Clean Bandit pushed to remove strings from songs and “told to stop making pop music”

nme.com:

Clean Bandit have revealed that they were pushed to remove strings from their songs and “told to stop making pop music”.The trio – comprised of Jack Patterson, Luke Patterson and Grace Chatto – opened up about their time in the industry during a new interview with the BBC, and revealed how they were pressured by their record label to drastically alter their sound.The English electronic music group formed in 2008 and have gone on to top the charts multiple times for their collaborations with the likes of Demi Lovato, Jess Glynne, Zara Larsson, Sean Paul and more.While securing four Number One singles, 10 Top 10 hits, two Ivor Novello songwriting awards and a Grammy, the three-piece have revealed that they were urged by their record label to remove strings from their music and turn their sights solely towards the dance genre.“There was a push for us to stop having strings in our music,” Chatto told the outlet, while Patterson added: “We were told to stop making pop music, as well.

We were sent dance music playlists on Spotify and told ‘Your music has to sit on here – only Harry Styles can make pop music’.”Part of the push they recalled was due to their presence as “shy and unassuming people” rather than as immediately distinctive pop stars. “We were told ‘you don’t have a face, you need to make club music’,” Patterson added, going on to recall how they began to doubt their instincts and later erased the violins for a more house sound.“We allowed it to happen because we were like, ‘We’d rather release something than nothing’,” Chatto explained. “But the music didn’t feel like our music…In the end, we were like, what’s the point in doing anything?’”The publication highlighted how the shift didn’t go well, as none of their.