Bond was hailed as the Spice Girls of the classical scene after making a splash with its electronic loaded sound four years ago. Since then Bond has proven that it's far more than just another band with long legs and manufactured by a record company.
None of the sassy, sexy lasses have slept with David Beckham, according to the combo's cellist Gay-Yee Westerhoff, and none of them have any plans to enter the world of popular music. They want to be classy, she said.
All formally educated musicians, Eos (violin), Tania Davis (viola), Haylie Ecker (violin) and Westerhoff have caused quite a stir since their debut single, Victory, reached the top slot in the music charts in 10 countries in 2001 -- an achievement that came as a complete surprise.
"When we're in the recording studio it was the just the four of us and we had no concept of what would happen," said Eos. "We're not that high-profile so we didn't think about it. First it went silver, then gold, then platinum and then it was like `wow.'"
Along with composing numerous original numbers that boast musical influences that include dance, European folk, world beat, salsa, hints of trance and the occasional vocalization, Bond has also successfully produced hugely successful classical crossover reworkings of tunes by a wide range of other artists.
Bond's version of Led Zeppelin's Kashmir took the tune to heights that Jimmy Page and Robert Plant could never have imagined and its revamped working of Monty Norman's well-known James Bond theme saw the tune transformed into a Middle Eastern disco number.
It's Bond's revamping of works by classical composers, however, that has enabled the combo to carve a niche for itself and has led to its now huge worldwide following of fans. Bond has brought Tchaikovsky and Vivaldi into close contact with modern trance and dance and cooked up a genuinely musical recipe for success that is now the envy of some standard classical
musicians.
"I think a lot of the classical musicians we meet are a bit jealous of what we do because we have the freedom to write our own music," Davis said.
As well as being the first female instrumental act to enter the UK pop charts, the combo has posed nude for glossy publicity shots and was the first such act to sell over 3 million records worldwide.
The band's debut album, the striking, electronica and world-beat tinged Born, which was released in 2001, shot straight to number 1 in the Billboard Classical Crossover charts and propelled the band to forefront of a revolution that is currently underway in the world of classical music.
"I think it was odd to begin with as we were the first crossover artists that Decca signed," said Cardiff-born Eos. "But crossover has become a hugely popular genre. Although I don't know exactly how many other crossover acts they have, it could be four or five, [classical crossover] is one of [Decca's] best sellers."
The bubbly, leggy lasses make no bones about the fact they are enjoying their jaunt with super stardom, but the journey to the top has not been without controversy. Banned from the UK's Classical Charts for being too populist, the band's performances at the Classical Brit Awards and a concert at the Royal Albert Hall left some classical purists aghast. One Classical Brits committee member was so outraged at what he perceived to be Bond's sacrilegious reworkings of classical music that he resigned his post in disgust.
"There are people who don't like what we do. But because we have a big cross section of audiences, from kids to grandmas and grandpas, it means a lot of people who wouldn't normally watch a classical music program tune in," said Ecker. "This kind of tunnel vision that certain people have is not going to get them anywhere in the long run. All it does is get a lot of press for us."
Classical purists might be aghast at the thought of short-skirted women taking over from virtuosos dressed in black ties and starched collars, but some of the biggest names in the world in both the classical and popular music worlds have been quick to lend the ladies their support.
Prog-rock/heavy metal combo Deep Purple, downbeat fusion funk act Morcheeba and opera giant Luciano Pavarotti are just a few of the acts who have taken time out from their regular routines to perform with the Bond girls. Others have shown an interest in working with the peppery female string quartet.
"Jimmy Page was interested in recording a track with us for the latest album but he was on holiday when were in the studio," said Westerhoff.
Released globally earlier this month, Bond's latest studio offering and fourth album to date, Classified, sees the combo playing a combination of classical standards, Middle Eastern folksy numbers, spicy Latin tunes and dance anthems. Like the band's previous release it is a predominantly instrumental affair on which the four-piece ensemble joins forces with a battalion of session musicians in order to create a selection of stirring classical crossover sounds.
Although not all the band's tunes are instrumentals, use of vocals is not something the band see as conducive to its continued growth. Instead they believe that their future is with their instrumental sound.
"The thing is that if we use vocals we'll sound like any other group. I think people would like it, but it would push the music itself into the background," Ecker said.
George Michael's backing band will feature in Bond's Taipei performances and you can also expect the girls to woo the crowds with some nifty choreography.
Performance notes:
What: Bond live in Taipei
When: 7:30pm tonight and tomorrow night
Where: At the Taipei International Convention Center
(
Tickets: Cost from NT$1,000 to NT$3,000, available from ERA ticketing outlets and Kingstone bookstores nationwide
May 18 to May 24 Pastor Yang Hsu’s (楊煦) congregation was shocked upon seeing the land he chose to build his orphanage. It was surrounded by mountains on three sides, and the only way to access it was to cross a river by foot. The soil was poor due to runoff, and large rocks strewn across the plot prevented much from growing. In addition, there was no running water or electricity. But it was all Yang could afford. He and his Indigenous Atayal wife Lin Feng-ying (林鳳英) had already been caring for 24 orphans in their home, and they were in
On May 2, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫), at a meeting in support of Taipei city councilors at party headquarters, compared President William Lai (賴清德) to Hitler. Chu claimed that unlike any other democracy worldwide in history, no other leader was rooting out opposing parties like Lai and the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP). That his statements are wildly inaccurate was not the point. It was a rallying cry, not a history lesson. This was intentional to provoke the international diplomatic community into a response, which was promptly provided. Both the German and Israeli offices issued statements on Facebook
Even by the standards of Ukraine’s International Legion, which comprises volunteers from over 55 countries, Han has an unusual backstory. Born in Taichung, he grew up in Costa Rica — then one of Taiwan’s diplomatic allies — where a relative worked for the embassy. After attending an American international high school in San Jose, Costa Rica’s capital, Han — who prefers to use only his given name for OPSEC (operations security) reasons — moved to the US in his teens. He attended Penn State University before returning to Taiwan to work in the semiconductor industry in Kaohsiung, where he
President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday delivered an address marking the first anniversary of his presidency. In the speech, Lai affirmed Taiwan’s global role in technology, trade and security. He announced economic and national security initiatives, and emphasized democratic values and cross-party cooperation. The following is the full text of his speech: Yesterday, outside of Beida Elementary School in New Taipei City’s Sanxia District (三峽), there was a major traffic accident that, sadly, claimed several lives and resulted in multiple injuries. The Executive Yuan immediately formed a task force, and last night I personally visited the victims in hospital. Central government agencies and the
RSS