‘People seemed deeply insulted’: how cult 90s band Rachel’s took chamber music out of the classical world

‘We had to figure out how to be a band – there wasn’t a master plan’ … Christian Frederickson, Rachel Grimes and Jason Noble of Rachel’s, pictured in 2003. Photograph: John Nation

If you were an American indie rock act in the mid-90s, life could be strange. After the breakthroughs of Nirvana and Green Day the music industry spent several frenzied years trying to refine the formula for rock success. Labels indiscriminately hoovered up guitar bands in the post-grunge glut.

But the newfound interest in alternative music also buoyed some unexpected acts. “There were a lot of people looking to independent labels for the next Nirvana,” says Christian Frederickson, violist with the Louisville chamber music act Rachel’s. “While that obviously wasn’t us, I do think we benefited.”