In the summer of 2009 FUSE became the first electric violin artist to sign a major global record deal through credible traditional channels in over a decade.

FUSE are virtuoso musicians Linzi Stoppard and Ben Lee who, on their eponymous debut album, harness their bespoke signature Bridge electric violins and take Rock tracks that people love and radically but lovingly reinterpret them. As Linzi says, “It’s completely fresh, no one thought that what we do was even possible. Someone recently said, ‘The album is great but I can’t hear as much of the violins as I’d like’. 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.”

What FUSE do is unique but they feel that the tracks that they reinvent are not untouchable. “We’re unafraid to cover classic rock tracks,” says Ben. “Don’t forget that all ‘classical’ music today is cover versions of music by pop stars from the last 300 years! What we do can have a truly global appeal; there are no language barriers. Whilst we’re a string band, people can sing along to the choruses that we all know.”

The sound that FUSE generate takes serious know-how and technical skill. Linzi explains, “We play five string and four string instruments; this gives us more range than a normal violin. We play Bridge violins with Kevlar carbon fibre composite bodies. They could take a bullet for us!” Ben continues, “The violins are sprayed with a finish containing gold particles. We have particular tonal requirements – of course we keep our secrets to ourselves! – but I will say that we use guitar amps, combinations of valve heads and transistor heads and speaker cabinets. Other people playing electric violins just plug into a mixing desk whereas we use a series of effects pedals.” FUSE 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. There’s no cutting down or simplification involved. Live, it is nothing short of explosive – the violins are generally accompanied by the sound of jaws dropping!

There is unquestionably a FUSE ‘sound’. The band performed at a Status Quo event and, as Linzi says, “Everyone just got it. Francis Rossi said, ‘I love what you’ve done, how did you get that sound?’ He ended up performing on our recording of ‘Down Down’. Nick Mason from Pink Floyd was at a gig and offered to drum for us!” Ben continues, “One of our producers played on new material for Michael Jackson and sent our version of ‘Beat it’ to the project team. They thought it was unbelievable and asked who the guitarist was! They were going to play it for Jackson himself but of course we don’t know if that happened.”

Linzi and Ben took differing routes into FUSE, though their backgrounds have much in common. Both learned violin using the Suzuki method which Ben describes as, “A rock n roll way of learning because it trains the ear rather than focusing on theory or reading music.” Both performed many of their first public shows busking.

Linzi had an enviable reputation as a solo electric violinist performing at prestigious events globally but was looking for a musical director to help take her ambitions to the next level. She and Ben first met when she borrowed his purple Yamaha violin for a photoshoot – “They gave me a fifty quid deposit for a violin worth a grand and drove off! I was a little naive but it all worked out.” For a couple of years Ben worked in the studio with Linzi until the idea of forming a duo clicked. “Whilst I’d been using electric violins for ten years and knew all about effects, Linzi brought her own tastes and unique vision to bear – FUSE is my palette and her brush!”

Choosing the tracks for the ‘FUSE’ album was not easy, but the duo picked personal favourites and tracks that they knew that most people love. Linzi says, “With the track ‘Glorious’ we needed to turn the vocal into a string line and it just worked, it’s a great song, one that you just hear people whistling.” More inventively Ben relates, “We combined the mediaeval ‘O Fortuna’ from Carmina Burana with ‘Kashmir’ by Led Zeppelin, ‘Carmina’ felt a bit empty just on strings and amazingly we realised that the tracks had the same musical form. It works so well!”

The duo want to do things their own way. Linzi comments, “We have been told in the past that it would be ‘very much in our interest’ to apply for certain reality talent shows but we wanted to go through the credible traditional record company route that our heroes took.” FUSE have enjoyed some great live shows including several Royal Albert Hall gigs and memorably Glastonbury, Ben says, “We were late, didn’t have the right passes and were about to miss the slot. We ended up flagging down an ice cream van – we got in with all the equipment and got there just in time.” At another show all the equipment got lost en route – all the wiring and sound processors FUSE need – and was couriered to the show, arriving in the nick of time. Without this gear the violins are silent, the one disadvantage of electric instruments!

With the release of ‘FUSE’, the band look set to achieve many of their goals. Linzi says, “We want the album to be a success and then to tour. Live is where we’re exceptional – we’d love to take FUSE to America. They would love our music I think. Maybe one day we’ll do an album featuring some of our heroes. That would be amazing.” FUSE are truly global, their edgy sound, cool look and exciting live entertainment gives them a special appeal to breaks boarders, these electric violinists perform from NYC to London & Worldwide. Join our mailing list to be keep up to date with the latest news!