Combining Eastern and Western instruments, The Either creates original music in unique electronic sounds entirely their own. As philosophical and experimental as the group name suggests, their music embodies both concepts and is highly electrifying and addictive.

There’s no other group quite like The Either in the New York City music scene. When I sat down with them in a Thai restaurant in downtown New York, we talked about the meaning of their name “The Either”, their choice of instruments, the music writing process, and their perceived personality of their music.

The band consists of three professionally trained musicians: Zongli is the vocalist, keyboardist and composer; Jiaju plays the electric pipa, a plucked instrument; and Yang plays the electric erhu, a stringed instrument. By reinventing the range and playing techniques of these Chinese folk instruments, the pipa and erhu, they created new sounds that rival traditional plucked and stringed instruments such as the guitar and cello.

Their genre-defying music is best described as a mixture of electronic, rock, and dance. For some songs, there’s a tinge of futuristic pop as well. The unconventional instrumentation can be a visual surprise at the beginning, but aurally the instruments fit as naturally as any traditional rock band consisting of guitar, bass, and drums.

The Either is still a young band, having formed just two years ago in 2017, and continues to experiment and explore musically. Keep an eye out for their upcoming album release at the end of 2019. There’s much more to be discovered from this band.

More about The Either

All photos courtesy of The Either