Footlights • Alan Ayckbourn • Gym Party • Nick Frost

music • theatre • films • listings • comedy • family days out

what’s on13:02:14

“We love a disco!”The rise of Clean Bandit: from Kambar to the top of the charts

20 | February 13, 2014 | cambridge-news.co.uk | Cambridge News

Music

Editor: Paul Kirkley Writer: Ella WalkerEmail: ella.walker@cambridge-news.co.uk

For breaking entertainment news for thecity, visit cambridge-news.co.uk/whatson– plus follow @CamWhatsOn on Twitter

IT’S quite exciting preparing tointerview Clean Bandit: has thereever been another band dubbed

the “Dostoyevskys of disco”?“I love that,” trills Grace Chatto,

one quarter of the chart-toppingquartet. “I’ve actually read Crime andPunishment in Russian!”

“And,” she adds with a burst oflaughter. “We love discos!”

The four-piece – Grace on cello,Patterson brothers Jack (bass, sax,deck) and drummer Luke, andviolinist Neil Amin-Smith – met atJesus College in 2006, but, unlessyou’re an electro-classical-indiefiend, six months ago the likelihoodis you wouldn’t have heard of them.

Clearly that is no longer the case;not if you’ve got a radio and haveever turned it on, at least. To blamefor things seriously kicking off – andgloriously so – is latest single RatherBe featuring Jess Glynne. It knockedPharrell Williams’ schmaltzy Happyoff the chart top spot in January andhas stuck around for three weeks(and counting).

They sold out their first headlinetour in under an hour, foundthemselves booked for Wirelessfestival and topped off a rathersuccessful month by announcingtheir debut album, New Eyes, whichwill be making your limbs and earsjitter happily from May 14.

Oh, and they also tend to bementioned in the same bracket asfellow Cambridge band alt-J whothey supported on tour, and thelikes of Basement Jaxx, Rudimental,Disclosure and London Grammar.

So how do you go from studyingRussian (Grace and Jack), andpottering about in a student stringquartet (Grace and Neil), to all this?

You can thank Jack for that. Hespent his spare time helping outGrace’s string group by designing theposters and merchandise for theirconcerts and then “one day thoughtof mixing some of the electronicideas he had with little snippets ofclassical music that he had takenfrom recordings he’d made of ourquartet,” Grace explains.

They gave themselves two weeksafter that initial mixing session topull together a collection of tracks(“That was probably our mostproductive week as a band!”) andthen played live together for the firsttime at the now devastatingly-closedKambar on Wheeler Street. “Such ashame,” Grace sighs. “I mean, thatwas such an incredible place.”

In the space of just two weeksthey’d become Clean Bandit, takingtheir name from a translated Russianphrase meaning “complete b*****d.”

Coming up with a name for theirsound has been a slightly morelaborious task though, Grace admits.“One person suggested ‘electronicchamber music’ which I quite liked,but it’s really difficult to describe,”she says, citing garage, dancehall,house, electric, classical and folkas influences. “It’s this massivehotchpotch of different styles.”

Simply put, they blend classicalarrangements with house beats, andwhile in some hands that could resultin a clamouring mess, with CleanBandit, it works. “We like challengingourselves to mix stuff together,

although it does come naturally,”says Grace. “It’s not like we decidedto do this special fusion, we just writeand the elements come in as we go.”

They actually made their singlechart debut last April with the bassyMozart’s House, with vocals providedby their friend and fellow JesusCollege graduate Ssegawa-SsekintuKiwanuka. It peaked at number 17and, like the soul-driven Dust Clears,is grimier than the commerciallyviable ‘fusion’ sloshing around inRather Be.

But you do get the real sense thatthe commercial factor is a happyaccident, not a deliberate intention.These guys aren’t in it for the acclaimor the cold hard cash: look at theirhistory.

Way back when they went so far

as to run their own club night inCambridge to avoid the cheese ofmainstream music slush. “We weren’ttoo impressed,” Grace admits whenasked what she thought of the musicscene in the city. “But the classicalmusic scene at the university wasamazing.”

They had the foresight to bookthe likes of James Blake, GeorgeFitz Gerald, Pariah and Iconica(“people and dance producers thatwe admired,”), and “that was reallythe main place that I danced,” saysGrace, audibly grinning. “Yeah, Ididn’t really like Ballare.”

Rather Be – co-written by Jack andDisclosure’s lyricist Jimmy Napes–has properly chucked them intothe mainstream though, so much soyou’ll almost definitely hear them

played at Ballare now.“I don’t think they had set out to

do it, but it turned out to be a veryromantic song about wanting toalways be with the person that youlove,” says Grace, describing wherethe track came from. “We were goingfor an old school vibe with the synthsand the beats.”

It starts with a jaunty stringsequence that has you automaticallyhooked with Jess Glynne’s urgent,silken vocals arcing over the top oframped up bass and electronica.It fizzes through you, and thencomes the drop. . . It makes youwant to dance and dance and, um,dance. It’s brilliant, brilliant stuff,but without taking into account thevideo, it’s practically half a story,and these guys take their music

As they announce their debut album,ELLA WALKER talks to the Cambridgeband’s cellist Grace Chatto about theirfirst gig in Kambar, making their ownvideos and her dreams of collaboratingwith Craig David (yes, how amazingwould that be)

Clean

Cambridge News | cambridge-news.co.uk | February 13, 2014 | 21

Saturday

15 toSund

ay 23Febru

ary

12miles from Cambridge | Free parking iwm.org.uk

UNDER 16s GO FREE

FREE INDOOR FAMILY ACTIVITIESHOW THE LANCASTER AND B-17 BOMBERS HELPED D-DAYHEAR PERSONAL D-DAY STORIES FUN FAMILY CRAFT ACTIVITIES

videos very seriously. Theyproduce, film and edit themthemselves. Jack helpfullystudied at the Moscow filmschool: “another Russianconnection,” Grace, left,

says ruefully.“I think when you’re a

musician it’s really importantto keep a varied life. If you’reperforming the same songsover and over again everyday, life can get boring andinspiration can slow down,

but for us it’s just so amazingthat we can go to Japan, film in

a fish market one day and thenthe next day be performing inBrixton Electric, you know?”

Rather Be features a Japanesefan who, while singing along tothe music, starts hallucinatingthat she can see members of theband popping up around Tokyo.It looks like it would’ve beenridiculously entertaining tomake, so much so, Luke’s taken

to carrying around a ‘Learn Japanese’book. “He seems to be taking it reallyseriously,” says Grace. “He really fellin love with Tokyo – he’s threateningto move there, so I don’t know whatwe’re gonna do!”

Video is also expected to be a hugepart of the album; they’re doinga Beyoncé and making visuals tomatch up with almost every track.“It’s so fun!” Grace buzzes. “We like tosee ourselves as producers of musicvideos, not just music or videos; bothas a combined thing.”

She explains how the visual ideasoften come at the same time aswriting the music or sometimes evenbefore that. For example, an earlyvideo for the haunting UK Shanty,which they shot with model Lily Coleas a mermaid.

“We wanted to film in the sea inCornwall and for that reason wewrote this sea shanty melody.” It wasalso a chance to don wetsuits andleap about on rocks smashing upstring instruments (watch it, it’s very

funny).When it comes tohaving a highlightthough – otherthan hangingout in Tokyo andlolling aboutin Cornwall

– for Grace it’sbeen their firstLive Loungeexperienceat Radio Onewhere theycovered Lorde’sRoyals (“It wasan exhilaratingexperience havingthree minutes to

play your song,”).And of course,there’s that number1 single.

Aside from the tourand the album anda rammed festival

season (we hope),future-wise, Grace isalready daydreamingof nailing some majorcollaborations. Withwho? “Shakira!” shesays laughing. “CraigDavid!” (still laughing),and: “Drake. DefinitelyDrake, Jack’s a massive

Now that issomething to look

forward to.

“I’ve actually readCrime and Punishment

in Russian!”

funny

pAth1 s

Aanda ra

seasfuturalreadof nacollabwho?says lDavidand: “Drake,fan.”

Ns

Bandit:v

mtp

ibutha

a fisthe nBrix

Rafan wthe mthatbanIt lridm

LOADS MORE ONLINE at cambridge-news.co.uk/whatson