FourPlay String Quartet is a four-piece rock
band from Sydney, Australia, formed in 1995.
It should not be confused with a smooth jazz
group in the United States also known as Fourplay.
FourPlay's members include brothers Tim Hollo
(violin and viola) and Peter Hollo (cello),
Lara Goodridge (violin and vocals) and Shenzo
Gregorio (viola); former members include:
Veren Grigorov (viola) & Chris Emerson (viola).
Although all members of FourPlay had formal
classical training, the band play an eccentric
form of rock music, with subtle influences
from three of the four band members' Jewish
heritage (although FourPlay regard themselves
as an Australian band above all else) as well
as gypsy, pop, folk, hip-hop, electronica,
post-rock, folktronica and many other forms.
== History ==
FourPlay's first album, Catgut Ya' Tongue?
was released in 1998, and featured mostly
covers (of bands including Metallica and Depeche
Mode, and the theme from Doctor Who), along
with a few original compositions.
In late 1999, Emerson left to get married
in England and was replaced by Veren Grigorov.
FourPlay released their second album, The
Joy Of... in 2000, which included, among other
things, a two-part dub/klezmer composition,
a distortion-heavy cover of Pop Will Eat Itself's
Ich Bin Ein Auslander, and a gypsy-style instrumental
ending with a mass scream.
This was followed, a year later (2001), by
a 2-disc remix compilation, Digital Manipulation,
featuring work by many Australian musicians,
including Machine Translations, B(if)tek and
Darrin Verhagen.
FourPlay have also toured abroad extensively,
and supported artists including george and
The Whitlams.
In 2004, Grigorov was replaced by Shenton
Gregory aka Shenzo Gregorio, renowned stunt
violinist from Brisbane.
Shenzo's personality and style meshed perfectly
into FourPlay, and he took to the viola instantly.
A highly fertile period of new composition
resulted in many new originals, as well as
covers of Radiohead, The Strokes, and various
jazz/blues numbers.
These were recorded in the latter half of
2005 and appear on Now To The Future, released
in June 2006.
In July 2009, Fourthcoming, their fourth album
was released.
Most of the tracks were written 3 years prior.
Recorded live at the Street Theatre in Canberra
over three small gigs.
Like the previous three albums, Fourthcoming
contains a number of covers.
Rage Against the Machine, Leonard Cohen and
Sufjan Stevens.
A number of the original songs contain politically
charged lyrics.
The track A Grain of Truth was inspired by
the AWB (Australian Wheat Board) scandal.
The track Where The Sun Don't Shine was written
in response to the former Prime Minister of
Australia John Howard's sustainable energy
policy for the 2007 election.
The track Rudd-a-dub Dub refers to the then-current
Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd.In August 2010,
the band collaborated with author Neil Gaiman
and comics author/artist Eddie Campbell at
the inaugural Graphic festival at the Sydney
Opera House, composing a 70-minute accompaniment
to Gaiman's novella "The Truth is a Cave in
the Black Mountains".
== Discography ==
=== Studio Albums ===
Catgut Ya' Tongue?
(1998)
The Joy Of...
(2000)
Now To The Future (2006)
Fourthcoming (2009)
This Machine (2014)
=== Singles ===
FourPlay String Quartet Part 1 3" single (Reptilia)
(2006)
Fourplay String Quartet Part 2 3" single (Downtown
Nudnik) (2006)
Fourplay String Quartet Part 3 3" single (Trust)
(2006)
=== Compilations ===
Digital Manipulation - The FourPlay Remix
Project (2001
