Sorry not to have written in a while, we have all had a rather busy summer, which I will now fill you in about!

Well, we arrived back from Asia recently having had a great time! We spent 4 days in Beijing where we arrived to a few photographers at the airport which was quite a strange experience considering we had been on a plane for 10 hours! Once we had settled and had the rest of the day off we got ready for the next few very busy days!

The 4 days in Beijing consisted of lots of promo, eg. Newspaper/magazine interviews, and TV interviews as well as a couple of photoshoots! A big showcase for Sony Asia and all of the Beijing media was also organised which was quite daunting as it was the first time the record label over there had seen us perform! The performance went really well and we had a lovely host who chatted to us halfway through our set so that the audience had the chance to get to know us. We were all so well looked after, everyone we came across was really friendly and made us feel really at home, which is important when you are so far from home!

We then flew to Hong Kong which only took about 4 hours and arrived late afternoon….Vicky’s brother Will lives in Hong Kong so he took us out for dinner with his friends later that night and then on to an amazing bar at the top of a hotel where we were able to see Hong Kong’s very impressive skyline! It was the most incredible view and a moment shared with my 3 best friends which I will never forget.

The next couple of days we did lots of interviews and a big showcase for the record label in Hong Kong… Again, we were able to have a chat half way through our set which we always like to do, so we can connect with the audience! Everyone in Hong Kong was so lovely and and Hong Kong itself has such a great energy, it is always buzzing and the people are extremely welcoming.

Izzy and I flew home the next day while Tas and Vicky stayed an extra day to see Vicky’s brother and to sight see etc.. Izzy and I got onto the plane at about midnight that night which took 13 hours… I was not looking forward to being in the sky for that long as I really dont enjoy flying! Anyway, we all had an amazing time and can’t wait to revisit!

We are flying out to Taiwan later this month and then on to Singapore, so I will write again soon to update you on those trips!

Thank you for all your continued support,

Love Chantal xx

I hope you’re all enjoying the lovely weather(?!!) and looking forward to going on some kind of holiday soon!

So we’ve just come back from the Isle of Wight (my first time..woohoo!) where we supporting Anastasia at Osbourne House. It was such a great gig and the crowd were awesome! It was a bit touch and go cos it was raining ALL day, so we were a bit worried there wouldn’t be many people keen to stand and watch us in the rain (can’t think why not!), but it miraculously stopped about half an hour before we started.. So for those of you who were there… Thanks for bopping along and generally being a great crowd to play to!

When we came off stage we were lucky enough to meet the lovely Anastasia! She was so friendly and very beautiful as we expected! We didn’t get to watch her unfortunately as we had to catch the ferry back…. Maybe sometime in the future, ya never know!

Right now, we are enjoying a bit of time off and rehearsing together for the Proms in the Park on 12th September…eek!!! So excited!

Will write again soon, let us know if you saw us playing at Osbourne House and if you enjoyed it..as that is the most important thing! See you soon!

Lots of love , Victoria xx

I’m sitting on my sofa watching ‘America’s Next Top Model’ with a cuppa and thought i’d write and say how excited we all are about Osborne House at the Isle of Wight tomorrow! We’re on just before Anastacia and i’m looking forward to meeting her! We’ve been in rehearsals all week adding bits and pieces to the choreography and tidying everything up between the songs so there isn’t a mad shuffle while we regroup between tracks!

We had an amazing time at Ascot last friday too, really lovely crowd and the weather cleared up just before we went on stage. Our first major accident on stage happened at the gig, my synthetic bow (i dont use a wooden one because they’re too fragile for the electric….ironically..) snapped it two at the beginning of Kashmir (our last track of the night)! I ran off stage expecting to sit the rest of the track out but managed to get hold of Vicky’s spare violin bow and ran back on stage to finish the song.. The other girls hadn’t seen my bow snap so had no idea why I ran off.. Chantal thought i’d been sick. haha. We were in hysterics on stage, one my favorite gigs ever!

Really hope to see some of you at Osborne House tomorrow if you can make it, should be a great night.

See you soon!

Tasya xxx

Well it’s been an amazing few weeks!

The album came out in America which is so exciting and we were in New York for a while promoting and doing interviews, like the ‘Today Show’ which is being shown on the 17th July. I’ve been having an amazing time with the girls and we’re really looking forward to having a week off soon. I’m off to spend some time with my mum and brothers which will be great coz I haven’t seen as much of them as I’d like lately.

We had a great time at the races in Carlisle last Saturday where we performed to 8000 people, it was such a great night and we won on a horse called ‘Ask Dan’ which was a massive bonus!

Another thing we can’t wait for now a bit further down the line is the Katherine Jenkins tour in March, we’re joining her on stage as guests to perform a few of our tracks from the album. It’s an arena tour which is so exciting for us, it’s all we want to do!! Can’t wait! Have a look online because we’re performing all over the country.

We’re off to Sweden as well this summer to release the album over there and all over Asia towards the end of the Summer and September so it’s going to be a busy few months! keep your fingers crossed!

Thanks again for all your support!!

Lots of love,

Tasya xxx

p.s Would like to mention how sad it was to lose Michael Jackson. One of my earliest memories was as a 4 year old putting on an ancient LP of thriller that my dad gave me (my first ever album) and dancing like a nutter to it in the lounge!

xx

Sorry I have written for a while, been very busy recently and enjoying these exciting times!

Well, firstly i would like to say a BIG thank you to you all for supporting us by buying our album and helping us achieve such a fantastic chart position!! It is a dream come true that we feature in the main chart and have been so warmly accepted, so thank you!

Recently we have been doing a few TV shows such as GMTV, BBC breakfast and Loose women along with some fantastic radios….My favourite radio interview was with Vernon Kay on Radio 1….It was funny to finally meet him as we always seem to see him at corporate events!

Radio 1 is definately my favourite radio station so that was personally a very cool achievement!

We have also been travelling a bit recently, we went to Monaco a few weekends ago which was awesome fun, the weather was beautiful and the setting was incredible! if you haven’t already, check out the pics!

We also went to Sweden last week to play at an event for Sony Sweden…we hope to release our album in Scandinavia later this year which is very exciting!

Last week we played infront of the Queen at a children’s charity called ‘Coram’ which is a really lovely charity that helps underprivilidged parents with their kids…we took part in a music therapy workshop with Fathers and their children which was a lovely experience. It is so nice that we get to support and take part in helping when we can with the charities that we really believe in.

Presently, we have a few days off before we fly to New York to promote our album in America, which I can not wait for!!! I love New York and to be releasing in America is unbelievable!!

I am leaving to go on Holiday this weekend for a few days to Italy….It will be really lovely to relax by the pool and catch some rays, so i am very much looking forward to that!

So that just about brings you up to date for now, so thank you once again for all your support!

Catch up soon, take care,

Chantal xx

Well what can I say other than thank you, thank you, thank you all SO much for all your support! We’re so pleased that we’ve had some great feedback on the album and that we debuted at Number 2 in the UK charts! I think we feel especially proud of this as we are an instrumental group so we just didn’t think we’d get a look-in!

Right now we are enjoying a couple of days off which is bliss! The sun is out (kind of!) and the shops are calling!

I’ll just fill you in on the week we’ve just had. We played at a children’s charity event called ‘Coram’ where we joined in a workshop with the most adorable kids! We then did a performance for a special guest.. The Queen! We met her after our performance… She seemed to enjoy it and she asked us if we were cold… (It was raining!) I’m usually really uncool about meeting famous people (Lots of squeals and general over-excitement) but I think I held myself together pretty well on this occasion!

So that was followed the next day by doing a live interview on Radio 1 with Vernon Kay. It’s always quite scary doing a live interview but this just felt like a good chat!.. He was really friendly… Did any of you guys hear it?... Let us know your thoughts on the interview!

We also had some private gigs which went well… So all in all, a fab week!

So i’m off now to have fun in the sun! Thanks again guys… Bye for now!

Lotsa love Victoria xxx

Well it’s been an amazing week and we’d like to thank everyone who bought our album coz you got us into the charts at number 2!!! :D Its amazing and we’re so grateful. I really hope you’re enjoying the album, please let us know your favorite tracks!

I’m off to the airport this morning to go to Sweden with the girls. I’ve never been before, so I’m really looking forward to this trip. I had a horrible feeling I’d forgotten something a minute ago and have just realised that I didn’t bring some sheet music that’s meant for a performance tomorrow (I was meant to memorise the music on the plane…) oops. Have to print out another copy at the hotel..

Got my passport though! (Big gold star to me!)

Thanks again to all you guys!!! We wouldn’t be doing any of this without you. Can’t wait to go on tour so we can get on stage and perform all our favorite tracks!

Lots of love,

Tasya x

To comment on which is your favourite track on Escala’s Debut Album why not sign up to the Forum? Leave your comments here… http://www.escalamusic.com/index.php/forum/viewthread/3136/

The girls are taking questions on anything you like.  It can be about fashion, make up, music, films, travel, performing, or ANYTHING ELSE original and creative! Escala will be choosing and answering the best questions themselves, and will be looking for the most fun and imaginative ones that they can find. Please leave your questions on the following Forum thread… http://www.escalamusic.com/index.php/forum/viewthread/12250/

Sorry we haven’t written for a while but it has been a manic few weeks.

I just want to start off with saying the we are so excited that our debut album is out today! It’s been a long process but it has been absolutely amazing and we are all so pleased with the final result. So you can officially grab a copy of the album today!

Some other big news is we are performing on Britain’s got talent tonight!

It’s going to be surreal going back and performing on that stage again and in front of the judges… Except this time we don’t get judged which is a relief. We are really happy to be returning and we won’t give too much away but it’s going to be great, so make sure you tune in tonight.

So just to give you an update on what we have been up to… This bank holiday weekend we were in Monaco. Wow, what a beautiful city! We arrived on Friday and chilled by the pool for a few hours then started to get ready as we were performing at the Amber Lounge Club which was hosting a fashion show and auction in association with the Elton John charity foundation.

Before the performance we got to meet up with Formula One driver Jenson Button, who was really sweet and ended up winning the grand prix this weekend, so congratulations Jenson!

As we were performing all I could notice were all these familiar faces in the audience and then I see Liz Hurly and from then could not stop watching her as I performed. She is such a beautiful lady!

The next day we did another performance on this amazing yacht which looked like a scene from the ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’ films. It was quite hard to perform as the boat was swaying and all us girls were wearing 6 inch Prada shoes which was definitely an experience, but all went great and we were all given a huge bouquet of flowers which were lovely.

After the yacht, we were invited to one of the worlds best designers house… Karl Largerfield! I was so excited as I absolutely love all of his designs. Even though we had a really early flight the next morning, I really wanted to go a check out the house, which definitely lived up to the expectations. It was stunning and we had a great evening.

We returned early yesterday morning and when straight to a radio interview and then into rehearsals for tonight’s show. We are all now on our way down to the studios to start getting ready and all very nervous and excited! All the girls say hi!

Hope you are all well and we will write again soon.

Lots of love

Tasya and the girls xx

‘I would just like to say that the girls were very sweet and friendly, not to mention beautiful. I could of talked to them for hours, it was like I had met them before. I wish them all the best for the future and I hope to get the opportunity to see them in concert soon!

Thanks for everything, I had an amazing day out.

Matt’

‘Meeting Escala has got to be one of the best experiences in my life so far. I have never come across four girls as chatty, funny, loving and kind as Chantal, Izzy, Victoria and Tasya!

Speaking to them made me feel as if I had known them for ages when it had been only an hour! Was totally worth the wait, I don’t think I’ll ever come across any other people as amazing as these four!

Thanks for everything once again!

Danielle x’

Hope you’re enjoying the sunshine and liking our new blogs coming in, we will be sending new pics through as soon as we can upload more!! We are having the most amazing time at the moment and are SO excited about the album release!!

Our most recent trip was to Miami for a photoshoot! It was gorgeous weather and such a fun day. We wore some beautiful dresses from some amazing designers and had to do lots of different things as it was shot on the beach. For example… Running out of the sea and trying to look good…a bit tricky!  Would love to know what you think of them when they come out – They will be in a magazine Mid May so we will let you know just before its out! We also took some video there too but have to wait to show you that till the mag is out!

We had loads of fun afterwards aswell… Sun-bathing, eating, drinking and LOTS of shopping! Think we all did our fair share and came back with lots of goodies.

We are all in different places at the moment and my place is Paris! I got here yesterday to visit my boyfriend who’s working here for a couple of weeks. Right now, I am in my hotel room on the balcony which is over-looking the Eiffel Tower…pretty cool ey?!

I’m off to go and enjoy some more sunshine (Not quite as hot as Miami!) and have a look in the shops. I’ve promised myself I’m not going to buy a thing….. OK maybe just one!

Will write again soon, until then, byeee for now!

Lotsa love, Victoria xxx

We are writing this from Miami where we are for meetings and a couple of photo shoots! It’s been an amazing week! The album is now finished and we are so happy with it, we just can’t wait for it to be out now!

We’ve had some great fun here in Miami, as we write, we are having a day off at the beach and are on Nikki Beach - admiring the view, blue sea, surfers and lifeguards!  Every girls dream really!

We did a fantastic fashion shoot yesterday on Key Biscayne Beach which was absolutely beautiful, it’s so hot here, we did try to take a dip in the sea afterwards and just as we started swimming, 4 lifeguards came running down the beach Baywatch style… Apparently there were sharks in the water! Oops! Victoria and Tas are still wondering if they should go back and try swimming just to see the lifeguards again!

On the flip side we had a shock yesterday when a crazy guy in a tiny thong came over to talk to us on the beach… You don’t get that in England! (The men in thongs that is!)  Not a great look..

Nikki Beach Club

We’ve done lots of shopping and discovered a great shoe shop called Steve Madden - Tas and Izzy especially stocked up in there! And Tas managed to find the most amazing pair of shoes exactly like the Balmain ones which were worn on the catwalk this year (see picture) - she hasn’t taken them off since she found them!

Tas’s amazing shoes

She should maybe take them off now as she is in a bikini on the beach!

Chantal gets the prize for the best suntan, she only has to look at the sun to get a beautiful tan even though we all use sun screen! She also has an extra week in Miami to work on it!

Whilst Chantal is in Miami Tas will be in Croatia visiting family and Vicky will be in Paris visiting her boyfriend who is on tour.

Izzy is flying to Amsterdam to see Harry who is rehearsing for the next Mcfly tour!

We have decided Izzy has the most romantic boyfriend ever - when we arrived at our hotel, Harry had sent flowers to be there for her when she arrived! Obviously our boyfriends all got an earful!!

Everyone over here is so positive and welcoming - Miami is definately a party town! We don’t recommend it for a quiet holiday, everyone here is up all night! Last night we were at a hotel called Delano till 5am, it was absolutely stunning sitting by the pool where there was a pool party - we are so lucky to be here and can’t wait to come back soon. We have been invited onto some TV shows over here already which we can’t wait to do!

What’s also been unbelievable here is how many people are talking about Britains Got Talent’s Susan Boyle! From the minute we landed even the Immigration guys were asking us about her because they knew we worked with Simon Cowell! She is top story on all the news channels here! Izzy cried when she watched the audition on You Tube!

We hear Piers has offered to take Susan for dinner and give her a first kiss…...... Good luck Susan! That’s all we’ll say about that generous offer! (Isn’t he a bit old for you?) Haha.

Good Luck Susan - Isn’t Piers a bit old?

We fly back tomorrow evening so will write again soon!

We’re so excited about the next few weeks, thanks for all your support!

Lots of love

Tas, Izzy, Chantal and Vicky

X

Just thought i would write to update you on a few things…
Well not so long ago it was my Birthday so i am now 26!! (there comes a point when you feel like you are the wrong side of 25!) ha ha! Anyway, i had such a lovely Birthday weekend! It started off with seeing the girls as we had a gig that day at the Emirates stadium. The girls were incredibly generous to me giving me some beautiful presents and lovely cards which i will always keep and treasure! I think cards are so important to receive and keep as they always bring back memories of a certain time… Anyway, i will stop being philosophical and move on!

After the gig finished i then rushed to the airport to meet my boyfriend who had kindly oragnised to take me to Salamanca (one of the oldest and prettiest cities in Spain). Salamanca is sooo beautiful and the weather was great, if a little cold, but blue sky and sunshine most of the time which is always good! We had a wonderful weekend, eating lots and taking a ridiculous amount of photos as i always seem to do! Then early the following week we were in the studio to do some more recording for our final track on the album….it will be such a nice feeling to hear a finished album which is not too far off now!

When we were in the studio rehearsing an entourage of people walked in, one of which came up to us and said ” Hi, i’m Rob!” we looked up and it was ROBBIE WILLIAMS!!!!! We were all a little star struck and became really inarticulate! Anyway, he was really nice and wished us all the best!

We had our album photo shoot last wednesday in london so i will write a separate blog about that to update you all!!

Take care and thanks for all your support once again!

Love, Chantal xxx

Hope you’re well.

I’m dropping you a quick note to let you know that two of my brothers (Magnus and Guy) will be running the London Marathon on 26th April 2009. They are raising money for BIRT which stands for the Brain Injury Rehabilitation Trust. BIRT do an amazing job to support my eldest brother Rupert who suffered a serious brain injury 12 years ago, along with other people who need their assistance. BIRT are a charity that my family and I have supported for 12 years and now, being in Escala it gives me the opportunity to help raise the awareness of the charity and I’d be truly grateful if you would be able to donate any amount to sponsor Magnus and Guys marathon run. The link for the website to donate is: http://www.justgiving.com/runningforrupert

I have also put a photo of Rupert up along with this blog so you can see my eldest brother!

Thanks and lots of Love

Izzy x

Hope you all had a lovely Christmas and New Year! I had SUCH a great month off….I spent about ten days at home over Christmas and New Year with my family which was very loud (I have four brothers and one sister!)..and involved lots of stories and games as always!  It’s not easy getting the whole family together because Will (my second eldest brother), works in Hong Kong so Christmas is always a really special time. It was his birthday over that week, so a few days after, we all went go-karting which was brilliant fun…even though it was very competitive and I came 7th!...not a great result! One of my New Year’s resolutions is to learn to drive so hopefully I’ll improve!

I then went on holiday with my boyfriend, Izzy and her family to Center Parcs for five days and then to Antigua for a week.  It was such a gorgeous resort and the weather was stunning ...probably the most relaxing week we’ll have this year so we made the most of it!

It was lovely to see the girls again when we got back; it felt like we hadn’t seen each other for ages! We started off this year playing for Sony UK’s conference in Ireland.  We were invited to stay for dinner afterwards and watched Alexandra Burke perform ‘Listen’ at the end of dinner which was amazing…I’m a big fan!

This year is hopefully going to be a great one and Im so excited about what’s to come! Will write again soon, thanks so much for your kind comments and support it really means alot to us.

See you soon!
Lots of love, Victoria xx

I hope you’ve all had an awesome christmas and new year!

We’ve had a really amazing long break and it was so good to get out of the cold and spend some time in the sun! My boyfriend and i spent New Year’s Eve on the plane on the way to Buenos Aires in Argentina because the flights were cheaper. I thought we could maybe celebrate in the air with a glass of champers or something but we slept through the countdown… We arrived in Buenos Aires on a beautiful day and spent the first four days in a cute little b&b in the tango district (San Telmo). I dont think I’ve ever been to a cooler city, its alive with music and dancing every night and the people are so welcoming! On the third day I had an accident with a pocket knife (trying to make a hole in my new sandals) and ended up in casualty at 1am getting stitches in my first finger… luckily on my right hand (the bow hand) otherwise i might not have been able to play for a while. Its healing really well though and i was very lucky that I had three weeks of holiday away from my cello for it to get better (it was so disgusting)... next time i’ll just make do with a loose sandal.

The two highlights in Argentina for me were going to see a tango show, where i heard the most incredible musicians play Piazzolla (a tango composer and one of my favorites), and the last day when we took a bus for a couple of hours to the countryside to stay on a beautiful ranch (an estancia) and ride horses all day.

The Brazil part of the trip was important to me as i used to live in Florianopolis for a year in 2004/5. It was the first time I’d been back since and it was so good to see my old friends, a few of whom are now married with children! If anyone is thinking of visiting Brazil, I can’t recommend Florianopolis enough, especially Lagoa Da Conceicao, a small surfing town on a lagoon with beautiful white sand beaches a short walk away. We spent the whole time on the beach and out clubbing (amazing bars on the beach) and even though its great to be back, I’m already planning a trip back next year hopefully. (I’d love to show the girls).

Anyway, thanks again for visiting our site and all your support, I’m so excited about June 1st!!

Hope 2009 is a great year for all of you!

Tasya
xx