Stereotype-smashing duo Black Violin – Kevin Sylvester and Wilner Baptiste, a.k.a. Kev Marcus and Wil B. – return to The PAC for the fifth season running on October 26, and in honor of this milestone we asked the band five questions about themselves and their music.
Kev Marcus responds:
Q: At what age did you start playing your instruments?
A: I (Kev) started playing violin when I was 9 years old and Wil started playing when he was 12.
Q: Before you learned how to play a string instrument, had you listened to or been a fan of classical music?
A: I had never even seen a violin in person before my first day of Saturday music class in 5th grade. The only place I heard classical music before then was in cartoons like “Tom and Jerry” and “Looney Tunes.”
Q: Do you think that other artists are following in your footsteps and bringing together these two styles of music?
A: We would like to think that we have paved the way for other instrumentalist to think outside the box and approach their instruments from a different perspective. When we started out, YouTube and Instagram didn’t even exist, but we had a great MySpace page. LOL. Now, musicians from all corners of the earth have the chance to showcase their skills and talents online for the whole world to see and are combining genres we would’ve never imagined.
Q: Do you typically find that your audience is primarily hip hop fans, or fans of classical music?
A: We have an extremely diverse fan base that includes people from with all types of musical tastes. But if I’d have to guess, I’d say most of our fans aren’t necessarily fans of either classical or hip hop, they seem to lie somewhere in between.
Q: What is your favorite song to listen to right now?
A: I love the new Lil Wayne song “Mona Lisa” featuring Kendrick Lamar. The song has a great story line and features strings by Black Violin.
Catch Black Violin at The Performing Arts Center, Purchase College on Friday, October 26, at 8pm. Click here for tickets or call the box office at 914-251-6200.
