The Planets

Classical music has been fused with rock and pop throughout the history of pop music - from Emerson, Lake and Palmer in the seventies to Vanessa Mae in the nineties. The Planets are classical fusion for the noughties.

The Planets are an 8 piece band; flute, oboe, violin, cello, two guitars, bass and drums. Each member is a virtuoso performer on their instrument. Their album, Classical Graffiti, went to number one in the classical album charts. The band have reworked Classical pieces including Bolero Fantasy (based on Ravel's Bolero), Carmen Caprice (based on Bizet's opera Carmen) and their single Rodrigo (an arrangement of Rodrigo's Guitar Concerto). They also have a collection of original pieces.

Ruth Miller plays flute in the band. After studying at Huddersfield University she attended the Birmingham Conservatoire. "I was in my final year and thinking about what I was going to do. I'd been learning the flute and now I needed to get a job playing it." Ruth recalls "I saw an advert on the careers notice board for young, enthusiastic performers interested in travelling, recording and touring. I sent off my CV and went for an audition a couple of weeks later - it just went on from there."

Mike Batt, the creator of the Planets as well as the mind behind Vanessa Mae and Bond, auditioned between 60-100 flutist between January and March of 2001, as well as hundreds of other instrumentalists. Ruth was invited to join other potential members of the band at their manager's house for 2 days where they would sleep, play and see how they got on as part of the audition.

"We decided not to go down the path of which planet we all are," Ruth explains "there are only eight of us, there are nine planets. Also, we'd all be fighting over who would get to be Venus and no one wanted to be Uranus." Fair enough.

The band have made various TV appearances including Nickelodeon and Children in Need. "We played for Richard Desmond's 50th birthday party, he's the man who owns the Express Newspaper Group and OK Magazine, so there were loads of really famous people there. It was really nerve wracking, Lulu was in the audience as well as Urika Johnson, Jamie Oliver and Nasty Nigel."

"We appeal to various age groups, we aren't really a group you could categorise." The Planets have been touring with Deep Purple who were once known as the loudest band in the world - the fans of the 1970s heavy rock group have really enjoyed the different approach to music. "The younger people really like what we're doing, it's something a bit different - it's nice they don't think classical music is boring. They see what we do on stage and think it's cool. Hopefully it will encourage them to learn a musical instrument." While on tour the band have been living on a bus. "We've had lots of fun, eating curries at the back of the bus at half eleven at night."

Ruth has found her dream job. "We want to keep playing to audiences. It's very important to play to real people." Ruth would love to travel with the band "I'd like to go to Asia - Hong Kong would be fantastic, and Australia - I've never been there."

Ruth used to teach whilst studying, "My advice to young flute players in to enjoy what you're doing. That's the most important thing, if you do then you'll succeed. You need to work hard, but as long as you are getting something out of it then that's the main thing. Stay positive and work hard - it will pay off in the end."