- Title: "Wonder Woman" cellist wants to play with Rammstein
- Date: 25th January 2017
- Summary: LONDON, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM (JANUARY 20, 2017) (REUTERS) (SOUNDBITE) (English) CELLIST, TINA GUO, SAYING: "It really took about three years, like three years of daily training trying to figure out how to do it to really feel comfortable with electric cello, also because I play it standing, so it is completely different position because when you are sitting, you know, you have your legs, you have your knees that hold the body of the cello in place, you know, cello is like curvy. But the electric cello it's like, oh, the one that I play, the Yamaha, is much more thin, it has two little wooden pieces that come out....It kind of looks like a spaceship or a sword or something. So when I play it standing there is only one end pin that balances it on the ground, so you have to balance the cello as you play, cause it kind of spins out of place."
- Embargoed: 8th February 2017 12:53
- Keywords: Tina Guo Game On Zelda Pokémon. Wonder Woman Rammstein cellist cello video games
- Location: LONDON, ENGLAND, UK / UNKNOWN FILM LOCATIONS/ WACKEN & BERLIN, GERMANY
- City: LONDON, ENGLAND, UK / UNKNOWN FILM LOCATIONS/ WACKEN & BERLIN, GERMANY
- Country: United Kingdom
- Topics: Arts/Culture/Entertainment,Music
- Reuters ID: LVA00660KTNIL
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Cello soloist Tina Guo is about to release her debut album 'Game On!' featuring classical interpretations of video game themes.
Born in Shanghai, China, Tina was brought up by her grandparents, until the age of five, before she joined her parents, both classical musicians, in California. Although she played in orchestras from the age of nine and says she regrets not having a 'normal' childhood, she still managed to get a taste for digital entertainment from her peers.
"I played a lot of 'Legend of Zelda', 'Super Mario', 'Donkey Kong' and then I went through obsessive phase with 'Pokemon Snap'," Guo recalled in an interview with Reuters.
Years later, the video game industry has shaped her unusual professional path and given her worldwide recognition. Guo has developed an international career by performing in scores for major motion pictures, television, and video games, such as 'Batman v. Superman', 'Sherlock Holmes', 'Inception', 'Mario', 'Zelda', 'Final Fantasy' and 'Pokemon'.
The soloist attributes one night at a Los Angeles rock club for her transformation from pure classical musician to contemporary artist.
"I think that, that the first time I went to a rock club...everybody was really nice, everybody was relaxed, having a good time, you know, if they liked the music they can scream, they can yell they were not in classical concert you know...which is wonderful and it's great, and it is, you know, great for certain situations, but... ah sometimes you just want to relax and express yourself and have a good time and I was really addicted after that one show. And I thought, oh my god, I want to do this, I want to be up here, I need to find a way to be able to do this."
The fascination with heavy metal inspired Guo's individual style, one that developed when she mastered the electric cello.
"It took about three years, like three years of daily training trying to figure out how to do it to really feel comfortable with electric cello, also because I play it standing, so it is completely different position because when you are sitting you know you have your legs, you have your knees, that hold the body of the cello in place, you know cello is like curvy," Guo said.
Despite having found success on the international stage, Guo admits that her rebellious personality and elaborate costumes were not always welcomed by the classical music industry.
"I was supposed to play the Dvorak cello concerto and at the time...and it got cancelled and I said 'what happened?' to my classical manager at the time and he said 'Oh, they saw some of your photos...', keep in mind these weren't like, you know, there wasn't anything too crazy in my opinion, they were just like... I guess kind of modeling photos and whatnot and the orchestra board said that I was too like out there and too wild and that was even before I got really crazy with the metal and stuff like that," she explained.
The artist has toured with Cirque du Soleil and shared the stage with some of music's biggest names including the Foo Fighters, Stevie Wonder, Justin Bieber and Carlos Santana. Still her dream collaboration is with a German industrial metal band from the 1990s.
"My favorite band in the world is Rammstein. I really want to play with Rammstein, I love them so much. I listen to them...only Rammstein... I have all their albums and I have a Rammstein shuffle playlist and I listen to that when I'm at the gym because it makes me feel like 'Yeah, I'm going to get it!'. And love them very much so that would be very cool if I played with them."
The individual classical musician has also managed to work with top Hollywood composers, like Hans Zimmer, who described her as Wonder Woman, a character which she very happily identifies with.
"We are actually working on the score right now for the new 'Wonder Woman' movie and I'm playing on that, because on the 'Wonder Woman' theme is actually myself on the electric cello. So it is really really fun to be able to musically kind of portray her, her strength, but she is not always strong, she is also Diana. So the new movie, I probably shouldn't say too much what is happening in the movie, but it is about her life story, about her transformation into Wonder Woman, because we see Wonder Woman - oh she is this powerful kick ass female superhero, but there is history behind it of how she got there, so that is really fun working on that and I love that story and I guess I do...I guess all girls relate to that, they all want to be the strong independent women," Guo said.
Tina Guo's 'Game On!' is out February 10, 2017. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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