Artist: Linzi Stoppard

Genre: Pop/Rock/Electro

Sounds Like: Vanessa Mae/Bond/Apocalyptica

Location: London, UK

Bio:

Over 4,000,000 YouTube views, live TV audiences in excess of 500,000,000 and exclusive ÂŁ1,000,000 Swarovski Crystal violin – Linzi Stoppard is one in a million!

Linzi is one of the most celebrated and coveted electric violin artists in the world. Linzi pushes the boundaries of musical convention with her passionate, live sets of rock, dance and contemporary melodies transfixing audiences the world over.

Linzi has been playing the classical violin from the age of four when she attended the prestigious Suzuki Violin School which eschews traditional learning techniques for violin. From eight she adopted a more traditional route and learnt to read music as well as mastered the clarinet and piano.

Her musical success began in her late teens she was then spotted by two music producers who convinced her to front and record Tattoo of Pain (vocals/electric violin) which was a spin off from cult American group “Lords of Acid”. This led to record deals around the world including EMI Europe, Avex and Never Records (Geffen, USA), followed up by tours in the States, Europe and Japan.

After the success of the alternative album she looked for a more commercial sound and formed Babe Instinct recording “Disco Babes From Outer Space” (UK top 20 hit, Positiva, EMI) and follow up “Fade To Grey” which was a dance hit across Europe and featured on numerous compilation albums including Ministry of Sound’s The Annual.

Having enjoyed her foray into the dance world Linzi wanted to nurture her own sound and style on the electric violin, forging a successful solo career for over a couple of years before teaming up with fellow electric violinist Ben Lee to form her new band FUSE.

Linzi Stoppard is one half of the virtuoso electric violin duo FUSE whose eponymous debut album was released in May 2010 through Edel Records. Along side fellow band mate Ben Lee FUSE harness their bespoke Swarovski Signature Bridge electric violins and seize classic Rock tracks and put them through the FUSE wringer! The results are radical, innovative but loving reinterpretations for violin.

“FUSE” features 14 incredible tracks including ‘Fix You’ by Coldplay, Michael Jackson’s ‘Beat It’, the title track by Andreas Johnson and a stunning blend of the mediaeval ‘O Fortuna’ from Carmina Burana and Zeppelin’s ‘Kashmir’. All tracks have been reworked and reanimated in the unique FUSE way. The duo have had to invent new ways to render melodies that were vocal on the original tracks. FUSE aim to prove that the electric violin can be as versatile as the electric guitar – a valedictory romp through “I Love Rock N Roll” seems to seal the deal!

As Linzi says, “It’s completely fresh, no one thought that what we do was even possible. Everything you hear is violins! The style that we use when we play is more akin to that of a guitar player, with more soul and electricity – literally! We chose work from artists that are huge stadium acts, and that’s where we want to be. It is that big and that powerful – get some ear plugs! We specialise in blowing away people’s preconceptions.”

FUSE are already finding friends in the rock fraternity who appreciate what they do. After raving, “I love what you’ve done, how did you get that sound?”, Francis Rossi appears on the album version of Quo’s ‘Down Down’, Nick Mason of Pink Floyd offered his services as a drummer and Roger Daltrey asked Linzi and Ben to support him!

Linzi and Ben’s background is music all the way – though Linzi is also signed to Models 1 and she and Ben have both just become Prince’s Trust Ambassadors. With both having had real success individually in their careers thus far and worked with an amazing array of world-beating musical talent, their coming together as FUSE portends something really special. The sound that FUSE generate takes serious know-how and technical skill and live it is nothing short of incendiary – the violins are generally accompanied by the sound of jaws dropping! “Crazy Nights” indeed.

As well as their own live tours FUSE’s world class reputation have made them a favourite in the global corporate market. Recently international engagements have seen FUSE playing in Moscow, Mumbai, Cannes, Monaco, Chicago, Philadelphia, New York, Calgary, Jordan, Lebanon, Qatar, Dubai, Hong Kong, Istanbul to name a few. You can see some of these performances on YouTube where FUSE have amassed have over four million views and counting.

In 2010 FUSE’s live TV performances were watched around the world by an audience of over 500,000,000+

What FUSE do can have a truly global appeal; there are no language barriers. Whilst they are very proudly a string band, listeners can sing along to the choruses that we all know. With the release of “FUSE” Linzi and Ben will be bringing their unique brand of entertainment to a whole new audience, let’s hope they are ready!

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