Artist Profile

FourPlay String Quartet

FourPlay started life as a classical string quartet, originally made up of friends from the Australian Youth Orchestra. Inspired by the Kronos, Balanescu and Brodsky Quartets’ blurring of the boundaries between classical and rock music, they began playing rock covers for friends. FourPlay use two violas as opposed to two violins (as a traditional string quartet would use) to produce a thicker, deeper sound.

In 1995 they bought pickups and distortion pedals, and transformed themselves into an electric string quartet. In 1998 they released their first album, Catgut Ya' Tongue? which sold out of the first 1,000 copies in 3 weeks... with no distribution or label in place. In April 2000 they released their second full-length album, The Joy Of... to glowing media coverage (now re-pressed an estimated 8 times – and even more for the first album).

FourPlay's double remix album Digital Manipulation came out in 2001 to rave reviews across the nation. Produced and distributed independently, this uniquely designed double CD is an amazing compilation of 25 Australian electronic artists remixing FourPlay's material, from B(if)tek and David Thrussell to Machine Translations and Deep Child: an album of new work fusing the electronic with the acoustic.

In 2006, FourPlay released a unique series of three 3" CD singles in the run-up to their long-awaited third studio album, Now To The Future, an album which captures the energy of their live performances and the breadth of their sound like never before.
In early 2007, FourPlay won "best band featuring a fiddle" at the Golden Fiddle Awards at the Tamworth Country Music Festival, despite not really playing any country. FourPlay are well chuffed to have received this award!

FourPlay's live shows are unlike any other string quartet in the world. The energy and sound created is more like that of a rock band, as is their on-stage presentation and banter. A FourPlay gig is an affair not to be missed.

FourPlay's repertoire includes covers of diverse artists such as the Beastie Boys, Jeff Buckley, Depeche Mode, Charles Mingus, Radiohead and The Strokes, and their own originals, inspired by wide array of diverse music such as rock, dub, folk, gypsy, klezmer, electronica, post-rock, jazz and improv.

Since FourPlay began in 1995, some personnel changes have occurred: In late 1995, original violinist Philippa Allan left the band to pursue a career as a classical violinist. Lara Goodridge joined in her place, lending her beautiful vocals to the band as well as her songwriting and violin-playing talents. In 1999, at the end of FourPlay's first European tour, founding member Chris Emerson left, also to pursue a classical career, and Veren Grigorov joined FourPlay on viola shortly after. Veren wrote a number of brilliant gypsy-inspired originals, and stayed in the band until mid-2004, when Shenton Gregory, aka Shenzo Gregorio, replaced him, bringing his spectacular soloing skills and a fresh enthusiasm to complete the current line-up.

During FourPlay's history, the band has supported a wide range of bands, both Australian and international, including The Whitlams, Ladysmith Black Mambazo, The Corrs, Savage Garden, The Screaming Jets, and many more. FourPlay have also recorded strings for, and played live with a variety of acts including The Whitlams, george, Gerling, X, Jodi Phillis, JuJu Space Jazz, the Stiff Gins, Skunkhour, and the list goes on...

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