(MENAFN- Khaleej Times) With Clean Bandit ready to make their Dubai debut violinist Neil Amin-Smith talks about life in one of pops hottest new acts
For those angered by mainstream music’s tendency to champion the stupid and vacuous Clean Bandit comes as a breath of fresh air.
Formed when three of its members were studying at the University of Cambridge the group fuses electronica with classical strings – most notably in the global juggernaut hit Rather Be (featuring Jess Glynne).
Taken from the band’s debut album New Eyes the track is currently battling Pharrell Williams’ Happy as the UK’s biggest-selling single of 2014 with 1.1 million units shifted to date. Follow-up tune Extraordinary (featuring Sharna Bass) also cracked the top five in their homeland.
But is being a pop star all it’s cracked up to be
“I don’t think anyone would say we’re pop stars” replies violinist Neil Amin-Smith. “You’ll have to ask Katy Perry.”
Amin-Smith appears somewhat bemused at his sudden ascent from diligent student to internationally touring musician.
On Monday the band completed a 13-date tour of the United States documented carefully by Neil on his Twitter page (New York was wonderful Orlando disappointing and the Adam Sandler flick Blended that he watched on the plane “entirely s**t”).
However he claims that cracking the States where Rather Be charted in the Billboard top 10 was never a primary goal.
“I suppose it was a surprise” he says of America’s interest in the band “although we’d never really absorbed the idea of it being more difficult that other territories to be honest.”
Clean Bandit’s debut Dubai performance at tomorrow’s Sandance Festival is the group’s only planned gig outside of Europe between now and the New Year. They remain busy as ever though with several dozen shows scheduled in the coming months starting with a UK-wide series of dates.
But Amin-Smith isn’t complaining – especially as none of the group had back-up career plans despite their impressive educations.
“I’m not sure any of us knew what we were going to do” he says “so thank God this happened!” adamkhaleejtimes.com
Event details
What: Sandance featuring Clean Bandit De La Soul Empire of the Sun Axwell & Ingrosso and Rudimental
Where: Atlantis Beach Palm Jumeirah
When: Friday October 10 3pm to 3am
Cost: From Dhs325
Tickets: Go to www.platinumlist.ae or www.atlantisthepalm.com
For more info: See www.sandance.ae