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Iskra Strings is the collaborative project of violinist James Underwood.
Moving to London to study at the Royal College of Music in the mid ‘90s, James immersed himself in the city’s diverse nightlife, forging a lasting passion for working in, and often bringing together, seemingly disparate musical worlds. He earned his stripes touring extensively across Europe with the late Jóhann Jóhannsson. Forming the Iskra String Quartet, he recorded the album Iskra, featuring pieces by contemporaries Isobel Waller-Bridge, Alex Baranowski and Peter Gregson.
Not content with confining himself to the upper reaches of contemporary classical music, James worked closely with The xx to help them realise their vision on the number one albums Coexist and I See You. He has collaborated with Vampire Weekend, Sufjan Stevens and Maribou State as well as Ólafur Arnalds, Dustin O’Halloran and Michael Price.
His most extensive collaboration to date is with Paul Dixon aka Fyfe, releasing their debut Fyfe & Iskra Strings album Extended Play in 2019. Combining contemporary electronics and emotional song writing with James’s dynamic string compositions, the album won many fans at press and radio as well as amongst advertising creatives and music supervisors. The pair returned with new album Interiority in 2022, this time enlisting the help of Aquilo, Ghostpoet, Kelly Lee Owens, Mysie and Rae Morris.
Moving to London to study at the Royal College of Music in the mid ‘90s, James immersed himself in the city’s diverse nightlife, forging a lasting passion for working in, and often bringing together, seemingly disparate musical worlds. He earned his stripes touring extensively across Europe with the late Jóhann Jóhannsson. Forming the Iskra String Quartet, he recorded the album Iskra, featuring pieces by contemporaries Isobel Waller-Bridge, Alex Baranowski and Peter Gregson.
Not content with confining himself to the upper reaches of contemporary classical music, James worked closely with The xx to help them realise their vision on the number one albums Coexist and I See You. He has collaborated with Vampire Weekend, Sufjan Stevens and Maribou State as well as Ólafur Arnalds, Dustin O’Halloran and Michael Price.
His most extensive collaboration to date is with Paul Dixon aka Fyfe, releasing their debut Fyfe & Iskra Strings album Extended Play in 2019. Combining contemporary electronics and emotional song writing with James’s dynamic string compositions, the album won many fans at press and radio as well as amongst advertising creatives and music supervisors. The pair returned with new album Interiority in 2022, this time enlisting the help of Aquilo, Ghostpoet, Kelly Lee Owens, Mysie and Rae Morris.
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