ATTACCA QUARTET
Strange Brew, Bristol
Two-time Grammy award-winning string quartet from New York - Attacca Quartet; have worked and shared musical moments with the likes of Billie Eilish, Patrick Watson, and Squarepusher. Performing at Strange Brew, we talked about how it feels to work with such Artists.
Classical music is the lifeblood coursing through the veins of what we observe as music today. While all music has a shared lineage, classical music has undeniably provided a formula from which to build. All this, and yet, it is so often unashamedly pigeon-holed as ‘highbrow’, with records commonly destined for charity shop purgatory, live shows reserved for theatre and the odd Dr Dre rendition. Sadly it is so rare that contemporary, classical music is accessible for a majority of us to witness first hand with our own ears.
And so, you can imagine our excitement when Through the Noise offered us the opportunity to film and interview a group at the very forefront of challenging this misconception – Attacca Quartet.
Established in 2003 and comprised of Amy Schroeder, first violin, Andrew Yee, cello, Domenic Salerni, second violin, and Nathan Schram, viola, Attacca Quartet are one of a kind.
Atypical for a classical quartet, Attacca regularly record, collaborate, and span across genres in search of redefining the bounds of classical music. We heard for ourself at their Bristol date as a part of Through the Noise’s breathtaking ‘Noisenights.’
‘We’re very open to adapting what we do to all the other music that we love, and our career has been made so much more interesting for that.’
TALK TO NOBODY - Attacca Quartet
‘The melding of genres is really happening; we want to play what we love and share what we love.’
One thing that stands out at an Attacca performance is the sensitive set of dynamics, ranging from soft, solemn intimate moments of building anticipation, to wide-eyed hair thrashing bursts of strings. The combination of the atmospheric, dim-lit décor provided by Through the Noise, and Strange Brew’s intimate inner circle is truly immersive. Perfect for such an innovatively breathtaking group. As Andrew explains it, ‘using feeling and technique’ from their wide-ranging musical influences means that ‘the way we play Beethoven, informs the way that we play Billie Eilish’, creating an all-inspired interpretation that is a joy to witness unfold.
The quartet have recently signed to James Brown Management and reflect on treading the line between artistry and industry. Ultimately, they muse that the most important thing is staying true to yourself, adapting, and making music cohesive with what inspires you. While this can of course be in the form of classical music, it can also be a Radiohead song, a jazz tune, fiddle music or a feeling. As Nathan poetically puts it, it makes you ‘rejoice at how beautiful a string quartet really can be.’
Aside from musical influences, it is also inspiring to hear that when working with the likes of Billie Eilish they have anticipation; a lot of classical musicians can feel that even though they listen to an array of music, they are only ‘qualified’ to play classical, Amy recants. And when collaborating with ‘non classical’ musicians, it can be easy to feel, like the ‘uncool string quartet player.’
In reality, most musicians are inspired by, and indeed have an affinity for, classical music, and this can result in amazing music in amazing spaces. We would second that the Attacca Quartet fit beautifully into the Bristol space, and we hope that there’s a way for a string quartet to fit really beautifully into, and indeed transform, the Bristol space at Strange Brew. We leave you, wistfully waiting for the next Noisenight with Abel Selaocoe at Marble Factory, and much more from this [once again] upcoming genre.
"We’re very open to adapting what we do to all the other music that we love, and our career has been made so much more interesting for that."
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