Hello, cello: A conversation with musical innovator Hauser

Although the phrase might seem oxymoronic in the extreme, Stjepan Hauser is a rock star with a cello.

Hauser (last name only, please) tours the world with a stage show that presents the cello (both the iconic acoustic model and its electrified, body-less cousin) as the centerpiece in an flashy stage spectacle, with a seven-piece, fully-amplified band, singers, special effects and a whole lotta high energy.

He’ll play the BayCare Sound May 17 (find tickets here).

The Croatian-born Hauser plays classical music, of course, but this show is a magical musical mystery tour through a half-dozen styles.

He spent 10 years as one-half of 2CELLOS, which pioneered the cello-as-rock instrument thing, before launching a solo career. His crossover music and visual flair made him a YouTube sensation, and he started selling out arenas and amphitheaters. And has yet to look back.

St. Pete Catalyst: You began this journey as a classical musician.

Hauser: Yeah! I started young, and in my first 25 years I was focused on classical music. It was all discipline, training, master classes, competitions, and that’s how it should be, you know? To master an instrument, you gotta go to the traditional route.

Did you have ambitions at that time to maybe take it outside of the classical realm? Early on, were you thinking way ahead?

At first I was just focused on becoming the best cellist I can be. Then gradually, each year, I was expanding my horizons. I started to think more and more out of the box. I wanted to spread the beauty of classical music to the masses – to millions! And then, each year, my mind started to expand and I was just trying to figure out ways to reach the audience. I wanted to introduce this music to all kinds of people with different backgrounds, and unite everyone.

I always felt you can do so many different things with cello, because you can do crazy things that you can’t really do on other instruments. You can hit it like drums, you can pluck it like a guitar, you can even play it as an electric guitar with distortion. You can play high as violin, low as double bass.

So many different ways of playing it, and I felt like no one really took advantage of that. No one really showed how diverse the cello can be. So I had this vision.

With your background and training, did the classical world look down on what you were playing and say ‘you can’t do that’?

Yeah, I was a real rebel. I was annoyed by all these restrictions, all these rules. All this nonsense. And in institutions, in colleges and high school, academies, they just teach you to follow rules. I wanted to do things my own way. To put in my own personality. And in this rigorous classical world, this is looked on as a sin, you know? So I was not liked in those circles, but I’m happy that I found my own way.

The first 10 years, you pioneered this approach with Lukas Šulić as 2CELLOS. Why did that end?

Well, 10 years was a crazy ride, playing arenas around the world for so long. And it was mostly rock ‘n’ roll, basically. We were like a rock show. And I felt like there was so much more to discover – the romantic side, sensual side, playing even more variety of music. And Luka also had his own visions – family, four kids. We are different types of personalities. So it was like a natural flow.

My show is even more diverse. I start with some classical music, then you hear sone movie soundtracks, some romantic songs – then we go into crazy Latin part. Then a rock section. It’s like the whole full journey of music, in one night.

There’s been a very public movement over the last 20 years or so to deliver classical music away from old and dusty to a new generation of young people. Do you think of yourself as part of that, or are you just out there rocking? What’s your goal?

I’m just living the dream the whole time, and I don’t really think about the goal. I’m just enjoying life, creating what I want – and everything that happens is a byproduct of that.

Did your global success take you by surprise?

I was a very determined kid with big vision and focus. I knew it was going to happen eventually. And when the Internet took over, I knew right away ‘This is my chance.’ This was the platform I knew I could blow up and show the talent, and the beauty of cello music. I was really determined, and a hundred percent sure about myself, always.