Violins and rock music are not the most likely partnership in the world, but Linzi Stoppard, one half of the rock-based electric violin duo FUSE, is determined to change any preconceptions and bring the unique sound to thousand of fans.
Speaking to the Daily Telegraph, she revealed her ambitions to break free of conventional restrictions of being limited to playing in jazz clubs, instead wanting FUSE’s sound to be heard in large stadiums.
“We are a stadium act – not a jazz club act,” she explained, and with their high-energy, electronically-amplified sound, their music would not sound out of place in larger settings.
“I loved heavy metal as a teenager,” she continued. “While everyone else was following Bros, I listened to what my big brother played. I could never have created FUSE without metal.”
Furthermore, the progressive musician expanded on her early influences and musical tastes during an interview with the Times newspaper, claiming that she had spent a great deal of her youth listening to guitar music.
“I was furtively going through my elder brother’s rock albums when he was out. I followed real guitarists’ guitarists, people like Joe Satriani, who’s played with Brian May and Robert Fripp, and Steve Vai, who was in Whitesnake,” she explained.
“My all-time favourite rock band is Guns ‘N’ Roses.”
The artist hit the headlines recently after the Daily Mail reported her posing in a state of undress with the world’s most expensive electric violin to promote her band’s new album. The bespoke Bridge-made instrument features 50,000 Swarovski crystals and has an eye-watering £1 million price tag.
FUSE’s new album comprises entirely of cover versions of popular songs, such as Michael Jackson’s Beat It, using predominantly violins.