stirling, signing out.

-I'm NAWM.

-I'm AkbAr.

-Red Spectral.

-Killawatts.

-(all) And you're watching Urban Media.

-I put it on YouTube and made this little...

[child yelling in background]

Oh, my God. I'm gonna kill whatever else makes noise.

It was a bug or a child.