The English electronic music group Clean Bandit formed in Cambridge in 2008 and immediately topped the UK singles charts. The band’s creativity is enviable: they also direct and produce their own music videos, many of which have been nominated for Brit Awards and MTV Video Awards, and two of which – “Symphony”and “Rockabye” – have over 1 billion views on YouTube.
The group currently consists of its founder Grace Chatto and brothers Jack and Luke Patterson. The band’s story began at Cambridge University when Grace Chatto and Neil Amin-Smith, who had been playing classical music since childhood, met Jack Patterson. When he became Grace’s boyfriend, he would record the cello performances by his girlfriend and infuse them with electronic beats. It was new, exciting and they loved it – and Clean Bandit was born.
Many of the band’s projects are famous for fusing classical and dance music elements and featuring guest vocalists, including Demi Lovato, Jess Glynne, Zara Larsson, Julia Michaels, Luis Fonsi, Ellie Goulding, Iann Dior, Mabel and Lizzo. Their latest hit “Symphony”, featuring Swedish pop singer Zara Larsson, reached number 1 in the UK and Swedish singles charts.
Maybe that’s the formula for Clean Bandit’s success – appealing to both modern festival-goers and classical lovers: their music is accessible to everyone. Clean Bandit’s ability to infuse modern rhythms into classical pieces brings a new wind to modern music. World famous for their unusual use of classical instruments and compositions by composers such as Mozart and Beethoven to create electronic dance music hits, Clean Bandit do it all by themselves: the music, the lyrics and even the music videos for their songs.
Unsurprisingly, all the members of Clean Bandit (four at the start of the band’s existence) studied at the prestigious University of Cambridge in England. On the other hand, none of them actually studied classical music. Instead, they studied Russian, Italian, history and architecture, so their horizons and interests are not limited to music, although it is one of the most important aspects of their lives.