Escala – Sexing up the Classics

It’s actually hard work being in a girl band. I’m due to meet Escala, the string quartet that came to fame last year on Britain’s Got Talent, the morning after they’ve appeared on this year’s show.

And they’re still being interviewed on TV when I head for bed, having just given a powerful performance looking impossibly perfect, all trademark long legs, luminous skin, big smiles and billowing locks.

“I was loving the wind machine last night,” laughs Chantal, the tall, blonde viola player. “It’s usually so hot, this time it cooled me down,” says Tasya, or Tas, the dark-haired cellist.

“It made my hair stick to my lips with all that lip gloss…ugh,” pipes up Victoria, or Vicky, the flame-haired violin player. “Your hair looked gorgeous,” drawls Izzy, the smaller, blonde violin player. Then they launch into how lovely and healthy Vicky’s hair is, and why she’s so lucky.

“Vicky has nothing done to her hair. She’s got the thickest, longest, most beautiful hair,” says Chantal. “Mine’s real today but last night…” Apparently all the other three girls had hair extensions for their performance. Izzy demonstrates why, pulling out her bobbin to reveal shoulder length hair.

I’m shocked. It all looks so natural and exactly what you would expect from four classical musicians who are all so well bred and so, well, gorgeous. “We spend hours in hair and make-up,” Izzy insists by way of explanation. “We were there at 3.30pm yesterday and it was still a mad rush,” they giggle.

“When we stopped playing, I was taking massive gulps of air thinking, if we’re going on tour, we’re going to need to go to the gym!”

These revelations set the tone for our interview. Yes, the girls are as gorgeous and lovely, though funnier than they are on TV - but there’s also a huge amount of work that goes into them behind the scenes, as well as long hours of dedication from themselves.

Take last night. None of the girls could sleep until 3am after the buzz of the show (Izzy did her washing, Chantal was checking iTunes and keeping Tas awake with text messages), and yet they still make it to Sony head offices bang on 9am.

They’ve become used to long days and short nights over the past 12 months. Since coming fifth on Britain’s Got Talent (BGT) and signing a £1.5m deal with Simon Cowell’s Syco label, part of Sony BMG, they’ve travelled the world, performed at top venues, including on The Oprah Winfrey show, and recorded an album they’re proud of.

Chantal and Izzy know how different it can be. Both were previously in a manufactured, classical girl group, Wild, signed to EMI in 2005. “There’s no comparison with the team behind us here,” says Chantal. Izzy agrees: “Back then, it was very much like ‘Why am I here in Asia for three weeks when we’re not selling any albums and not earning any money?’”

Escala were together for three years before they auditioned for BGT. Having had that time together has made a dramatic difference to them now. Not only are they best friends and hence well equipped to spend 24/7 together, they’re also a little older, aged between 24 and 26, and hence very clear about their direction.

Which might have been a problem had Simon Cowell had other ideas. “We were worried about that,” admits Vicky, when I mention the accounts of jilted X-Factor finalists and the ‘cut throat’ recording industry. “We were worried we were going to be changed and that the spark that brought us together would be sucked out of us.”

They were reassured, however, on their second meeting with Cowell. Having told them at the first one to go away and come back with a list of their favourite tracks, when they returned, he’d done the same and the crossover was significant. “That’s when we knew we were at the right place,” says Vicky.

Being perfectionists, they took months to complete their album, then delayed it further by putting the original November release date back to May. “But we’re absolutely happy with the finished product now,” Tas smiles.

“We were worried the record company would change us and that the spark that brought us together would be sucked out.”

Album aside, there’s still a lot for the band to work on. Not so much the music, with all the hard work going into that since the age of five for most of them. Chantal and Izzy won scholarships to The Royal College of Music, Tas played for the London Symphony Orchestra and Vicky was the youngest member of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra when she joined.

It’s the performance element that takes the work these days; the dancing, the smiling, the over-blown arm movements that go against everything they were taught as classical musicians.

“We take dance lessons,” Izzy admits. “When we stopped playing last night, I was taking massive gulps of air and thinking, if we’re going on tour, we’re going to need to go to the gym.” Tas agrees: “All I did was walk forward and back and I was out of breath. When Ant and Dec came over I was thinking ‘Please don’t ask me anything…’”

“And those heels,” adds Chantal, making a 90 degree angle with her hand. “We were trying to be cool but they were very sore!”

If anything, Escala worry about the image projected of them compared to the reality. With the heels, hair and make up and short dresses, they’ve been accused of dumbing down classical music. But they are equally responsible for opening up classical music to a whole heap of new fans.

There are the children they’re inspiring to ‘pick up instruments’, and the football fans that see them and hear their music, fronting Sky Sports’ TV advertisement for the premiership.

But it is women fans they’re most anxious about. “Our biggest concern is alienating women,” admits Izzy. “We don’t want to be one of those bands that women don’t like. We’re four very girly, very normal girls. But we’re conscious that performing tracks like Kashmir can sound quite male and rocky… When we come off TV, we’re always asking ‘Do we look friendly, do we look friendly?’”

The truth is, they’re very friendly, very intelligent and very talented girls trying to make it in an industry where sex sells. Is it so wrong to flaunt it a little when they’ve clearly got the goods to back it up? Surely no woman would argue with that.

Escala’s self-titled debut album is out now. For more information, visit  www.escalamusic.com  

By Barbara Walshe