Band/Artist name:

Chris Stone, and my band is The String Contingent

Where did your band name come from?

A bottle of Talisker Single Malt Whisky, a 3 day Scottish Highland camping trip with my partner Holly, Firdy the Freeballing Crab (he was in the water of the bay, dancing around… we wrote a song about him…), lots of damn Midges, and a long, Northern UK evening… and a bunch of friends on the other ends of my text messages saying ‘just no….’ to all my other suggestions…

Who’s in the band? How did you meet and when did you get together?

Myself on violin, Holly Downes on double bass, and Graham McLeod on guitar. Holly and I met years ago at music camps in Australia, and then went to Uni together at the ANU in Canberra. We met Graham while living in Scotland for a year, and after returning to Aus, missed playing music with him so much, we formulated a Great Plan… that involved him coming out here in 2010, eating lots of cheese and drinking home brew, swimming in the dam, trips to the beach, and a lot of music in between!

What’s your musical background? When did you start playing?

I began playing Scottish fiddle tunes about age 10… still not sure why! I them moved into some other world/folky style musics, traveled to America and got inspired, decided to get serious so went to Uni back home and did a Classical degree, and then eventually another year of Post Grad study at VCA in Melbourne.

Has your music evolved since you first began playing together?

Very much so. We began with a string of gigs and festivals booked, but no music… so we worked together and co wrote a lot of our first material. It was primarily based around what we could already do, and looking back we played it pretty safe. Coming from a broad range of musical backgrounds gave us a lot of material to work with however, so we ended up with some pretty ‘different’ sounding music. Now, we know what we sound like as a group, and we can write ‘to’ that sound a little more. Being able to play together in a very solid way now, our compositions can take more risks, and rely on more control, finer textures, etc. That way we keep challenging ourselves, but growing organically, rather than changing for the sake of change. Anther positive is after a few years of playing and traveling together, we are much more ‘open’ with each other about our opinions during rehearsals… and ‘open’ is used in a very loose way!

What is your creative process?

As a group, we do end up working a lot of our music out together, even if someone brings a fully composed piece of music to the group. For me personally, I have tended away from the ‘come up with a lick or motif, write it down, add to it’ kind of approach. I’m interested in taking a more architectural approach, and deciding on some more over arching concepts before I start working out material. After that initial overall concept has been clarified, I end up with a mental list of what needs to be written melody wise, progression wise, texturally, etc. But each day is different, and allowing change is great for creativity. Increasingly I don’t compose on my own instrument, as I find that can quickly lead to stagnation, do to my over-familiarity with it. After that, a remarkable part of the ‘creative process’ seems to be taken up with metronome and intonation practice…

How would you describe your music to people?

Chamber – Folk, new music for acoustic string trio, groove based art music. Bio writing hey!

Does your music convey a message?

Yes, in that beauty is a universal message that I hear in great music, and attempt to express in my own. Beyond that, the great thing about instrumental music is that each person must draw their own conclusions about what the music means for them. I love this ambiguity/universality interface about our music.

Who are your musical influences?

My parents are both very talented musicians, so I grew up in an ideal musical household. Mum sang along with everything, particularly folk, rock and pop, and even some (good!) country, and dad played us classical, jazz, world and everything else. Instrumentally, Alasdair Fraser the Scottish fiddler was the first, then major influences are mostly from America, like Darol Anger, Edgar Meyer, Chris Thile, Mike Marshall, Bela Fleck… etc. The ‘New Acoustic’ music scene.

How do you promote your music?

On the web with our website (www.thestringcontingent.com), Facebook, MySpace, email lists, lots of touring, radio airplay, and in person whenever and wherever we can.

What live performance experience have you had?

The String Contingent spent a total of about 15 months on the road since late 2009, and before that Holly and I toured the UK, NZ and Australia with singer Frank Burkitt from Edinburgh. Before that, I toured the UK twice, NZ once and all around Australia with a jazz/world/folk band called Eilean Mor. Holly has toured extensively with the AYO, SYO, performed all around Australia with the various Symphony Orchestras, and much more. We now also perform with Lucy Wise as her backing band ‘The B’Gollies’. We earn our living from performing concerts, and although it’s not the most lucrative and we’ve had to work very hard to get here, we are stoked that it’s actually kind of working…

Which songs do you perform most frequently? Do you have a set play list?

We write a set list for just about every concert… and often change it half way through. It’s all about how things feel on stage, and you can never know until you are a few bars into the first piece… and then all becomes clear!

What has been your biggest highlight in the music industry?

Hard to say… Opening the National Folk Festival to over 3000 people was definitely a highlight, as were the following concerts at the festival, which were packed and very high energy.

What’s the best thing about your band mates?

They are fantastic travel buddies, and we all get on very well on and off stage. On stage, Graham is rock solid and reliable, holding everything together and really directing the music. Holly really shines musically and personally on stage, and that charisma works on us and the audience! The combination gives me confidence and inspiration, and what more could you ask?

What’s the most interesting thing that’s ever happened to your band?

Well, on tour in NZ, our van broke down, and the hire company decided it would cost too much to help us out with a new vehicle, so they refunded some of our money, and left us on our own… in the middle of a small town on the South Island, with no public transport, and 3 gigs in 3 days lined up all up the east cost… what followed was an epic adventure of hitchhiking across some of the most desolate and abandoned parts of the Island, with a double bass, guitar, fiddle, CD’s, bags, gear, etc… we hitched hundreds of K’s, met Hare hunting Toffs, beer swilling/pot smoking unlicensed drivers, washing machine shopping households and Choral conductors, made it to every gig, got all our money back, got a new van, and got back on the road, all in a few days… never again!

What has been your biggest challenge in the music industry?

Negotiating the value of our music to those booking our trio. Making the money side of things work is a huge part of this job. Without that working out, we could not find the time or energy to continue to play at the level we want to. There is an overarching yet unspoken understanding that music is pleasurable, we obviously enjoy playing it, so we will probably be ok with a token fee that will cover our fuel and dinner costs… but this problem is very much larger than just our group.

What are your long-term goals as a musician?

To continue performing music full time, and keep challenging ourselves with new music, new ideas, new concepts, and of course bigger and better gigs! More cheese platters at our gigs would also be nice.

Are you planning to release a new album anytime soon?

Yes, our second full length album titled ‘TSC2’ will be recorded in early November, and we plan on having it ready for sale on our website by mid December… just in time for Christmas! We will be touring this album from January through to mid May next year.

Do you have any tips for music marketing?

The personal will always be more powerful than the generic.

Where can we hear your tunes online?

On our website at www.thestringcontingent.com