Launched in a blaze of publicity, Bond were initially dubbed by the world's press as "the classical Spice Girls" on account of their sexy image and rock'n'roll style. Millions of album sales later, it's only the gender - and their success - they have in common with the late proponents of Girl Power. It's not actually hard to figure out why. Sure, Haylie Ecker (first violin), Eos Chater (second violin), Tania Davis (viola) and Gay-Yee Westerhoff (cello) are highly photogenic. But as one of them has pointed out, if that's all that was needed for success, then supermodels would be able to sell records.
Bond's latest release Classified is a return to a more classically oriented style, put over with their trademark verve and panache. With it come explorations of other styles, from African and electro beats, hip hop to Latin, and for the first time a sliver of jazz. The highly anticipated Classified World Tour which will take the girls to Europe, South America, North America and Asia.
The argument over whether Bond are a classical act may rage on in some quarters. The girls were banned from the official UK Classical charts because of their beats when their debut album Born was released in 2001. "It's frustrating to us that artists with no classical training can be in the classical charts when we all have such strong classical training, but there doesn't seem to be place for us", says Tania.
But the powers that be also know that Bond are a positive force in the classical world. They opened the 2001 and 2003 UK Classical Brit Awards. The intent in the invitation was clear, they are a superb vehicle for bringing a broader and younger audience into the classical world. From their personal experience Bond know they are a clear influence on young people whose ears would not have previously been open to classical music. "Parents take their kids to our tours to show them that the violin could be fun", says Eos.
But Bond are also clear where they stand. As Haylie says, "I don't 1pxk we ever thought of ourselves as a classical group. We all trained as classical musicians, so we know what classical music is. It was a challenge for us to create some1pxg new and different, taking inspiration from classical melodies. When we play live we use electric violins and distortion pedals and other equipment, we have lighting shows and it's a massive production, so in that way we're much more pop."
