Rock 'n' roll bands have used string sections to supplement their music for years, but few groups offer as diverse a working repertoire as the quartet Ethel, as comfortable playing a complex classical piece as it is tearing into a Led Zeppelin song.
The quartet, which consists of Dorothy Lawson (cello), Todd Reynolds and Mary Rowell (violin), and Ralph Farris (viola), formed in 1998 in New York City and has since become an in-demand working ensemble for artists including Yo-Yo Ma, Rickie Lee Jones, Roger Daltry, and Sheryl Crow, releasing its own eponymous debut in 2003.
Ethel is currently on tour with Joe Jackson and Todd Rundgren. The quartet has worked with Jackson before, most recently on his 2000 album Night and Day II. During their April 20 performance in Greensboro, N.C., Ethel's collaborations with the songwriters on Jackson's "Real Men" and Rundgren's "Pretending to Care" provided the concert its unquestionable highlight.
As Ethel continues to tour the US, Rowell took some time to answer questions about the tour, her band, and an amplified string quartet's rightful place in a rock 'n' roll show.
PopMatters:This current tour with Joe Jackson and Todd Rundgren came about after a one-off gig last summer. What was that event like?
MR: Ethel was so happy to perform for Joe's and Todd's audience. Todd Rundgren wanted to do "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" and "Black Maria" for a group encore with Joe and Ethel after his set. Ralph made charts of the tunes and we worked them out during our soundcheck just before the show. Everyone was very excited about the show. We all felt the unique eclectic styles of Joe, Todd, and Ethel made for an excellent bill, and we were supported by the wonderful energy and excitement of the performances all night.
PM: When you're playing with them, how (if at all) do you adapt your style to match theirs?
Rowell: Playing with Joe and Todd is not much of a stretch for Ethel. Ethel is a synthesis of classical and popular music. Our playing style encompasses many genres, a certain freedom of expression through improvisation and a driving rock 'n' roll sensibility. This opportunity to tour with Joe and Todd fits Ethel like a glove.
PM:Before this tour, you were involved in Joe Jackson's Night and Day II album. How did you get involved with him?
Rowell: I met Joe in the early '90s when I did some sessions for him on a soundtrack for "Three of Hearts". He asked me to play on his Night Music CD and then Heaven and Hell and Symphony #1. When he called me to put together a string quartet for Night and Day II, I told him I was in a new quartet that would be perfect. He liked working with us but didn't care for our name. He advised that we would get sick of answering the question "Why Ethel?" We love our name and didn't change it, but we do understand his position now!
PM: Both Todd and Joe have reputations of being musical chameleons, never satisfied with repeating themselves, and I get the same impression listening to your debut album. Is that unpredictability something you strive for?
Rowell: We enjoy mixing things up. We have many musical interests and want to be able to play them all. Being a string quartet, we find that people have a strong expectation for what that is. We want people to hear Ethel with fresh ears and an open mind ... and we don't want to get bored!
PM: You started appearing in the New York City music scene in 1998. How did you come together?
Rowell: Two projects brought us together. I was putting together a quartet for a project with composer John King and choreographer Kevin O'Day. I asked Todd Reyonlds and Dorothy to be in the group. Then Todd put together a quartet for a recording session for Mel Graves and asked Dorothy and me and brought in Ralph as the violist. We were so excited to be playing together. We all had the same idea of breaking out of the classical mold, and we decided to see where we could go with the group.
PM: When most people think "string quartet", they think of traditional, rigid arrangements, yet your music sounds completely contemporary and energetic. How are you able to bring a rock 'n' roll vibe to a string quartet?
Rowell: The music we choose to play is very rhythmic and tends toward tried and true harmonic progressions. Some pieces are thoroughly composed and some are open for improvisational moments within the composition, not unlike a rock or jazz tune. Mostly, I think it is about the dynamic personality that projects off the stage when we play.
PM: Have you noticed that more and more rock bands are turning to string arrangements in live performances?
Rowell: This trend is coming back and we're glad to see it.
PM:What can a string ensemble add to a rock performance?
Rowell: Strings bring a warmth and a human excitement to rock. So much of the rock world is electric instruments. Amplified strings add a depth both sonically and soulfully. A string quartet is really a perfect ensemble. I like to call it an instrument in itself. Used in a rock setting, you have the ability to give the music a "classy" feeling or a "fiddly" flare or a percussive, harsh rock-out.
PM:What do you look for in the material you choose to record?
Rowell: Our first CD Ethel was about recording the music that had been putting us on the map. We look for and create music that is impassioned and that allows us to bring our own personalities forward. We are interested in the evolution of the string quartet and plan to delve into the computer world and we would like to create some theme albums. We are pretty interested in exploring with the quartet known and unknown forms of creating recorded music.
PM: You use a somewhat unorthodox device of amplifying your strings. What does the added amplification give to the performance?
Rowell: We use amplification as an extension of our sound. If used right, it brings the sound off the stage into the audience and can create more of a connection between performer and listener without being loud. It also allows us to use sounds on our instruments other than notes that without amplification cannot be heard by the audience, so it allows us to use our instruments more fully.
PM: Beyond this tour, what does Ethel have planned for the near future?
Rowell: We plan to have our second album out in October. We will be performing new pieces we have commissioned from Don Bryon, Pamela Z, John King, Marcelo Zarvos, and our own Todd Reynolds, as well as performing our group-composed piece "EG(o)" with the jazz/punk quartet Gutbucket. We have a multimedia project we will be developing and we'll be doing some touring in the US.
